Unfortunately, I've had to give up doing rush except on small projects thanks to wicked carpal tunnel. Chair caning has become very much a lost art. Because of this, quality pieces of furniture which are often family heirlooms are stored away in attics, garages, basements or, even worse, put out to the curb with the trash. When one considers having a sagging or broken seat recaned, the thought is
often dismissed due to the notion that replacing the seat would be too expensive. I learned this craft more than twenty years ago, and it gives me tremendous pleasure to return a customer's chair as a functional, beautiful piece of furniture. When discussing a customer's chair, it's often said that "They just don't make this kind of furniture anymore," and that's true. A new caned seat will add years, even generations, to a cherished piece. Of course, the cost of recaning a seat, as well as the time it takes to do the job, depends on the type and size of the seat. Press-in seats, which present their own challenge of getting the piece in straight while racing against drying cane, glue, and spline, do not take as long as hand-woven seats or rush seats, but the materials are more expensive. Herringbone seats, typically found in porch rockers, take longer to replace. Press-in, herringbone, and rush seats are $5./inch along the longest edge. Hand-woven seats (the kind that have holes drilled through the wood around the opening of the seat where the cane passes down through one hole then back up through the next) are done at the rate of .90/hole. All costs include materials. I use only natural fiber purchased from long-established cane suppliers. If you have a char that you are considering having recaned and the "old" cane is still in the seat, please don't remove it or, if you must, save a good sample of it so that I may match the size and color.
