How To Repair A Woven Chair Seat

Have you e'er found a neat ready of vintage chairs with woven seats only to see that one of them was damaged? Well Graham, from Minerva Enterprises who is 1 of my content contributors restores piece of furniture for a living. He's pulled together this tutorial to testify you lot how he repairs and reapplies new Danish Cord to a woven chair and so you can practise it as well. If yous haven't taken a look at the prices of some of these skilful condition chairs on eBay or your local piece of furniture store, you might desire to take a peek. You can plow a real profit with the right chair if you lot repair the weaving. Then take information technology abroad Graham!

Tools & Materials For Chair Repair

• Chair
• Danish Nails
• Leap Clamps
• Tack Hammer
• Tacks (optional)
• Unlaced Danish Cord (or fiber rush)

Watch The Video!

Make sure yous subscribe to Graham's YouTube for more projects!

Why Repair A Woven Chair?

If you have a chair that has a paper cord seat in that location are several reasons that yous might need to have it re-woven. Cleaved paper cord being the biggest culprit, others could be stains that wont come out or even cats, they dear to dig their claws into these seats sometimes.  Lucky for y'all, I'one thousand going to show you how to re-seat 1 of these chairs yourself.  Afterwards watching the video, yous nonetheless don't retrieve yous are upwards to the job, there are people out at that place like me that volition do this for you. One of these chairs, depending on your location, would toll effectually $150 to go a new Danish paper cord seat.

Delight keep in listen that this is how I learned to do information technology and that information technology is not the only way to weave Danish cord.

Chair and Surface Prep

I have a set of teak J.50. Moller chairs that I caused at an auction. They were in pretty good condition except for the woven seats had a few strands that were broken.  While it is possible to repair a few strands, its hard to match the patina of aged Danish cord.  With that said, I removed all the Danish cord from these chairs, start past cutting the sometime cord

Once the cords were all cut, underneath, you need to loosen the nails by slightly bending the nails back to get the cord lose. And then y'all remove the old cord.  What y'all are left with is the chair with all the nails left in place.  If a nail breaks or falls out, you can supersede them.

Weaving The Danish Cord

For i chair, it takes about a ii lbs. spool of unlaced Danish string. You can go a 2-pound spool for about $30 from an online weaving supply store.  Considering I had several chairs to practise, I used a 10-pound spool I got for $100 and fabricated a spool holder with a lazy Susan to make the unspooling easier.

With the chair facing me and the spool on my left, I start on the  front left of the chair, you have to secure the cease of the cord to the chair, you lot tin can exercise this one of two means. 1, you can use upholstery tacks to secure the cord to the front chair rail or ii, which I did, yous can weave the cord over and under the nails on the left side rail with the tail going to the rear of the chair, you only demand to weave it about 4 or 5 nails back. This will secure the cord.

**Always keeping tension on the cord**

From here you start taking the cord on the inside of the offset (left most) front end smash and then by going nether the front end rail and back to the rear rail. This first set of strands will be a set of 4(or two sets of 2)

In the rear of the chair, you will get over the rear rail from the forepart and up under to the left near nail from right to left and then back over the rear rail(the way you came) to the front, claw on the smash from leftto right and the  back over the top to the back.

Using the same boom in the back, right to left, hook the nail and go dorsum to the forepart.  When y'all get back to the front, hook on the smash and the next smash from left to right

You volition want to make sure the 4 strands are pushed all the mode to the left

You will be spanning two nails, your forepart to back strands will e'er exist positioned over the boom.

Continue The Weave

Yous will keep to do this the entire way beyond the chair, each nail will get 1 prepare of strands except for the showtime and last sets, once you go to the last boom on the right of the chair,  you will do 2 sets of strands totaling four strands. It will exist the same equally the first.

Once you bring the terminal strand dorsum to the front end and hook the nail from left to correct, you can either tack the strand in place or weave over under on the side rail nails to secure it in identify and cutting the cord.  You can plow the chair over and hammer downward the nails with a tack hammer on the front end and dorsum rails (all except the center nail)

Now that y'all have all the front back strands completed, you will wrap the front and back stretchers.

Weaving The Stretchers

Starting on the forepart stretcher, you want to measure 50 ft of cord and cut it from the spool.  Find the eye and claw it on the heart nail. For the dorsum rail information technology will exist 40 ft.

Split up the 2 halves then they do non get tangled.

If you took detect to the chair before yous disassembled it, you will have noticed that the forepart rail normally has 5 wraps between the long strands. sometimes there are six or sometimes 4 but on the Moller chairs its normally v.

I wrap to the left beginning.  On the 5^th wrap, on the dorsum of the chair runway, y'all must cross over the strands that are already nailed.  Keep wrapping the front rail until yous become to the stop, you want to get as many wraps as possible, making sure the forepart to back strands remain over the nails.  When you get to the stop you lot demand to tack the cord in identify (or you can over nether weave it on the nails on the side rails).

Once y'all take the front and back wrapped you will start weaving left to right. tack or over nether weave the cord to the side track and pull plenty string to achieve the other side and start weaving, pull it taught, but non tight, hook the boom underneath and then pull the string back on the other side, that is the commencement weave.  Apply your fingers to pull the strands towards the front end rail to go along things tight.  Wrap the cord on the side by side hook on the left side, and start weaving to the other side:

Note, y'all will start reverse where you stated the time before.

Go on to do this until you lot have washed the whole chair.

Depending how many nails there are, you will ofttimes have to double up on the nails and so that y'all don't run out by the time you go to the terminate.

Yous volition desire to make sure everything is taught simply not too tight.

Final Weave

When y'all get to the end, it will get more than difficult. Make sure you lot do non get the strands tangled or twisted., keep pulling the weave pattern to the from to keep information technology tight, the last strand or two will be tight and y'all may need to use a wood wedge to brand some more infinite.

When you get your last pair in place, hook the tail of the paper cord on the terminal smash and either do the over under weave on a few nails or utilize a tack hammer and upholstery tacks to tack the cord in place. If y'all practice this, you should employ 2 or 3 tacks. Once you lot have it secured in identify, yous will need to cut off the cord. now that y'all are finished weaving, you will need to adjust the blueprint of the seat. While you were weaving, you were pulling everything towards your body to make room, now nosotros must infinite out the patter to make full the actress space we made.

Now you are done! you will want to inspect the chair to see if at that place are any mistakes that you lot can set up

~Graham

If you enjoyed this tutorial, make sure yous check out more of Graham's work we've featured on Lazy Guy DIY. If you're interested in purchasing article of furniture from Graham or having him repair furniture for you, bank check out his website at Minerva Enterprises.

Source: https://lazyguydiy.com/how-to-replace-a-woven-seat-with-danish-cord/

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