How to Refurbish a Vintage Style Ski Lift Chair
May 16, 2017 | Leave a comment
The Old Lift Becomes New
After serving in ski resorts carrying passengers up the hill, now they have found a much simpler job that is as an amazing sitting piece. Ski lift chair benches have become quite a fashion nowadays, and for old ski chair lifts, it is kind of another life for them. Ski lift chairs have been used for years for transporting skiing enthusiasts up the hill. A decommissioned ski lift chair can now be used as furniture after some makeover. After several years of usage, they start getting corroded and are severely damaged by the weather conditions. You can use the ski lift chair as a great conversation piece and can put it around your house or places like public parks, ski shops, and restaurants. They are directly collected by the refurbishing companies from the resort itself. Ski lift chair has set a perfect example of using thrown an object in a better way. Ski chairlifts can be remodeled into two different versions and how you convert it into furniture is all about your creativity level.
Throwback!
Vintage Style Ski Chair Lift
Vintage is SO HOT Right Now!
Vintage style ski lift chairs are in the trending fashion right now. Remolding an old ski lift chair into a vintage style ski lift chair is not a tough task, and many people are doing it. It all requires some special tools, and you can do it all by yourself. There are various restoration companies who can perform the desired remolding to your ski lift chair. The refurbishing companies directly buy the decommissioned ski chair lifts from the ski resorts, and you can buy it from them. Ski chair benches have two versions, ski chair swings and ski chair benches, and how you want your vintage style ski lift chair to look like is totally up to you. These two are different in such a way that a ski swing bench requires a mounting point and a spring and it is not ideal for compact areas. They are ideal for outdoors like your garden, porch or terrace. On the other hand, ski benches are those normal park benches which don’t swing. Ski lift chairs are ideal for placing in your home backyard, garden, porch, balcony, and terrace or anywhere inside the room where you find it eligible. On the other hand, for public use, it can be installed near parks, school playground, restaurants and other places where people socialize. Due to its unique design and attributes, ski chair benches are known to wake up the adventurer in you whenever you sit on it.
Ski Lift Restoration
The ski lift chairs are restored like any other heavy metal component keeping in mind their main use which is for sitting purpose. If you are refurbishing it to give a vintage style look, the procedure is all the same from scrubbing to painting. The main objective of restoration is that it should provide aesthetically pleasing experience whenever somebody sits on it. These ski benches are crafted to support the weight of a maximum of 2-3 adults at the same time. Thus it becomes necessary that not too much weight is put on it.
The refurbishing starts with scratching and scrubbing the metal framework of the ski lift chair. The whole metal framework is sandblasted, and it is done all with the bare hands. Giving it a vintage look is all done in the last when the framework is ready. Sandpaper is used to clear the corroded areas of the ski lifts chairs. Sandblasting is done until the frame gets smooth and subtle for applying paint on it. When sandblasting is completed, one-two layers of anti-corrosion paint are applied on the surface of ski lift chair just to protect it from rusting. Refurbished metal is added to the framework just provide some extra support to the ski lift chair. The next part of restoring the ski lift chair is to apply paint.
Here, painting plays a crucial role in giving your ski lift chair a vintage look. There are various colors that resemble of giving a vintage look. Pick flashy colors, colors which are bright and can catch an eye from a farther distance. The important thing to keep in mind is that avoid giving it a matte finish if you are looking for something vintage. There are various colors to choose from; you just have to look for it. Or you can apply some simple plain colors giving it a retro look. Avoid custom colors as they were not present in the retro years. You can give your ski lift chair a vintage look by providing it with certain details and designs. For giving ski lift chairs an authentic vintage look, some restoration companies use certain slats made from wood, rubber, plastic and synthetic. But, for keeping it real retro, avoid having any slats. If you insist, you can place a wooden slat as a seat on your ski lift chair, just to make sure, they are just there to provide a level of comfort while sitting. These wooden slats are mostly made with polished maple, mahogany, and teak to provide a vintage finish. To give it a vintage look, they are polished and varnished with certain chemicals. But as I said, slats are optional when it comes to giving your ski lift chair a vintage look. They are just there to aesthetically please you when you use it. Aside from that, it provides you with the option of installing a face plate or a name plate on you ski lift chair. On these nameplates, you can add your name, address or any other phrase you like in retro style and on the other hand, you can add the faceplate on the top center of the ski lift chair. To give it a retro look, try to add a faceplate which seems retro like a vintage hat or anything that was used in the early years.
You can place it anywhere you like from your living room to your own personal room. It will only make your room look more pleasing than ever.