Cane is a type of woven fiber that is used to cover the seats and backs of chairs. This fiber holds up well unless a sharp object or heavy weight create a hole. Once there is a hole in the cane, it is better to replace all of the cane rather than try to fix a small area. Your cane seat back should have cane "fabric" surrounded by a cord spline material that is pressing the cane into a groove.
Instructions
1. Place cane fabric and spline in warm water to soak for at least one hour, to make both pliable and able to be worked.
2. Cut along the spline all the way around the chair seat back. Cut through the glue that attaches the spline and fabric to the chair. Locate the end of the spline inside the groove in the seat back. Pry up on the end of the spline without applying undue pressure to the wood around the groove. It is important to not damage the wood or the groove in any way. Pull with pliers once you have enough spline to grip.
3. Cut through the center of the seat back fabric that remains on the chair and discard the remains. Find a chisel the same width as the groove and place the chisel under the edge of any remaining material in the groove. Tip the chisel to a 45-degree angle, then drive it along the groove by gently tapping it with a hammer.
4. Wash the a scrubber and soapy water. Use the utility knife to remove any remaining material and dry the chair with a towel. If you need to do any repairs or refinishing, this is the point to complete those steps.
5. Position the chair on its legs with the seat back facing you. Measure half way across the top of the opening. Place a piece of painter's tape vertically, in the middle of your mark. Measure half way across the bottom of the opening and place tape vertically in the middle of the mark. Use a level at the approximate center and draw a vertical line on each tape. This will give you a straight guide line.
6. Remove your fabric from the water in which it was soaking. Position your fabric over the opening so that the weave is straight. Check the straightness of the weave using your marks. Press the cane into the groove with a wood wedge (one side of a wood clothespin will work). Cut four small pieces of spline 1 inch long.
7. Tap the cane into the top groove firmly with the wood tool and a hammer. Insert a piece of spline to hold the cane in place and tap that into place. Stretch the cane to the bottom groove and repeat. Do the same with both sides. The spline pieces will hold the cane taut while you drive the cane into the rest of the groove, including the corners.
8. Trim away the cane along the outside edge of the groove using a utility knife with a fresh blade. Remove the small spline pieces. Do not disturb the cane's position in the groove. Apply a bead of carpenter's glue in the groove all the way around. Remove your spline from the water and trim off a clean end. Start your spline in the bottom center of the seat back. Press the spline into the groove with your fingers until you reach the beginning. Trim off the excess.
9. Tap your spline into the groove with a wood block and hammer. Work along the spline every inch so that the spline seats deep into the groove. Allow the glue to dry for 24 hours before using the chair.
Tags: into groove, , cane into, groove with, cane into groove