Ever have one of those chair caning jobs where you’re working on a hole-to-hole cane rocker that simply won’t stay put when you’re trying to weave the seat?
You know, when that blasted rocker keeps moving back and forth and is uncooperative, making the weaving task very difficult? Don’t you just about want to pull your hair out or scream?
Well, settle down, sugar, and listen to this simple, easy, and cheap light-bulb moment solution to your problem. The WickerWoman’s got you covered on this one!
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Today’s Chair Caning Tips and Hints–
Nowadays, almost everyone has hippo clips or spring clamps in their garage or workshop. They serve a multitude of uses in the home or in your chair caning studio or workshop, but I bet you’ve never thought of using them in this way, before.
I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to stabilize a cane rocker is to take a couple of those hippo clips or spring clamps and clip one to the end of each rocker. Presto! Your job just got a lot easier and at no cost to you!
Of course, this isn’t the only way to stabilize a cane rocker while you weave the seat or back, but it is very simple, cheap, and effective, won’t you agree?
You can also use a pool noodle to put underneath the rockers or a length of 2×4 board, a rolled-up towel, or any number of things. But this was a quick and easy way to hold a cane rocker in place and the solution was right at hand in my trusty little toolbox.
Check out the spring clamps and all the other great chair caning tools in my Amazon Store.
Be sure to click on this link if you are looking for other Chair Caning Tips and let me know in the comments below if you have any that I’ve missed.
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Happy Weaving, until next time!
I would like to rush the back seat of a rocking chair. As you know it is rectangle and not square. Would you happen to have any words of advice on accomplishing this? Thank you for the help. Merry Christmas
Hi Wayne,
When weaving the back of a rocker using paper rush one thing you need to concern yourself with is to lay the rocker down on a table that’s a proper height for you to be working on so you don’t hurt your back. I use an adjustable height table for all my weaving and also stand on an anti-fatigue mat. Find these items and more in my Comfy Workspace Items in my Amazon Store.
As far as the weaving itself goes, just treat the back as a rectangular footstool rather than a trapezoidal (wider in the front than the back). So in the square and rectangular chairs you don’t need to “square up” the seat using the short strands to fill in the gussets because there aren’t any.
Just begin on the left side and weave in a counter clockwise pattern as you would on any other rush furniture piece. Conceal all your joins within the pockets and use the hog rings and hog ring pliers to attach the ends. Take your time and be sure to check the back side every so often so it looks nice and neat too, and you haven’t overlapped any strands and the corners are all crisp and nice there, too. Hope this helps and good luck!
I use a wooden yardstick to stableize a rocking chair while working on it, although this sounds like a good idea too. The thicker the yardstick the better. I am also looking for a good source for plastic cane, that looks like real cane. Any help would be appreciated.,
Check out the advertisers on my Cane & Basket Supplies Directory™ to find your source for the plastic cane. And tell them you found them through their ad on WickerWoman.com!