Friday, February 4, 2011

Chair Mending

Our dining room furniture is hand-me-down, from Tom's grandmother. The gate leg table folds down to seat two and extends, with leaves, to seat twelve. We refinished the table top many years ago. We have a set of the original ladder back chairs, plus some from his mother's set, and more that we picked up at an antique store a long time ago. Some of these have been living in the attic, some are in the dining room, and some serve as desk chairs around the house. The seats are paper caning, and many of the chair seats were falling apart. Tom has been going to redo them for years. This is the year. He has to concentrate to remember the pattern, over, around and under, this corner then that corner, while keeping tension on the cording. It's hard on his arthritic hands. He's also re gluing loose joints and cleaning up the finish with furniture oil. He has a kerosene heater in the garage to keep him warm. Here are the first two he did. He finished another one today. He'll probably put some kind of finish on the seats. He just has to read up on what to use, or go talk to the guys at the woodworking store. They are his new buddies.

15 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! That's amazing! We do have so much in common except that you finish what we think about doing. We bought a set of four really beautiful ladder back chairs similar to yours (with tattered seats) at an estate sale some 30 years ago. Art was always planning to work on them. He did some research at the library, bought a HUGE reel of the paper caning and started. However it got to be a bit confusing, I think. Whatever the case. The chairs stayed in the attic until we were ready to move to Hawaii. Somebody must have bought the chairs and the caning when we hired someone to do the conducted (moving) sale for us because they weren't there when we returned to the house. Your photos bring back the memories of what might have been. Sigh...

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  2. Very well done, especially considering he has arthritis.

    I have never seen a kerosene heater before.

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  3. WOW!! how tedious and what a beatiful product for all that love and care and craftmanship...simpley lovely!

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  4. I am so impressed. It's a fantastic outcome, those two finished chairs, so he must have kept track of the overs and unders.

    I always wondered how those seats were made, and now I know.

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  5. beautiful work on lovely old chairs...

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  6. How wonderful! They look beautiful. Hard work rewarded!

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  7. What a beautiful job your husband is doing. Chair caning is an art and it looks as if he is a master at it. I love antique furniture and enjoy seeing it preserved.

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  8. The chairs look beautiful. Caning is such tedius work. Kudos to Tom for finishing the job.

    My Mother's Primroses have bloomed continuously since they were planted in the Fall. We are so lucky out here--weatherwise.

    Go sounders. MB

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  9. Wow, that is amazing. Is there anything Tom does not do well?

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  10. the chairs are beautiful!!
    good work :)

    I love furniture with a history
    I still have a few pieces of my mom's and 2 things built by my grandfather
    they are treasures to me

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  11. Very nice indeed. HOw great that you can save a piece of family history as well.

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  12. Truly amazing...I love to see the handiwork of people who are brave enough to take on such a project and see it through to the end. These chairs are a treasure that will only become more and more treasured as time goes on.

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  13. Your husband is a very talented person and those finished chairs look beautiful. How wonderful to have furniture owned by a grandmother.

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  14. Congratulate Tom for us Linda. He did a great job of those two chairs. I envy his determination and patience - something I certainly don't have! - Dave

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  15. Great workmanship!!! Is there anything you two can't do?
    I'm pretty good at doing just about everything, but you've got me beat! I love to visit here and see what all you are up to, and accomplish.. What a team!

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