Varnish on new cane seats?

I am at the last stages of my restoration of a 1941 Old Town HW. I have re caned the seats and am wondering how do I finish them? Are they left natural,oiled, varnished, stained, or something else? They look great now , but after a few outings I'm sure they will get dirty. Any advise is appreciated.

This is often a hotly debated topic. The messages at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=4635 may help.

Benson

From V.I. Reed & Cane:
Cane Should not be stained. Most stains will not penetrate the natural bark of the cane. Stain will be uneven and not dry on the surface properly. At the same time, stain will cause the cane to dry out, become brittle, and will decrease the life of the cane by half.

Cane

I had very experienced caner once (he was experienced with canoe seats too) tell me to use very thin varnish on the top side only. I tried this for several years, but I broke a few seats that were treated that way, and I thought the cane seemed brittle. I have been avoiding varnish since. I think a periodic coating of tung oil might work best.

Peter, you could likely varnish around the cane with a brush, it will take more time and won't be easy, otherwise I think you have to remove the cane, photograph the pattern, varnish the frame and re-cane. Old Town and other builders never did much finishing at all on the back side of the seat.

Fitz.

I always put a good thinned coat on both sides, I've never had a problem.

Like so much about building and restoring wooden canoes, I think this really just boils down to personal preference. I've always varnished the cane. Invariably in canoes I restore, the unvarnished cane has weathered to an unattractive dull grey color.

I think I recently read HH Perkins catalogue that says one thinned coat both sides.

Cane seats

Thanks for all the great advise! I think I will give the topside a thinned coat of varnish for this canoe and see how it stands up.

On Canadian canoes the original factory hand caned and babiche seats were varnished on the top side only. I varnish both sides with no problems to date. Keep in mind that the varnish not only seals but also acts as a glue to the cane or rawhide strands. This helps to keep your backside dry in wet weather and prevents excess stretching of the weave. Also worth noting is that the factory made machine caned replacement seats are dipped in varnish after assembly.