Weaving Cane Seats for a Chestnut Wood-Canvas Canoe
January 23, 2012
by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes
Whether you are refinishing original seats for a Chestnut or Peterborough canoe or making replicas, once the frames are refinished, they need to be woven in the original Chestnut pattern.
It is called a “quick” pattern because it involves a normal six-stage pattern in which only the two diagonal stages are woven. What makes it a uniquely Chestnut pattern is the fact that both diagonals are woven in the same manner – under the vertical strands and over the horizontals.
Calling the pattern is quick is relative, I suppose. Now that I’ve done several dozen, it takes me only four to six hours to do each seat. I do this work in the evening while watching a movie (or three). I select about 20 lengths of natural strand cane (Chestnut seats use cane that is 3mm wide also referred to as medium cane) and soak it while the movie previews are running on the DVD.
When the movie is ready to start, I wrap the strands in a moist towel and sit down with a pair of scissors (I use Chinese gardening shears), a caning stiletto and about six hardwood pegs (I whittle the pegs from hardwood scraps to create pegs that fit into the 3/16” holes found in Chestnut canoe seats).
Start by weaving strands from the front of the seat frame to the back. I call these the vertical strands. When you start, leave about four inches of cane extending at the back of the frame. The strand is woven across the frame to the opposite hole, down through to the back, over to the next hole in the row and up to start again. Pegs are used to hold the strand firmly in place until the next pass is completed. Make sure that the polished side of the cane is facing up.
When you come to the end of a strand, tie it off with a simply half-hitch knot. Be sure to do this while the cane is still moist. Otherwise, it will break as you tie it tight.
The second stage of the pattern is another set of vertical strands. I use my thumbnail to pull the first strand to one side as the second strand is pulled down next to it. It is not necessary to pull the strands tight. Everything will work out as you weave later strands. Just make sure that the second strand does not lie directly on top of the first strand. Once you are finished and allow the cane to dry, it will tighten on its own.
The third stage runs from one side of the frame to the other. I call these the horizontal strands. The third strand is woven in the same manner as the first vertical strand.
The fourth stage is the same as the second stage. Again, ensure that the strands are set side-by-side. I can usually do the first four stages of a seat in the first hour of a movie. The work doesn’t involve any weaving and twists in the cane can be straightened as each strand is drawn tight. However, from here on in you must take the time to make sure each strand is straight while you weave it. If you find a twist in the strand, you will usually have to pull it out and begin again.
The fifth stage begins in the top-right corner of the seat frame. The weaving pattern is always the same – under the vertical strands and over the horizontals. I start at the top right-hand corner of the frame. Begin by going under the first set of vertical strands to the left of the corner hole. Continue weaving until you reach the bottom of the frame.
Weave three or four sets of vertical and horizontal strands. Then, pull the entire piece of cane through to tighten the strand. Continue weaving the rest of the strand until you weave under the last set of vertical strands at the bottom of the frame. At this point, pull the piece of cane through again to tighten the entire strand. Again, make sure that the strand is straight without any twists. If there is a twist, pull it out and try again. Once in place, insert the cane into the hole immediately left of the last set of vertical strands at the bottom of the frame. Pull the cane through and use a peg to hold it in place. The peg is moved over to the next hole once the cane is threaded up through it. The weaving proceeds from bottom to top in the same fashion as before.
At the bottom left-hand corner, two diagonal strands are woven into the corner hole. The first strand is the same as all of the diagonal strands done so far – first under the vertical and then over the horizontal. As you come back down to the corner hole, you weave under the last vertical strands right of the corner and then go over the vertical strands above the corner before entering the corner hole to complete the second corner strand. From the left side of the frame, the weaving is done first over the horizontal and then under the vertical.
In the fifth stage, the last strand at the top-left corner is a simple strand across the corner. The cane is tied off at the back. The fifth stage is competed by starting with the second strand in the top-right corner and ending with a simple strand across the bottom-right.
The sixth-stage replicates the fifth by weaving under the verticals and over the horizontals. The only difference is that it starts in the top-left corner. Along the top and bottom of the frame, the strands in this stage cross over the fifth-stage strands. Along the sides of the frame, they cross under the fifth-stage strands.
Chestnut seats are finished with border strands that cover the holes in the frame. These border strands are 3mm wide and are tied into the back of the frame as usual.
The border is held in place with cane that is 2.5mm wide (fine cane). It is tied into the back, comes up through the hole, over the border strand and back down through the same whole. This is called couching and is done at every second hole around the border. This is a simple stage in the weaving process but is very time consuming since the stiletto must be used to open each hole enough to allow the couching cane to be threaded through.
Before installing the newly caned seats, I stain the cane to match the patina of the old wood. I then apply double boiled linseed oil to the cane before it is shellacked and varnished along with the rest of the canoe.
