Chair Caning and Almost-Lost Arts

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ADK_Pipe

ADK_Pipe

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I took a photo of a new pipe on a chair caning project that I was working on tonight and posted it in another section of the board.

I've been making Adirondack pack baskets, fishing creels, etc., for a few years now and recently got into caning this summer. It's been a great hobby learning an old skill and saving some misused furniture.

I read this from Art of Manliness today...

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/07/29/6-manly-ways-to-settle-your-mind/

Caning works... repetitive, crafty, productive, etc.

Just curious, anyone else into chair caning or other almost-lost arts?
 
Thanks for the compliment on the caning...

I tied flies for a few years, but haven't in quite a while now. Most of the streams around me are smaller streams, with a lot of overhanging brush, etc., so I usually go with a spinning setup rather than the fly fishing. But, I've been thinking about getting back into it lately. The commute to my new job puts me right at some great streams for fly fishing. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to spring!

The Art of Manliness articles are great. I can get lost in reading through them and onto the next one. It's amazing how much things have changed over the years.
 
I love the old rocking chairs with the backs and seat done that way, they get broke in from use and are comfortable. I havent gotten into much lately, other than taking care of my handi capped daughter and wife, Leaves me with not much time to work to pay the bills, much less persue things I learned from my kin folks and such. especially the old ways which I like. If that chair in the picture is your work you sir do a fine job.
 
I finally clicked on the link to AoM and I've got to say that I'll be going back. Thanks for the link and the photos of your work. The caning on that chair looks fantastic!
 
plumbernater":4zwds4lj said:
I love the old rocking chairs with the backs and seat done that way, they get broke in from use and are comfortable. I havent gotten into much lately, other than taking care of my handi capped daughter and wife, Leaves me with not much time to work to pay the bills, much less persue things I learned from my kin folks and such. especially the old ways which I like. If that chair in the picture is your work you sir do a fine job.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the compliment on the caning job. That's my work... It is a rocking chair. Here's a photo when I started the project (in my living room) before taking it out to the garage. The back of the chair is old caning and in fine condition. I just need to do some small repairs to the binder around the edge. The seat is all new.



It sounds like you don't have too much free time, but I'm sure your family appreciates the help.

I'm feeling the lack of free time, myself. I have a set of two month old twins, a six month old job, and we are trying to finish some remodels on our house to get it on the market in the next month. I promised getting this chair done before I knew about the house part of the equation! Plus, the $$ from caning jobs is a nice addition. When this project is done, it will be break time until summer...
 
I did some caning in the 70's to help my grandfather finish up some chairs. I learned it out of a magazine of some sort. (It may actually have been a how-to pamphlet.) I did two or three of them. I remember the first one going REALLY slow, but got a little better on the subsequent ones. I am not certain that they turned out as well as the one in your picture, but they are still in the family, so there is some satisfaction to be had there.

I started in on another "lost art" about ten years ago. Hand-chasing threads. I have been turning on a wood lathe since I was a kid. Chasing threads is supposed to be the tough one that no one does anymore.

Basicly, I slow the lathe down to about 400 rpm and cut matching threads on a couple of pieces of wood with a hand-held tool. I made a lot of boxes and lately pipes with threaded joints.

finishedStem.jpg


I learned this out of a magazine artticle also. I stood at the lathe for eight hours one day making failure after failure after failure until I achieved success. (The most common comment from people whien I show my work to them is, "That must have taken a long time." Nope, it happens pretty fast and suceeds or fails in real-time.) Course my success was a pretty sad joint. It took me about three years before I could approach the task and feel fairly confident that I would succeed.

There are only a few people in the world who hand-chase threads. They use pristine, closely grained, very hard materials. So of course, just for the principle of the thing, I had to take it further to soft, corsely grained, material with holes in it.

banksiaBall.jpg


The sphere is about three inches across and is made out of the seed pod from a Banksia tree that grows in Australia. The stand is made out of two (threaded together) pieces of African Blackwood.

anthony
 
The threaded part of that pipe, is that a hollowed out chamber? If so I bet it gives the pipe a different smoke.
 
Yeah, it is hollowed out. The walls are about 1/8 inch thick. The chamber functions the same as the air chamber under a calabash with the difference that the chamber here is not heated as much as the tobacco chamber isn't hanging inside it.
anthony
 
That is some beautiful work, Acme.

I just watched this video on Youtube re: Chasing Threads...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jslgNh5b-S8

Fascinating.

I have wanted to get a lathe for some time. There are just so many things you can do with it. Chasing threads, though, I have never heard of!

ADK
 
Yeah, lathes are a lot of fun. There are a lot of things that you can do with them, but some limits also. They tend to only make things round.

I made a DVD of the process of making one of those second chamber pipes. Just the turning part. Probably a quarter of it is about chasing threads.

I was kind of interested in if you put glycerin in the water that you soaked the cane in when you worked on your chair. I remember using it sometimes and not others.

anthony
 
No, I've never used glycerine when caning. I have heard of others using it, but I have heard mixed reviews.

I use a spray bottle with some warm water to keep everything wet while I am working and that seems to be just fine for me. Although I need to really keep up with it in the winter. The cane seems to dry out every five minutes once I take it out of the soaking bucket.

ADK
 
That's a good idea about the spray bottle. I just soaked mine in water, and did have problems with it drying out before I had finished with a given length of it.
I never did figure out if the glyserine was only because it was slick or because it was supposed to keep the material wet longer.

anthony
 
I have heard that it keeps it wetted longer and slide a little easier, but I always use a spray bottle. Every time I think to try out glycerine, I just never do.

I started with weaving by making Adirondack pack baskets and fishing creels... which use a spray bottle. So, I just carried over the idea.

Maybe next time I'll try the glycerine :)
 
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