The world's most popular metal finishing site, and striving to be the internet's friendliest corner

1. Koken Barber Chair Parts Diagram
2. Koken Barber Chair Serial Number Location
3. Koken Barber Chair Parts List

Just bought a Koken late 19th century with all parts, metal needsplated and the leather replaced paid 1600 Canadian.

Click thumbnails for stories and larger graphics

A discussion started in2001 but continuing through 2019

Q. I have a Koken Barber Chair form the 1890s to 1930s. It's in many pieces and I have full intent to restore it in time. I need some metal parts for the chair and I am having difficulty locating them (can't understand that, it's only around a hundred years old!) I do have some pictures of my dismantled chair and would appreciate any help anyone out there can provide. What I'm looking for are the metal parts from the wooden leg rest down. I don't need all the parts but I am willing to buy the complete bottom part of the chair if necessary.

I desperately need help with this project. Any help or references you can provide will be very much appreciated.

A. Norman:
There is a seller on ebay that has many of the parts I see in your photo...

This guy helped me a ton with my barber chair.. I'm the guy with the chair right below yours on this site.

Q. I have been working on this barber chair for two years, plating, leather upholstery, wood carving and sanding... it's come a long way... from what I have seen of other chairs, my chair is early 1900's no metal on the arms, all oak.. I need the parts that will lock it in the recline position, the rod that goes to the leg bracket, and the bracket as well...

Willing to pay any reasonable asking price plus a large token of my appreciation..! Thanks for reading..!

----
Ed. note: General hints about obtaining parts are welcome, but No offers please! This is a technical site about metal finishing, not a free ebay, and we'd be swamped overnight if we tried to be. Thanks.

To minimize your searching efforts and to offer multiple viewpoints, we've combined some threads into the dialog you're viewing. Please forgive any resultant repetition or failures of chronological order.

Nickel / chrome plating issues

Q. Does anyone know the best way to refinish the metal parts of an antique barber chair? Also, if plating is the solution what would be the appropriate finish?

A. I replated parts of barber chairs at my shop in Berkeley. If its an real old it's Nickel plated, If late 40's and on, Chrome. If the plating isn't completely shot you can use a chrome rouge.

Jon Diamond
silver plater
Berkeley, California

Q. I work on barber chairs. I would like to know how to nickel some items. Do you have a nickel plating kit, or any advise.

Thanks,

A. For your use, consider 'brush plating'. Check out the vendor lists at this site. This procedure is extremely operator sensitive. If you want a lot less pain, attend the free school from the folks that you think that you want to buy the equipment and solutions from. Typical is 3-5 days of lecture and hands on. Good equipment makes a huge amount of difference, so look at more than one vendor.

Q. I am restoring a barber chair and have had all the metal chrome parts replated. However, now some of the parts don't fit; the new plating is too thick. What's the best way to remove some of the plating. File, wet sandpaper, or ?
Thanks.

A. Hi Brian. I think you'll find that chrome plating is harder than a file, in which case a file won't work, of course. Sandpaper [linked by editor to product info at Rockler] on a power tool will probably work -- if you are talking about functional hard chrome plating on shafts, bearings, etc.

The shiny decorative 'chrome' plated items are actually a few millionths of an inch of chrome over a nickel plating layer which is thousandths of an inch thick -- so you will lose corrosion resistance and there will be an appearance difference where you sand anything. Hopefully the sanded areas are not visible.

You may wish to look over our 'Introduction to Chrome Plating' page. Good luck.

Q. Question about stripping Chrome Plating I have 3 old (1940's) barber chairs that I would like to strip and refinish. They are a combination of Chrome plated cast iron, aluminum, and stainless steel. I don't want to re-chrome the chromed parts but I do want to strip them of the old bubbling and flaking chrome. I would like to powdercoat and/or use automotive paint on the parts once stripped.

The problem I have is the local shops (Sacramento, Calif) are telling me that you can't just strip the chrome because the stripping process/chemicals can't be neutralized. Therefore you must re-chrome them. I'm no chemist but this seems odd to me because one can usually neutralize a chemical reaction with another chemical. Right? What is the real answer. Can I have the parts stripped and neutralized or what? If yes, then what is the process?

I attempted to sandblast a part with no luck . If this can be done I would then be able to fill and prep the parts before coating with powdercoat or automotive paints.

Thanks in advance for your feedback. I would really like to restore these because they are from a family members shop.

Koken Barber Chair Parts Diagram

A. Dear Doug,

The 'bubbling and flaking chrome' on your barber chairs is probably nickel rather than chrome. Chrome is usually a very thin coating that protects the nickel and prevents discoloration. Stripping process/chemicals can't be neutralized? You're right, that's ridiculous.

If you would like, I will refer you to companies in your area that distribute our nickel strippers and may be able to give you the names of plating shops that can help you. Note: Since these chairs were manufactured in the 40's they may not have a nickel/chrome finish. During WWII many manufacturers suspended the use of chrome for commercial products, reserving their chrome supplies for the war effort. If the chair parts do have the nickel/chrome combination, the chrome is easily removed by submersion in an electrocleaning tank and applying reverse current for a few minutes. The nickel can then be removed by immersing the parts in the nickel stripper.Hope this helps.

RFQ: I am in the process of restoring my Grandfather's 1908 Koken Barber Chair and am searching for a company to re-plate the metal parts with Nickel. Does anyone have a recommendation in the Philadelphia, PA area?

RFQ. WHO DOES NICKEL REPLATING ON OLD BARBER CHAIRS?

Q. I have a 1935 Barber chair. I am trying to either bring it up to a high polish or chrome it. I would like to know how I do it?

A. Hi Michael.

The items in questions are almost surely steel or cast iron so they cannot be polished to high reflectivity. But there are plating shops, probably right in your area, which can nickel-chrome plate these items for you. Good luck.

Regards,

RFQ: I like to restore a lot of things and I recently picked up a 1940s barber chair. This will be the first barber chair I have ever restored and being in college I am on a budget. How much would it cost to nickel plate an antique barber chair?

A. Hi Connor.

It would depend mostly on how much prep work is required and how big an area must be plated, but probably a couple hundred to several hundred dollars, maybe even more.

The cost of plating can be a shock, but restoration plating is time-consuming handwork, and platers don't survive who charge less for their time than a plumber or mechanic. Good luck.

Regards,

Q. Hi,
Am restoring an early Theo. Koch chair. All of the original nickel plating is shot, and the estimates for replating are astronomical. Has anyone had acceptable results with any type of paint?

Koken Barber Chair Serial Number Location

(you are on the 1st page of the thread)Next page >

Koken Barber Chair Parts List