Caning

[pklonowski]

Okay, I'm about to dive into my first real seat caning attempt, with holes instead of a spline. A friend who lives not too far away will be coaching -- she assures me it'll be good for me.

Searching the forums & back issues of WC, I found hole spacing & diameter info. Looking at pictures posted in the forums, it looks like the backset for the holes (the distance from the holes' centers to the inside edge of the seat frame) varies from 1/4 to 1/2 the width of the seat frame. So far so good.

I also noticed that the holes are simply drilled straight through, and was thinking (there I go again, probably end up hurting myself...) maybe the holes should have a little bit of countersink to them, to relieve the strain on the cane as it bends into the hole. But then, that's not where cane seems to break anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter? Any thoughts?

And what are the pros & cons of narrower vs wider cane? With narrower material, the holes are closer together, so there are more of them...

Many thanks in advance, for responses past and present...

 

[Denis M. Kallery]

Paul,
Though I've only caned a few canoe seats I've done several chairs. Here is what I would like to see. Yes, countersink the holes -both top and bottom. Then lightly sand the edge of the countersinks. Also break the edge of the seat where the cane goes over it. Those are the two most frequent places breaks occur because of the sharp edges that are usually left as is-as you surmised. Have fun!
Denis

 

[woodenkayakguy]

I just finished one seat for my old otanobee and bought the materials here
http://www.leevalley.com/home/Search.aspx?c=1&action=n
and they even have good instructions here
http://www.leevalley.com/shopping/Instructions.aspx?p=58282
It wasn't all that hard and gives the satisfaction of doing it yourself

 

[pklonowski]

Many thanks! Instructions are printed, parts are ordered. Knowing Lee Valley, I'll probably have parts by mid-week.

Also, I was thinking I'd varnish the frame before caning it, then varnish the cane afterwards. Does that make any sense?

 

[Rob Stevens]

I was taught to varnish only the upper (shiny) surface, "so the cane can dry out" if it gets wet.

 

[pklonowski]

That does get into the question of oil vs varnish, as has been discussed on these forums, as well as in back issues of WC. As I understand it, the argument is that once the varnish cracks, water seeps in, and never gets out. Oil, on the other hand, soaks into the cane, thus avoiding the water seepage issue, but it needs routine re-oiling, and attracts dirt.

What if I oil the cane, let it get good & dry for a couple of weeks, and then varnish as a top coat? Could have adhesion issues, depending on the compatibility of the two products, but that can be tested beforehand.

Again, I may be thinking too hard.

 

[Douglas Ingram]

Paul,

Use 3mm cane, 1/4" holes, 3/4" spacing, 1/2" back from the inside edge of the frame, slightly countersunk front and back. Put the countersink bit on the 1/4" bit and it cuts your time down.

Coil the cane, soak it for about 20 minutes, then place it in a ziploc bag till ready to use. It stays nice and soft this way. Soaking it too long makes it go grey, the longer soaked the darker it gets.

I've been in the habit of varnishing, for what its worth.

 

[pklonowski]

I still haven't hurt myself while thinking this through, so why stop now?

Countersink works okay, but it leaves two 45degree "break points" instead of one 90degree one. I tried a Dremel #615 router bit, which is a 1/8" roundover, with a solid bearing, and no fillet at the bearing.

I can't find my Dremel router base, so I chucked the bit into my drill press, set it to high speed (3100rpm... slow for a router bit), set max depth of the quill travel, lowered the bit into the 1/4" hole, and worked the bit around to get the entire edge rounded. See the attached pic. The hole to the right is the countersink; the others are done with the router bit.

I think it oughta work okay...

 

[Douglas Ingram]

Looks good, but there are a lot of holes to do. Settle in, put on some good tunes, and stay alert.

I couldn't say if you'll achieve any advantage for all the work.

 

[davelanthier]

Why not just get on with it?

Today I reconditioned and hand caned two 50 year old "original" Chestnut seats for a canoe that had been well used. These seats do not have counter sunk holes or rounded brace edges but they lasted longer than the original owner.

 

[pklonowski]

Holes are done, sanded, ready to go.

Sorry, it's the engineer-brain... had figure out a better way, even if there's no good reason for it... or any way to prove it's actually better...

 

[pklonowski]

Well, I FINALLY had time to get this seat caned, my first real one. Took me ~6hours, start to finish, but that includes a couple of good breaks, and un-weaving a few runs when I messed up. So I won't win the seat-caning olympics , but I'm okay with that. It's done, and doesn't look too bad, to my eye. The next one will be easier. See attached.

Can't find the binder cane in the kit I bought; it's probably in that rat's nest of cane in the bag somewhere. The seat looks good enough for me without it... or I could use some of the 3mm for binder. Nah...

The weave is tight as a drum -- when you pop it with a fingernail, it reverberates. Not sure HOW tight it's supposed to be, but mostly I kneel in the boat anyway, so hopefully it'll last a while...

 

[Dave Osborn]

Binder

Paul,
Nice work!!!
IMHO the binder really gives it a finished look. It doesn't take long and it helps to protect the canes that enter the holes. Use the 3mm if you don't have the other binder. My 2 cents......

 

[Dan Lindberg]

I agree, nice work.

BTW, the only time I hand cained a set of seats, I had well over 12 hours in each. But, that was with plastic cain, very long lengths and a very odd seat frame.

Dan

 

[pklonowski]

Thanks!

I may go ahead & put the binder on... caving in to peer pressure!

 

[chris pearson]

Keep up the good work, I think caning is really neat, both from a weaving standpoint as well as great to look at. See my cane job in the model forum if you are interested in very small cane!!

 

[pklonowski]

I saw your post... very cool!