CHAPTER 1

TOOLS, MATERIALS AND PREPARATION

To begin, I’m going to outline what you will need in terms of tools and materials to cane your first chair. It is a relatively simple kit and once you have acquired the cane and a few of the tools listed, all you would need to find is a small wooden chair designed to have a woven cane panel for its seat or back. These chairs are not hard to find; characteristically it would be a simple wooden frame and all four of the seat rails would have spaced holes sized approximately 4–5mm wide drilled through them. The size of the holes and spacing can vary from chair to chair.

Cane panels and tools.

The chair cane can be bought from two or three specialist suppliers here in the UK. I’d really recommend using one of these stockists as they are used to sourcing the best quality cane – it would be a shame to spend all the time and effort of weaving a chair seat for it not to last due to inferior materials. If the cane isn’t of good quality, it may prove harder to work with as it will split and snap.

The tool kit required for caning chairs isn’t vast. As you can see from the list below, a few specialised tools are all you need to begin. You may already have similar tools at home; many chair caners use repurposed household items in their kits. One chair caner I knew just liked to use a small metal nail file with a hooked end. I keep a selection of different size blunt nails for use as hole clearers and have various handmade shell bodkins, as a range of sizes of tools is useful for the variety of hole sizes on the cane chair frame.

All the tools are items which you could find at a local hardware shop or one of the chair cane supply shops. Don’t worry if you are having any trouble sourcing tools, I find that my own fingers are the most used of all the tools I have at my disposal!

Bodkin – a real go-to tool, useful for moving cane around and opening space to weave. Bodkins are a tool used in many industries; any small metal pointed tool would do for this job.

Shell bodkin – a bodkin which is slightly curved and has a valley in the centre. This is a tool specifically used by chair caners.

Side cutters – a sharp set of pliers with one flat side, for making close cuts.

Hammer – a light hammer is most suitable for tapping in pegs.

Wooden mallet – is also suitable for tapping in pegs or for use with the hole clearer.

Golf tees; wooden, willow or plastic pegs – for holding the cane tight while weaving. If you are making your own willow pegs, they would need to be 5–6cm long. You can whittle the willow to a suitable point or, if you are making wooden pegs, split some soft wood into strips approximately 1cm square. Then shape the ends into a point in the same way. I use a mix of wood, willow and golf tees depending on the size and depth of the holes.

Steamer – a smooth strap with a hole in the centre or at each end, used for the weavings stage of the caning process.

Blunt nail – really useful for clearing holes or tapping in the pegs.

Pocket knife or scissors

Spring clamp – for holding canes in place when close caning.

Bowl – for water and a towel, cloth or sponge.

The processing industry is focused in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. These countries have long-established rattan growing and processing industries. They are mostly small rural businesses so don’t impact the environment in a negative way. After harvesting, the long rattans are cut down and hung up to dry out. They then undergo a sulphuration process to kill any fungus or insects. Next, the long thorns and leaves are removed, then it is split, and the centre of the rattan palm is removed. This part of the plant can be used to peg the holes on the chair frame once the seat is woven and is also used for basketry. The rattan palm is not hollow like bamboo; the cane we use for weaving seats is the outer bark of the plant. Once the bark is removed from the centre cane it is then ‘shaved’ to make ribbons of appropriate thickness and width needed for chair seating.The outer bark of the cane is a rich gold in colour, slightly rounded, smooth and shiny. The other side is fibrous and absorbent. If you look closely you will see ‘nodes’ on the cane – this is a part of the plant where the leaves sprout and can be a weak spot. Always use the cane with the shiny side facing upwards as it naturally repels dirt.

Caning tools.

Cane.

Chair caners each have their preferred way of preparing the cane for use. I take a small bunch of cane which is looped in half, I hold the loops together with an elastic band and then coil the bunch into a bowl of water. As the cane is a plant it’s absorbent, so when soaked it takes in the water, expands and becomes soft and pliable, ideal for weaving. You can remove the cane after 10–15 minutes and keep it wrapped in a damp towel. As a beginner, it is essential that your cane is soft and pliable – weaving the later stages of the pattern, it can be very frustrating if the cane snaps because it is too dry and brittle. It is handy to have a flannel, spray or sponge just to dampen the canes down, particularly if you’re weaving a large area. Some caners leave the cane in the water for the whole time that they are weaving, just to make sure it is pliable enough. Others prefer to use the cane completely dry or dampen the dry canes with a sponge as they go.

If you don’t use all the dampened cane at once, you can hang it up to dry ready for the next time. Just be aware that if you soak it and dry it out repeatedly, it may lose its golden colour.

The cane comes in a few different sizes; the millimetre measurements refer to the width of the cane. Originally, they were simply graded by numbers 1–6 but now the cane is sold by the millimetre measurement. Many seats traditionally use a combination of two sizes for different stages of the woven pattern. Usually a thicker size is used for the diagonal weaves (crossings) and a thinner size is used for the horizontals and verticals (weavings and settings). The combination of sizes balances the overall look of the caned panel. The edge or ‘beading’ cane is thicker, usually around 3.9mm to 4mm. The millimetre size may vary depending on your supplier.

It is useful to keep some of the original cane panel to work out the cane sizes. If there isn’t any cane on the chair, you can use the table above as a size guide.

Measure 15cm along the drilled holes in the frame. Count how many holes there are in the 15cm.

You can look underneath the seat for the cane holes in the seat rails to check if the chair is designed for caning.