Wicker is a general term for woven furniture and accents, not a specific material. The term is used broadly for any item woven from synthetic to natural hard fibers such as rattan, bamboo, seagrass and more. The primary material used to create wicker is rattan “vine,” which is actually a name for more than 600 prolicic climbing plants. Some species can grow more than 300 feet in length—making rattan an abundant, sustainable resource. The production of wicker furniture often utilizes material from the entire plant: Peel, core, pole and all. When rattan’s outer skin or peel is removed and cut into thin strips, the resulting material is called cane. Rattan cane is used for weaving chair seats or wrapping joints on wicker furniture and is produced in many different gauges, ranging from carriage fine to the largest slab rattan. It has a natural glossy finish and does not accept stain or paint well, but is considered most beautiful in its natural state. Rattan cane packed in wet clay and allowed to season is known as Kubu or Kubu gray, due to its soft ashen color.
Kubu rattan is exceptionally strong and is prized by furniture-lovers for its distinctive dusky shade. Reed is the thin, flexible material inside the rattan core. Most often used for basket weaving, it may also function as an ornamental element in wicker furniture. Unlike cane, it has no natural finish and readily accepts paint or stain. Bamboo resembles rattan and is often mistaken for it. But unlike rattan, which is solid, bamboo has a hollow core. Bamboo also has distinguishing ridges where the leaves were attached, while rattan’s leaf nodes are not as pronounced. Made popular in 19th century England, willow or twig furniture is still crafted today, although the supple branches are now most often used in basketry. Willow can be soaked for flexibility and woven or bent to form graceful, rounded shapes. The term seagrass is used for a variety of flowering plants, such as water hyacinth, that grow in shallow coastal waters. Seagrasses are not related to seaweed but are more closely akin to the lily.
Leaves are generally long and narrow, resembling terrestrial grasses. Banana leaf furniture is made from natural banana fibers that are dried, twisted and braided into a rope. The rope is then woven over a frame to create furniture and basketry that is handsome and highly durable.Spline for Cane Chairs, Any Size #6.5 to #12, Price is per 6' LengthKjaerholm AshKjaerholm DenmarkChair PoulBentwood ChairThonet ChairPk15 Ash1970S FurnitureFurniture ChairsHall FurnitureForwardTRIWA INSPO - Poul Kjaerholm; #PK15 Ash and Cane Chair, 1970s. Produced by PP Møbler, 1990s. Okay-so who were you going to call about repairing that wicker chair in the attic? Find anyone willing to touch the rush seats on that antique chair set inherited from Uncle Bob? How about that pair of porch rockers snapped up at the yard sale - a bargain but needing a little work? And all those cane chair seats...you've come to the right place: Able to Cane of Maine. In over twenty-five years, natural seating of all kinds has passed through our doors.
We repair caned chairs, wicker chairs and rushWe weave webbing (or tape) onto Shaker style chairs and special cord onto Danish style chairs. We braid reed on the classic porch rocker. We also provide chair caning instruction. One-on-one sessions can be arranged, either in Portland or Warren, near Rockland, in our shops. Every spring, we teach a chair seat repair class in the adult education program of Medomack Valley High School. It is very popular. And we have supplies for caning, wicker repair, rush seating-really, anything we use, we also sell to the handy folk willing and able to take on their own projects. Everything that can be thought of, from pressed cane webbing, spline, Shaker tape, reeds and splints to pins, stains and tools can be had, given a few days notice. The more popular items are kept in stock in Warren and can be in Portland for pick up within 24 hours. For those at a distance, there is always the U.S.Postal Service. Just give us a call: (207) 615-8373 or send an e-mail:
You can also use the form provided on the contact page.Two cane rocking chairs Two cane rocking chairs for sale. Could do with a varnish. Ad ID: 1218delivery service consumer creditReplacing worn out, broken, faded or otherwise inappropriate seating on chairs is our bread and butter. The bulk of our business is cane chair repair. There are two types of caning for repairing cane seats: hand-woven and pressed. Hand-woven is distinguished by the tiny holes drilled through the perimeter of the seat. The replacement cost is determined by the number of holes multiplied by the cost per hole. Pressed cane comes in pre-woven sheets, which are cut to fit the seat and held in place by a spline (flexible �wooden� strip) around the edge. The chair caning cost for this is often determined by measuring the longest side, in inches, and multiplying by the cost per inch. Our cane chair repair is not limited to cane chair seats - bring any cane repair that you have and we'll take a look at it.
Repairing rush seats is the next most popular replacement. There are two types of rush: natural and fibre. Natural rush seating is our specialty. Hand-harvested cattails are spun into "yarn" that is woven around a chair seat. We recommend this for repairing rush seats in fine antiques. For a chair that is used every day, fibre rush is a great alternative. This is a paper product that comes in coils and is woven around a chair seat using the same technique as the natural rush. The cost for each type of rush seat repair is determined by the size of the chair in question, with the fibre rush running about half of the natural rush. Porch rockers, with their reed or splint seats and/or backs, come through the shop often. We also do shaker tape porch rocker repair. Sometimes, only part, the seat or the back, needs to be done over. There is no set price as these chairs can vary greatly in size. Able to Cane also has experience repairing wicker chairs. Wicker work can be very beautiful but it can also be very fragile.
Some pieces are worth repairing and some are not. We need to see your wicker chair repair to determine if your "yard sale find" merits spending more money on it. We are not limited to repairing cane chairs. Other repair work comes under the heading of structural. Re-gluing, for example, may be necessary before reseating. Occasionally broken rails are discovered while repairing cane chairs, upon the removal of old seating. Because the chairs get turned around and over during the process of replacement, we may be the first to notice a crack in a rocker or a newly forming split in a back. We want to make sure that your cane chair repair is of the highest quality, which means it may not be limited to repairing cane seats. The cost of a structural repair is usually not in a phone estimate of the chair caning cost as it only comes up when the chair in question is in our hand. Bring us your cane seat repair, wicker chair repair, or rush seat repair. The bottom line is that nothing can replace a visual inspection to determine the true cost of a repair.