How to install a handwoven seat

How to install a hand-woven seat

Introduction:

Caning has never been a production line craft. There have never been any short cuts or easy ways to speed up
the craft. It belongs with the age when apprentices learned from masters and there was no time limit on learning-
just the goal of perfection. An experienced caner can expect an average seat to take about 10 hours to finish.

Prepare the seat for caning:

To remove the old cane, cut with heavy shears close to the rails of the seat and then cut the loops on the underside between the holes. Clear the holes with an awl or drill if necessary. If the chair need it, reglue the joints and refinish the surface completely before caning. The chair needs to be completely repaired and refinished before caning. Be sure you have the chair at a comfortable height for doing the cane work.

Material list:

Ice pick or awl
24 caning pegs
scissors
pail or ice-cream bucket for water
sponge or rag
clip clothespins
cane to fit the size of your chair holes ( see chart below)
narrow binder cane for the 7th step

Chart to determine cane size:

SIZE OF CANE	WIDTH OF CANE	SIZE OF DRILLED HOLE	DISTANCE FROM HOLE TO HOLE
CARRIAGE	1.5mm	1/8 inch	5/16 inch
SUPERFINE	1.75	1/8	3/8
FINE FINE	2.00	3/16	1/2
FINE	2.5	3/16	9/16
NARROWMEDIUM	2.75	1/4	5/8
MEDIUM	3.00	1/4	3/4
COMMON	3.50	5/16	7/8

Step 1:

VERTICAL WEAVE BETWEEN FRONT AND BACK RAILS

From the hank of cane, pull out the loops of the longest canes, coil each one around your fingers and fasten with a clip clothespin. Soak the coils in water for about twenty minutes. As you use one, replace it with another in the pail. Put a peg in the hole in the center of the front and back rails. If there are an even number of holes on the chair rails, you will have to use two pegs to mark the center holes on each rail.

Unwind a soaked coil of cane and check it's full length for imperfections such as splits, weak spots or a narrowing of the width. The marks on the cane are where the leaves grew and are not imperfections. Push the end of the cane down into the center back hole about six inches, peg it, and run the whole length of the cane, glossy side up, through your fingers to keep it untwisted and straight and put it through the opposite center hole on the front chair rail and peg it. Don't pull the cane tight but let it have a little slack. Now bring the cane up through the hole to the right of the front center. Check to see that the loop on the underside between the holes is glossy side up. Move the peg to this hole. The peg holding the end of the cane stays in the hole for the time being.

Again slip the length of the cane through the fingers, glossy side up, and put it down into the back rail hole next to the center hole. With the flat of the hand, test to see that both strands of cane have the same slack to them, then move the peg from the front hole to the back one. Continue in this way, moving the peg back and forth from front rail to back rail, testing each strand. The bend in the strands should be just below the level of the seat rails. This looseness of the strands is to allow for the interweaving of the new strands of cane. It will tighten as the weaving progresses and the cane dries. Always remember to crease the cane with your thumb as you bring it up through the hole. This gives a neat, pressed look, a tip from professional caners.

As you have more holes to fill on the front rail than on the back rail, you will use the holes along the side of the chair as partners for the rest of the front holes. Use the ones that will keep your rows of cane as nearly parallel and equidistant as possible. Don't cross holes with cane on the underside, but use a new length of cane for the side rail strands. If you have to leave a long strand of cane in a hole, peg it, coil it and fasten with a clip clothespin. You may be able to use it later. Finish the left side of the seat the same way you did the right side, again omitting a strand of cane in the left corner hole. As you work with the cane, always keep the glossy side up, both on top of the chair and on the underside. Keep the cane off the floor so that you don't step on it. Don't let the cane twist on the underside in the loops. To add cane, you do not tie the cane together. When you use a strand up, peg the end into the hole, leaving at least a six inch end on the underside. Start a new length in the next hole with a six inch end and peg it. Leave the pegs in to hold the ends until you tie them later to adjacent loops on the underside.

