apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Agreed, I think the best place to start is by calling Herman Miller. They may be able to lead you in the right direction at the very least. The chairs are a great find/purchase, maybe stop using them until you can correct the problem so you don't do further damage to your floors.

go to this link:

http://www.humemodern.com/sales/sales.html

They have it and the service is really good. Sometimes Herman Miller don't have supply of very specific vintage stuff...

-joel

I had to replace feet on chairs just like this. I was able to buy a set on eBay. The remnant broken feet were a real pain to pull out, though (mine weren't missing, but broken). I don't know if there's a trick to it, or if it just required pliers and a lot of muscle power (my method). As for putting in the new ones, that also was a matter of applying appropriate pressure. The feet seem to be held in by a small metal bar that's bent as it's inserted: low-tech and effective.

in the meantime maybe you can find something here for a temporary fix, maybe email them a picture of the foot....
http://www.levelingmounts.com/

Old school teacher trick (more kitchy than cool)
Poke a hole in a tennis ball and slide it right over the feet.

Wouldn't the little felt sticky pads from the hardware store help?

Those chairs look exactly like what we sat on in elementary school. I can't imagine I was sitting on HM at the age of 9!

contact Cal Rotman at Herman Miller.
616-654-5467
cal_rotman at hermanmiller.com

He is who our church sold over 100 Eames Fiberglass chairs to. When he was looking at our chairs he said he has a "ton" of legs and feet.

tell him doug of 2nd told you.

I believe these would work:

http://www.1950.com/inventory/SAX_feet_01.htm

There are chairs just like this, only orange, at the prison I work. I'm going to flip 'em over tomorrow to see if they are labeled...Herman Miller in jail....things that make you go hmmmmmmmm...

Good find! I just bought a lot of 6 ratty ones last week and have a million questions as well.

The ones I bought seem to have holes in the top (maybe from a different kind of mount?)

http://i15.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/a8/bb/76a8_12.JPG

Is anyone here an expert on these chairs? I really want to clean these up and mount them on Eiffel bases. Can it happen?

Knit them slippers!

The little plastic attachments that are supposed to cover the feet are called "pods" and DWR sells them in 4s for like $32 a set.

Hee hee hee slippers for chair feet! :)

I see listings for replacement feet on eBay all the time -- they're usually referred to as "glides" in the item descriptions.

A realted note of caution concerning the Eames shells with the stacking/ganging bases (as in the photo above): you will not be able to switch out the bases to anything other than new stacking bases. The mounts on the bottom are wider than on the other shell chair varieties (dowel, Eiffel, rocker, H, etc...) and are not compatible with other types of replacements.

Backpacking on this ... what's the best way to fix wood floors that were scratched up by chair feet? I've heard olive oil, but I've also heard it can go rancid. Any thoughts?

If they have holes in the top, this is often from people drilling them. This typically happened because they were kept outside (so water from rain wouldn't collect in the seat). It's not the way they are supposed to be.

I have 4 of the parchment colored side chairs and they have the eiffel legs and have that very same ball on the ends and had a rubber/aluminum gliders but sadly, the rubber mounts got old and cracked and thus some don't stay on any more and the glide pads are worn out and I've also lost one or two as well.

I saw the link for Hume last week, glad someone found it again as they sell the glides I need, albeit in plastic now.

Hi EJ,
I've dealt with the exact same problem with the same type of chair. Usually a local dealer will send you as many replacement glides as you need for no charge. In fact, I think I even got some direct from Herman Hiller one time.
If any of the legs have the stubs of old, broken-off glides still in them, they are pretty much impossible to remove— you need to hammer the stub further up inside the leg (using a large spike of some sort). Then you can just hammer in the new glide.

I have a similar problem. I recently purchased a set of vintage Series 7 chairs [Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hasen; I'm sure you're all familiar]. A few of the glies [?] are missing, and I haven't been able to locate replacements. I've already scratched up the floor, so no one's allowed to touch them for the moment. Help?

Does anyone know where i can get replacement legs for the Saarinen Executive office chair? I'm thinking of purchasing a set that has black legs and want to replace them with the chrome legs. I have looked online and couldn't find any. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.dwr.com/product/saarinen-executive-chair-metal-custom-sb-leather.do?keyword=executive&sortby=ourPicks