Woven chair material ID help

Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Gene T"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>that looks a lot like strips of brown grocery paper twisted together.
>> Is anyone familiar with this type of material?
>
> Yes, it's very common.
>
> Your seat sounds like a rush seat (NB - not "cane"). The best rushes
> to do this are still grown (mine come from Holland) but they're
> surprisingly expensive and they also only grow in short lengths. So
> working a rush seat is as much about continually working new rushes
> into the cord as it is about twisting this cord onto the chair frame.
>
> So to solve both problems, much rush chair work is done with this
> paper rush. It comes on long reels of a constant size, so it's far
> easier to work with than real rush. Another option is "seagrass". This
> is hard wearing (also used for flooring) and easier to work with than
> rush, but a "natural" product unlike the paper cord.
>
> http://www.jamiltonupholstery.co.uk/shop_product.asp?dept=37
>
> You need to find a supplier of chair caning materials and a simple
> book on the technique. I can't really suggest one for Hawaii or the
> USA though (I'm in the UK). You might find it through a wholesale
> upholstery supplier, but probably not - the cane and rush trade seems
> quite distinct from the stuffed fabric trade. I get mine from "The
> Cane Workshop" in Somerset
>
> It's not hard to do, and doesn't even take that long. Tools are pretty
> simple too, although a good bench vice to hold the chair while you
> work on it will do wonders for your back - otherwise rig up a low
> platform (couple of stacked pallets) and stand the chair on that.
> Don't bend over the chair at floor height.
>
>

There's also a product called 'danish cord', which may be a linen/cotton
type of product. May also be made of hemp. Same suppliers should have
it available.

Patriarch

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 11:11:37 GMT, "Gene T" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Hello all,
>I am repairing 2 Danish made stools for my friend's parents. The top
>consists of this brownish twine woven across the rails. The twine consists
>of three twisted strands that are in turn twisted together to form a cord
>that looks a lot like strips of brown grocery paper twisted together. Is
>anyone familiar with this type of material? If I can ID it maybe I can
>order some replacement for the repair. Thanks for any help.
>Gene

This is called "fiber rush" and you can get it from lots of suppliers.
The best deal I found was at Chair Seat Weaving, link below:

http://www.chairseatweaving.com/fiberrushkit.htm

The kit to do one chair seat is $12.90 plus shipping, what you could
do is get a kit and another lot of rush for $8.49, that will give you
enough to do 2 chairs. You want to measure the diameter of the rush so
you will know what size to order.

After reweaving the chair seats, you will want to put a coat of
varnish or polyurethane top and bottom to help protect and strengthen
the seat. I have a 100-yr-old ladder back chair I'm going to reweave
this winter (when it's too cold to be in the shop!) -- the seat
presently on it is fiber rush, and it's held up well. It would have
held up better if a new coat of varnish had been put on it
regularly....

Lorri

It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Gene T"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>that looks a lot like strips of brown grocery paper twisted together. Is
>anyone familiar with this type of material?

Yes, it's very common.

Your seat sounds like a rush seat (NB - not "cane"). The best rushes
to do this are still grown (mine come from Holland) but they're
surprisingly expensive and they also only grow in short lengths. So
working a rush seat is as much about continually working new rushes
into the cord as it is about twisting this cord onto the chair frame.

So to solve both problems, much rush chair work is done with this
paper rush. It comes on long reels of a constant size, so it's far
easier to work with than real rush. Another option is "seagrass". This
is hard wearing (also used for flooring) and easier to work with than
rush, but a "natural" product unlike the paper cord.

http://www.jamiltonupholstery.co.uk/shop_product.asp?dept=37

You need to find a supplier of chair caning materials and a simple
book on the technique. I can't really suggest one for Hawaii or the
USA though (I'm in the UK). You might find it through a wholesale
upholstery supplier, but probably not - the cane and rush trade seems
quite distinct from the stuffed fabric trade. I get mine from "The
Cane Workshop" in Somerset

It's not hard to do, and doesn't even take that long. Tools are pretty
simple too, although a good bench vice to hold the chair while you
work on it will do wonders for your back - otherwise rig up a low
platform (couple of stacked pallets) and stand the chair on that.
Don't bend over the chair at floor height.

Patriarch wrote:
>> Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote in
>> news:[email protected]:
>>
>>> It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Gene T"
>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> that looks a lot like strips of brown grocery paper twisted
>>>> together. Is anyone familiar with this type of material?
>>>
>>> Yes, it's very common.
>>>
>>> Your seat sounds like a rush seat (NB - not "cane"). The best rushes
>>> to do this are still grown (mine come from Holland) but they're
>>> surprisingly expensive and they also only grow in short lengths. So
>>> working a rush seat is as much about continually working new rushes
>>> into the cord as it is about twisting this cord onto the chair
>>> frame.
>>>
>>> So to solve both problems, much rush chair work is done with this
>>> paper rush. It comes on long reels of a constant size, so it's far
>>> easier to work with than real rush. Another option is "seagrass".
>>> This is hard wearing (also used for flooring) and easier to work
>>> with than rush, but a "natural" product unlike the paper cord.
>>>
>>> http://www.jamiltonupholstery.co.uk/shop_product.asp?dept=37
>>>
>>> You need to find a supplier of chair caning materials and a simple
>>> book on the technique. I can't really suggest one for Hawaii or the
>>> USA though (I'm in the UK). You might find it through a wholesale
>>> upholstery supplier, but probably not - the cane and rush trade
>>> seems quite distinct from the stuffed fabric trade. I get mine from
>>> "The Cane Workshop" in Somerset
>>>
>>> It's not hard to do, and doesn't even take that long. Tools are
>>> pretty simple too, although a good bench vice to hold the chair
>>> while you work on it will do wonders for your back - otherwise rig
>>> up a low platform (couple of stacked pallets) and stand the chair
>>> on that. Don't bend over the chair at floor height.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> There's also a product called 'danish cord', which may be a
>> linen/cotton type of product. May also be made of hemp. Same
>> suppliers should have it available.
>>
>> Patriarch

We used to do the Real McCoy with the rush in the bathtub to soak and a
little clorox added if we left it too long. At one time the directions
suggested slipping cardboard between the top and bottom layers (sides and
front - maybe and back - maybe?) but we used thin wood - go through all
that and put cardboard inside? Geesh.

We also varnished the competed seat I don't know if you'd do that with the
Danish cord.

I think the only problem was if you didn't get the rush or what ever you
used packed in tightly enough - then you'd get the 4 sections slipping away
from the middle (with weight after it had been sat on a bit) and you could
see through the chair seat.

Josie