Step 2:

HORIZONTAL WEAVE FROM SIDE RAIL TO SIDE RAIL

Start at the left side rail with the hole in front of the left back post. Peg in the end and bring the strand across the chair to the corresponding hole in the right side rail. Put the cane through this hole and up through the next one and back across to the left side in the opposite hole. The slack of these strands should also be loose. When you test them with the palm of your hand, they should bend as much as the vertical strands. Be careful not to pull them too tightly. When you come to the front of the chair you will probably have to skip some of the holes on either side of the chair to keep your strands equidistant. You many have to run one strand, your last one, completely on the wood of the front rail. This is not supposed to be good caning, but many professional caners do it because this last row will make the front of the chair that much stronger. A good rule of thumb to follow on that last row is to put it in if the space left is wider than the spaces between the rows behind it.

Step 3:

VERTICAL WEAVE

This is a repeat of STEP 1 and then there will be two vertical strands in the holes on the back and front rails. It is very important when you are weaving this step to peg the cane as it goes through each hole to the right of the strand in the hole. Keep the slack of the strands the same as the cane under it. When you test it, dampen your weaving so that it is the same dampness as your new strand. By now you have probably used up several pegs to hold the cane ends in the holes. It's time to learn how to tie them.

TIE OFF ENDS

Tilt chair so that you can work on the underside. Every end that is next to a loop is ready for tying. Sponge the end and the loop thoroughly. Put the tip of the awl under the loop, raising it just enough to slip the tip of the end through, rough side up, and pointed to the outside of the chair rail. Next take the end and put it through this loop pointing to the center of the chair. Keep the thumb on the knot and tighten it by pulling on the end. The end should always face to the center of the chair. Don't trim the end off yet. You may have a number of knots on one loop; try to keep them in the center of the loop. A good caner's signature is his neat knots.

Step 4:

HORIZONTAL WEAVE

This step repeats the direction of STEP 2 and is woven into the strands, under STEP 1, over STEP 3 and above STEP 2 as you face the chair. Start at the first hole on the left side rail in the back and weave back and forth across the chair-following the first horizontals. Make a point at the end of the cane for easier weaving. Be careful to weave above the horizontal on the second row. Always check each row to see that you haven't made a mistake. It is important to straighten the horizontals and verticals as you go along and keep each pair of verticals together. It makes the weaving easier. In STEP 4 use both hands-one under the weaving and the other on top. You can weave about one half of the way across at one time. Then pull the cane slowly in the direction of the row and flat to the chair. Use the sponge to keep the already woven cane damp. The secret is to have the new cane also just slightly damp. If it is too wet it squeaks as you pull it and you may stretch the weaving. If it is too dry, it will twist and sometimes break as you pull it through the weaving. When you have completed this step straighten the vertical and horizontal rows by using a yardstick as a guide. Using your fingers or a couple of pegs, bring the pairs of horizontals and verticals together so that there are clearly defined squares throughout the chair seat.

Step 5:

