Antique Chair Newly Caned

 

Caned Chair Before

Caning is one of the fun parts of my work as a furniture restorer. It didn’t start out that way. In fact, the first chair I ever caned was kind of sprung on me. A customer had asked if I could cane a chair and I told her honestly, I don’t know but was willing to learn and see what I could do for her. So then it began. 

Caned Chair After

I educated myself by watching a few videos and quickly discovered a few things about caning. One, it isn’t for everyone and not everyone would enjoy the process or even attempt it. Two, there are various types of caning styles and many, many more chair styles, each one individual in how the caning is done. Three, practice makes perfect. Or, if not perfect, a whole lot better with noticeable results.

This little chair’s wood was immaculate and needed no refinishing, but was in need of a new seat. The old seat had a minor tear in it, but this type of damage only gets worse, not better and needed to be replaced. This was strand caning, which means that the caning is done by weaving through the holes surrounding the chair’s seat, using the six-step method by weaving first vertically, then horizontally twice, the third time crossing over the first vertical row, then the diagonal weave, first from the upper right corner to the lower left corner all the way across the chair before you finish with the opposite diagonal weave. (You can see this in the video to the right). 

The final top step is binding the cane by looping cane strands up and through the holes, pulling the cane strands through the holes, locking in the top binding. 

The very last step is securing the bottom strands that hang loose during the process. I wrap each one underneath the tight cane then loop and tie them off, clipping the extra. This is why it’s called strand caning, because you are working with individual strands of canes that are usually about 12-14 feet in length when they come in a tightly wrapped “hank” of 500 feet. It requires soaking and mist spraying while working so the cane remained pliable thought the weaving process.

This was my best chair so far and went together very quickly because I learned a few tricks and techniques along the way. While caning can be a daunting task, it can also be a time where you can relax and enjoy the “flow” of your work. I enjoy listening to audiobooks as I work which passes the time and makes it fun. Now I enjoy the caning process and each time it gets a little easier.