—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 2, 1977
42
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Unhancflimciii's answer
to the antique blues
By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Feature Writer
Do you love antique furniture but hate the cost of
restoring it? Would you like to have the skill to do
some of the restoring yourself, but are weary iof the
often prohibitive cost of materials and tools for many
popular crafts and hobbies? Have you once again
threatened to throw out that old rocker or dining room
(hair you found during Spring housecleaning which has
the caning missing or damaged?
Then, learning to cane chair seats may be the answer
for you.
Weaving a chair seat with cane takes time and
patience, but the work is not hard. The cost is very low
when you do it yourself. At a recently conducted series
of three, two hour sessions instructed by Linda Franz
of the Lancaster County Extension Service, 14
individuals learned the basic steps to chair caning.
Mrs. Franz, who usually works with youth in the 4-H
program at the extension office, shared her skill in
caning with these adults who soon realized that
patience rather than the cost or technical skill was
nost important for developing this art.
The cane is sold by the bundle or hank with about
1,000 feet to a hank. This amount will be suffient to cane
four seats at a cost of less than two dollars a chair.
Having a chair caned by another craftsperson can cost
anywhere from $35 to $5O and more depending on the
size of the chair and the cost per hole that fhe weaver
charges.
Obviously, since the material is inexpensive, the
hours spent in fashioning the finished product make
caning valuable.
According to Mrs. Franz the steps in caning are very
simple in technique. It takes some practice or good
guidance to create a well finished seat but the basics
are fairly easy to master.
The list of equipment needed to cane is short. A chaii
with holes in the frame of the seat, the weaving cane
and binder, an ice pick or screw driver, shears or a
sharp knife, a cloth or sponge, caning pegs or old golf
tees or pencil stubs, and a pan of water for soaking the
cane, complete the list.
- Natural cane is the bark of rattan cut into strips. The
smooth side has eyes or bumps where leaf stems grew.
It is necessary to run the cane between the thumb and
index finger to determine which direction to pull the
Homestead Notes
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The chair caning process looks like this prior to
diagonal weaving.
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The above is an example of diagonal weaving
using authentic cane pegs.
strip so that the eyes will slip through rather than catch
and fray the cane.
Selection of the different widths of cane depends on
the size of the holes in the chair frame and the distance
between the holes. A medium width will be used for
one-quarter inch holes, three-quarters of ah inch apart.
These are the most common size holes. Fine cane is
used for three-sixteenths inch holes, five-eighths of an
inch apart. Binding cane is heavier and wider than
weaving cane ana is used to cover the holes around the
outside of the finished seat.
Before starting to cane, the chair should be
refinisbed, if needed. Soak the cane in warm water
about five minutes before using and keep adding pieces
of cane to the water as you weave.
Work with the smooth side of the cane on top and be'
sure to start each strand so that the eyes slide through
rather than snag. Do not allow the strands to twist and
keep the ..lines created straight and parallel. Don’t
draw the cane too tight at first since the cane will
tighten as it dries and the weaving progresses.
To start caning a square or rectangular seat, put the
end of the cade down through the center hole in the
back of the seat allowing the end to extend three or four
inches below the frame. Place a peg in the hole to hold
the cane firmly. Thread the other end of the cane
through the center front hole. Pull the cane snug but
not too tight and peg this hole to hold cane. Bring the
cane up through the hole on either side of the front
center hole and across to the back, down through the
corresponding hole in the back of the seat. Continue
working this half until all holes front and back, except
comers, are used. Start cane in the hole on the other
side of the center back hole and complete other half of
seat in the same way. In an irregular shaped seat and a
round seat some of the side holes will not be jused.
Judgement is needed to kesp the strands' parallel and
the same distance apart.
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The second step in caning begins at a comer. Put the
cane through the hole and allow the end to extend down
three or four inches and peg in place. Carry the cane
over the weaving already done and insert in the
opposite comer. A grid effect will result with the
second strands always on top of and at right angles to
the first layer.
The third step is exactly the same as the first step.
Cane extends across the frame in the same direction
and in the same holes as the first strands with the
strands of step two lying between. Fasten cane ends
securely under the seat frame after completing this
third step by dampening the loose ends until pliable
and using a halfhitch on the underside of the
frame. The weaving really begins with the fourth
step. The strands in the fourth step run parallel to those
in step two and in the same holes, but rather than lying
on top of the other strands, these strands in the fourth
step go over and under various strands to form the
weave. Weave the cane over the strands of step three
and under the strands of step one.
In step five the first diagonally woven strands are
placed Start at the right’hand comer of the back, as
Step 4
Step 5
Instructor Linda Franz holds some cane. She
learned the technique of caning chairs about five
years ago.
background.
you face the chair, and weave diagonally across to (he
left front of the chair. Weave under the pair of strands
that run from side to side and over the pair of strands
that run from front to back. Continue to weave until the
left triangle of the seat is finished. Finish the other
triangle in step five you may need to use the same'hole
twice or skip a hole to keep the diagonal lines straight.
What you do will depend upon the shape of the seat and
the spacing of the holes. Judgment and practice will
make these decisions easier.
After weaving a short distance, stop and check for
mistakes to avoid real problems in later steps. In a
square seat, two diagonal strands will run into each
comer. This is known as the fishhead. When the seat is
round, start in a hole between back and side center
holes and weave, keeping strands straight and
diagonal.
Step six is the reverse of step five. Begin at the left
bade comer hole and weave under the strands that run
from back to front (steps one and three) and over the
strands that run from side to side (steps two and four).
Make sure you have two diagonal strands running into
the comer hole on a square seat. Check your work after
working a short distance. This step completes the
hexagonal shape of the bole created by the weaving.
Dampen the cane and line up strands with a hexagonal
pencil or peg. Dampen ends and tie securely.
The final step in caning is to finish the seat by
covering the holes with a strip of binding cane. This is
done by taking a piece of the larger binding cane and
strand of the cane used in weaving. Insert the end of
the binder cane into a comer hole and peg temporarily.
Lay the binder along the frame over the holes. Fasten
the end of the weaving cane securely under the rail or
frame. Pull the other end of the weaving cane up
through the first hole from the comer where the binder
cane was inserted, over the binder and down through
the same hole. The loop formed over the binder holds
the binder to the frame securely in place. Continue
< X .
(Continued on fife 44]