FIRST DIAGONAL WEAVE

In this step, use a shorter length of cane than usual as it is easier to manage. Start in the lower right hand corner hole of the chair and weave toward the left back corner. Weave the cane under the horizontals and over the verticals. Peg the end of the cane in the corner hole and try a few squares first. By pulling the cane back and forth you find out if you are doing this step correctly. If the cane slides easily through the weaving, you are making the right start. If the cane binds, try again, making sure that you are weaving the strand under the horizontals and over the verticals at right angles to them. At the edge of the chair weave three squares and pull the cane through it's whole length each time you start a row. For the rest of the row, you will probably be able to weave about one third of the row before you pull the length of the cane through.
Check this step carefully for mistakes. It is easy to make them. To help set up the pattern in your mind, think of climbing stairs as you weave under the tread and over the riser of the stairs, going from the front to the back. On your second row you weave in the same way by bringing the cane to the right of the hole in which you ended the first row and return in the right front corner hole, this time going down the stairs. It is usual to double, or put two diagonals in the front corner hole. Your second row should be parallel to your first row and each square should have diagonals crossing opposite corners. As you weave the diagonals back and forth across the seat, the cane will sometimes start to curve when you put it through it's hole. As your aim is to keep the diagonal rows as straight as possible, it will help if you "double" or "fish head" the cane when it starts to curve. This means that you end two rows in one hole. Sometimes you will want to skip a hole and put the cane into the next hole. This is a matter of judgment and there are no hard and fast rules to follow when to skip and when to double. Master caners balance the fish head in each side of the chair, and keep the fish heads in the back and front rails near the posts of the chair. Tie all the ends as you go along if they are next to a loop. After you finish the back half of the chair, start the front half at the right front corner in the hole to the left of the corner hole.

Step 6:

SECOND DIAGONAL WEAVE

This is the last weaving step and sets up the six-sided pattern of the caning. Start in the left front corner hole and this time you weave exactly opposite to the previous step. Over the horizontals and under the verticals, making a cross with the diagonals on each of the four sides of the square. Weave the front half first. In this step it is very easy to make mistakes along the edge of the chair. Try to look at the pattern established with the first diagonal weave, and duplicate this. Tie off all loose ends under the chair. Look the chair over carefully. If you find an obvious mistake, try to fix it. Wet the cane seat down before trying to remove a strand of cane. If the mistake is not too offensive, leave it and vow to do better on your next chair.

Step 7:

BINDING

This is the final step in cane weaving. Now you can trim the ends of the knots on the underside of the chair to about one-quarter inch length. All the knot ends should point to the inside of the chair. The narrow binder you will use is wider and heavier than the cane of the chair seat. It serves to cover the holes around the edge of the seat and give a finished look to your weaving. If the corners of the chair are rounded then one piece of binder is all that is needed for the whole seat edge. Unusually the back corners are angular and the chair seat looks better if you use one piece of binder for the back rail, and another piece to bind the side and front rails. The chair in the picture required 4 separate pieces of binder. They started and stopped at each corner. To use two pieces of binder, cut to fit and add a few inches for pushing into the corner hole. Soak twenty minutes along with a strand of regular cane which you will use to bind the larger cane to the holes around the chair edge. Start with the binder for the back rail, peg it into the left back corner hole with about an inch end on the underside. In the next hole on the back rail insert the end of the regular cane and bring it over the binder and down into the same hole towards the inside of the chair. Tie the end of the cane to the loop next to it on the underside and pull the cane tight making sure that the stitch is at right angles to the binder and that the binder is directly over the hole and that it lies flat. Work with the chair on it's side so that you can see both the top and the bottom of the chair. The loops on the underside will tend to loosen and the binder is likely to tilt up over the hole unless you keep the binding cane taut at all times. Keep the binder and binding cane very wet as you work. If you have trouble getting the cane into a hole, use the awl carefully so that you don't cut any of the cane in the hole. Peering down into the hole you can often see a way to slip the cane in. Don't let the cane twist on the loop: the twist must come inside the hole. When you come to the right corner hole with the binder, peg it in as you did the left corner. To start the side and front binding, place the end of the binder in the left corner hole under the back binder and peg again. The binder will dry and stay in place without binding cane. Bind as you did the back rail being careful to keep the binder flat as it goes around the front corners of the chair.

If one piece of binder is used for the whole chair, soak it well and start it at the center of the back rail. You can insert both ends in the center hole or you can overlap the ends, cutting the beginning end to a sliver and overlapping with the finishing binder two holes, trimming it even with the binding stitch. To keep the rounded corners flat, keep the binder in a damp cloth as you work with it. Ease it gently into place. When you are finished, rub the stitches and binder with the handle of the awl which will help flatten the binding.

FINISHING