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To restore a chair using Ready Woven Chair Cane


Ready Woven Chair Cane is manufactured from the outer bark or peel of the Rattan Palm and woven on powered looms. It is imported from Hong Kong, China and Indonesia.

TOOLS
Utility Knife Spline Chisel 1/8" (or 3 mm mortise chisel)
Sandpaper Several wooden wedges or wooden clothespegs
Wood glue Wood chisel 3/4" (19 mm)
Hammer Ready Woven Chair Cane (allow 2" more than the seat either side)
Length of spline/No 5 (4.5 mm) Centre Cane (measure around the groove and allow 1 ft extra)

The spline chisel or mortise chisel may not be readily available so it is possible to substitute another cutting tool. This is used to clear the old spline from the chair seat, but be careful not to damage the walls of the groove.
Check that your chair can be re-seated with Ready Woven Cane. This requires a groove around the seat opening. You can alter a chair that has previously been hand caned by using a router or a chisel to cut a groove
(3/16" to 1/4" wide and 25-50% deeper than it is wide). Do not cut the groove any less than 3/4" from the opening of the chair as this will result in the wood being too weak to hold the cane and it will split and break.


PREPARATION

Remove any old cane, spline, tacks, nails or any other materials. Clean out the groove thoroughly taking care not to mark the chain To loosen dirt or old glue apply water or vinegar but test the vinegar on the chairs finish before using it. If the chair needs to be repaired or re-finished, do it now before the new cane is installed. Soak the cane in hot (140ºF - 60f) water for I - 2 hours so that it becomes pliable. It is not necessary to soak the spline as this makes it swell and accurate cutting is difficult.


INSTALLING THE CANE

Centre the cane, glossy side up, over the seat. Make sure that the horizontal strands are aligned with the chair frame. Starting at the centre front rail of the chair frame, use a blunt wooden wedge or half a wooden clothes peg to push the cane into the groove. Work along about 2 inches either side of the centre and anchor the cane in place with the wooden pegs or a small piece of spline. Move to the back rail of the chair, pull the cane taut and repeat the procedure making sure that the horizontal strands are parallel to the back rail and the vertical strands are straight. Anchor the cane as before. Before securing the cane to the side rails remove any vertical strands of cane that will fall outside the groove. By removing these excess strands the tension is reduced on the strands being tapped into the groove. Continue to anchor the cane into the central 3 - 4 inches of the groove on the side rails keeping it straight and taut. The cane is now held at four points with the horizontal strands parallel to the front and back rails and the vertical strands running at 90º to tile front and back. Do not try to align the vertical strands to the sides of the chair as the seat is not usually square. Working towards the comers, tap the rest of the cane into the groove keeping it taut and flat with even tension all round. Using a sharp wood chisel or knife, trim the excess cane just below the outside edge of the groove. You may have to remove the temporary wooden pegs or spline to do this.
Pour a generous amount of glue into the groove on top of the cane. Any excess can be wiped up later. Starting in the middle of the back rail, use a hammer and a block of wood to gently tap the spline into the groove all the way around the chain. If the chair has rounded comers then a continuous piece of spline will go all the way round, but if the corners are square then the spline will need to be cut. A mitred cut or ends cut at an angle produce neater joints than ends cut straight and butted at the comers.
Leave the seat to dry for 24 hours to allow the glue to set and the cane to dry. As the cane dries it will shrink pulling it taut and smooth. The more slowly the cane dries, the tighter it becomes.


FINISHING

Once the cane is dry you can colour it with a varnish stain or leave it to age naturally. If stain is used, leave the underside natural so that it can breathe and oil and moisture can penetrate it. Occasional oiling of the cane (once a year) will keep it from drying out and becoming brittle. This can be done with lemon oil, furniture oil or linseed oil. Leave the oil on for about 15 minutes and then wipe off any excess. If the seat begins to sag with use, sponge the cane with hot water and allow drying naturally. This will tighten it again.


Available from Fred Aldous Ltd, 37, Lever Street, Manchester. Ml lLW
Tel: 0161 236 2477 Fax: 0161 236 6075
Email us at [email protected]
Visit our e-commerce site at www.fredaldous.co.uk
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