I was recently given an antique cane bottom chair and
am attempting to refinish it.
Having stripped the ugly green paint from it (man that
methyl chloride does burn) I find the wood (oak, I
think) has a lot of "character" and am not interested
in painting it. While I could stain it I am wondering
what you experienced folks have to say about boiled
linseed oil (with about 5% japan drier as suggested in
FWW's Methods of Work) as a finish for this chair.
In addition the cane has disintegrated and I have
ordered some as replacement along with the spline
(after careful measurement of the groove.) Do I
replace the seat and then apply the linseed oil or
apply the finish first and then replace the seat?
Too, the directions for replacing the seat look fairly
straightforward, on paper at least, but I've never
done it before and my past experience has demonstrated that things are
rarely as simple as
they look. I believe I can do it but an old pro here
in Atlanta told me very brusquely not to bother
trying as it wasn't worth the effort. Of course
he would do it... for a price.
Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Snidely
I prefer to refinish the furniture first then apply the cane.
Web cane, which is what you are describing, is the easiest caning to do,
but, as with everything else, the devil is in the details.
You should go to the library and hunt up a book titled "The Caners
Handbook." That has complete, step-by-step instructions for all important
caning methods. The full retail cost of the book is less than 20 bucks so
it might not be a bad idea to buy your own copy.
--
Don Drew
WoodCraft Designs
http://www.dondrew.com/woodcrafts
[email protected]
603-895-2600
"Snidely F Whiplash" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:I%qVc.291869$%_6.233268@attbi_s01...
> I was recently given an antique cane bottom chair and
> am attempting to refinish it.
>
> Having stripped the ugly green paint from it (man that
> methyl chloride does burn) I find the wood (oak, I
> think) has a lot of "character" and am not interested
> in painting it. While I could stain it I am wondering
> what you experienced folks have to say about boiled
> linseed oil (with about 5% japan drier as suggested in
> FWW's Methods of Work) as a finish for this chair.
>
> In addition the cane has disintegrated and I have
> ordered some as replacement along with the spline
> (after careful measurement of the groove.) Do I
> replace the seat and then apply the linseed oil or
> apply the finish first and then replace the seat?
>
> Too, the directions for replacing the seat look fairly
> straightforward, on paper at least, but I've never
> done it before and my past experience has demonstrated that things are
> rarely as simple as
> they look. I believe I can do it but an old pro here
> in Atlanta told me very brusquely not to bother
> trying as it wasn't worth the effort. Of course
> he would do it... for a price.
>
> Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Snidely
>
>
>
>
>
I'm no cane expert nor in the business, but I did recently take a cane
bottom chair apart to reglue the joints. I studied the cane weaving
carefully as I removed it and I can believe a cane man earns every
penney he gets. Glenn
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I have replaced several machine woven seat bottoms and backs with excellent
results. BUT, you must soak the cane in water before gluing the machine
woven cane to the chair. As the cane dries it shrinks and tightens up.
Seems to me finishing it before attaching to the chair would impede the
process of soaking and drying properly, IMHO. I have always applied the
finish after attaching to the chair.
"Snidely F Whiplash" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:I%qVc.291869$%_6.233268@attbi_s01...
> I was recently given an antique cane bottom chair and
> am attempting to refinish it.
>
> Having stripped the ugly green paint from it (man that
> methyl chloride does burn) I find the wood (oak, I
> think) has a lot of "character" and am not interested
> in painting it. While I could stain it I am wondering
> what you experienced folks have to say about boiled
> linseed oil (with about 5% japan drier as suggested in
> FWW's Methods of Work) as a finish for this chair.
>
> In addition the cane has disintegrated and I have
> ordered some as replacement along with the spline
> (after careful measurement of the groove.) Do I
> replace the seat and then apply the linseed oil or
> apply the finish first and then replace the seat?
>
> Too, the directions for replacing the seat look fairly
> straightforward, on paper at least, but I've never
> done it before and my past experience has demonstrated that things are
> rarely as simple as
> they look. I believe I can do it but an old pro here
> in Atlanta told me very brusquely not to bother
> trying as it wasn't worth the effort. Of course
> he would do it... for a price.
>
> Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Snidely
>
>
>
>
>
"Glenn or Carolyn ELLIOTT" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm no cane expert nor in the business, but I did recently take a cane
> bottom chair apart to reglue the joints. I studied the cane weaving
> carefully as I removed it and I can believe a cane man earns every
> penney he gets. Glenn
Agreed, OTOH, machine woven cane with which a spline is used to hold
everything into place is really quite easy. I was highly successful the
first time I took on the process. I replaced a chair bottom in about 1 hour
including removing the old one.
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have replaced several machine woven seat bottoms and backs with
excellent
> results. BUT, you must soak the cane in water before gluing the machine
> woven cane to the chair. As the cane dries it shrinks and tightens up.
> Seems to me finishing it before attaching to the chair would impede the
> process of soaking and drying properly, IMHO. I have always applied the
> finish after attaching to the chair.
I am talking about applying a finish to the cane it self. If you are
talking about the chair finish, I would finish before replacing the cane.
"Snidely F Whiplash" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:I%qVc.291869$%_6.233268@attbi_s01...
Can't help you on your prob - but would like to note that I had no idea that
was his middle initial.