Saturday, August 30, 2014

Insights On Chair Caning Chicago

By Mattie MacDonald


Chair caning is a technique of weaving chair seats among other furniture either during building new chairs or in the process of cane chair repair. The practice is achieved by using a material extracted from the peeled skin or back of the rattan vine. The process is also available in a variety of materials, often derived from grass, paper and other man made materials. This article sheds some light on the art of chair caning Chicago.

The strand material used in seat weaving is a rather shiny and glossy skin or sometimes inner bark extracted from the trunk or stem of the rattan palm. Though there are a variety of this species, only a few are ideal in the production of the high quality necessary in the chair seat weaving.

Beginning at the Centre of the front rail, use a rather blunt wooden wedge to push the rattan webbing into the grove. You then proceed to the rear part of the seat frame and perform the same procedure. When satisfied that the rattan webbing is sitting square with regard to the frame, proceed by pushing the rattan webbing on the other sides.

The blind cane is also referred to as French or continental cane. The material is usually employed in a delicate weave that is not known for great strength. This explains their rampant use on the arms and backs of chairs as opposed to the seats. With the material, the weaving process is undertaken by hand and ought to be pegged in place as the artist progresses. The process renders such products expensive to come by.

It is often easy to differentiate between chair cane and rattan reed. The rattan palm pole contains sharp thorns on its outer portion. These thorns are removed before the actual processing of the bark or skin takes place. After removing the thorns, the naturally glossy bark or skin is sorted, graded and stripped into different widths by a machine and packed in coils and hanks.

It is then time to put the cane spline in the groove. Using a hammer, tap the spline gently into the groove, beginning at the front while working your way around the back part of the seat to finish at the edges. In case there exists tight corners on the seat, be sure to first dampen the cane spline to make it flexible and eliminate any breaks.

The rush exists in three different types, with the first two being paper rush (man-made), and seagrass (natural). The color of the rush remains green when fresh, though it becomes tan with age. The third form of rush, the cattail rush, is especially used in more costly and antique chairs. The component is particularly challenging and slow to weave, rendering the process more expensive. The most outstanding rush weave is a triangle patter.

Simply put, the process of caning is simple and requires no specialized skill. The items are decorated with a variety of patterns and colors. Although the craft dates back to hundreds of centuries, it is still widely practiced and acknowledged. The products vary in prices, though they are within reach to many people. The time taken and the inherent pattern and material consumed are the main function of cost.




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