If your hand-caned chairs need to be repaired, you’ll want to know how much it will cost, how to cane them properly, and what materials will be used. This post will address those concerns, as well as others, and will hopefully provide you with a better understanding of how to value your chair. Hand caning is a centuries-old skill that originated in Egypt. Drilling multiple small holes around the chair’s perimeter, varying from one eighth to five sixteenth of an inch, then weaving the cane strips in and out of the holes, back and forth across the chair’s seat, is the method used. The time it takes to finish this operation might range from eight to twenty hours.
Cost of repairing hand caned chairs
Repairing a hand-caned chair can be a costly endeavor. Because cane is manufactured from the peeled bark of a rattan plant, it is a costly piece of furniture. The cane strands used to make them are made of natural fibers and have been used in furniture for centuries. The fixing procedure, however, entails a number of phases.
For a normal hand-caned chair, a skilled recanner will charge $350, plus around $2 each hole. You may purchase the supplies at $70 and re-cane the chair yourself if you want to do it yourself. The new cane sheet must be precut to extend at least one inch beyond the groove. You should also soak the chair in warm water for an hour before starting. After that, use a utility knife to cut around the old spline.
You may also conduct your own repairs if you don’t want to spend so much money. Fortunately, you can purchase hand caning supplies online. Repairs can even be done with plywood. If the chair is of sufficient age, it may be worth more than you think. It is not impossible to locate a chair that is forty years old, but it is difficult to find one that is of good quality. To determine the actual cost of fixing a hand caned chairs, you’ll need to conduct some research.
Materials used in chair caning
A fabric-covered seat is one of the most durable solutions for damaged seat caning. A plywood piece may be cut to suit the seat frame, then cushioned with foam and batting before being upholstered in durable upholstery fabric. From beneath, the seat may be screwed into the frame. Fabric replacement on a fabric-covered seat is a simple and affordable technique. If the chair has holes, you may also re-cane it.
The same webbing may also be used to cover the seat and back of a chair. The diagonals are handwoven into the fabric after the webbing is prewoven on a loom. Cane webbing is commonly used to cover chairs with channels or grooves. The width of the channel or groove should be the same as the width of the webbing. The last shipment of cane is frequently #9 1/2.
Seats made of cane frequently slump due to the cane’s lack of elastic qualities. Place a warm towel under the seat and back to avoid this. Avoid getting the chair’s finish wet, and remove it after a day or two. This procedure, however, may not work on a chair with cracked or soiled caning. If you opt to re-can your chair using a heated cloth, make sure you choose superfine caning material.
Value of hand caned chairs
Replacing the webbing on a hand caned chair is one technique to repair it. To fix the webbing, use a piece of pre-woven cane. A groove runs around the rim of the seat. The procedure is comparable to that of replacing a window screen. Remove the old stuff first. After that, moisten the damp cane with water. Remove the old material using a utility knife. Then, to keep the new sheet in place, use a mitered spline.
Alternatively, the chair can be recaned by a repairman. A standard chair can cost up to $350, including materials. However, the repair procedure can be time-consuming, and the cost of the chair may escalate if it requires more repairs or polishing. Regardless, the cost of the repair is justified. The value of a hand caned chair can skyrocket if the repair is done correctly.
A well-made chair may be more expensive to restore, but it’s worth it if you know how it was made. Many beautiful chairs were initially hand-caned, and machine caning can detract from the piece’s appearance, value, and structure. Machine-caned seats differ from hand-caned chairs in that hand caning entails weaving individual strands of cane through holes drilled into the seat. The result is the well-known octagon form. Depending on the form of the chair and the size of the perforations, several gauges of cane are utilized. This method is also often utilized on designer chairs from the 1950s and 1960s.
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