<p>I have a set of vintage maple ladderback chairs with rush seats that need to be redone.
They are more French Country than Shaker, so while I like Shaker tape, I am thinking of using fiber rush or maybe splints for the seat which sounds easier for beginners than harvested rush.
H says he will help & I just have six chairs to do. Is this too big a job or just tedious?</p>
<p>Thing is paying to have it done is expensive and takes forever. I’ve rewoven a few seats and it takes time. Prep is the key. More time in prep, the less time in work. I had to figure it out, so I started, figured it out and then did some more prep work.</p>
<p>Since the online instructions say that one chair will take all day, I imagine that having it done would be very pricey.
There is so much info online though.
[Traditional</a> Woven Chair Seats - Woodworking Techniques - American Woodworker](<a href=“http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/techniques/archive/2011/04/26/handmade-chair-seats.aspx]Traditional”>http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/techniques/archive/2011/04/26/handmade-chair-seats.aspx)</p>
<p>My father in law was a pro at caning chairs - that is where you use reed and through weaving have the seat with all the little holes in the weave. He tried to teach my husband and myself a couple of times - sorry to say we didn’t learn it well enough before he passed away. :(. </p>
<p>It was however a very tedious job. You have to have just the right resistance in you weave - not too tight and obviously not too loose. He too would spend hours on one chair.</p>
<p>We had someone rush a chair for us once but it was years ago. Found him by asking a local antique shop for a reference of someone who could do the work .</p>
<p>Very expensive when done entirely by hand. What some won’t tell you is that you can buy pre-made sheets of cain work and have a craftsman install it for a much lesser price. Looks and works just fine, thou not nearly as good longevity wise.</p>
<p>Yes you can buy the sheets IF the chair can accommodate that style. If the chairs has the outer holes as opposed to the “frame” of sorts for the sheet then the sheet would probably not work - at least not on the antique chairs we have had refinished ( many sets!!)</p>
<p>The nice thing about doing it is you sit on your work and you know you did it. I did some because the cost was ridiculous and the chair would go away for months to sit in the queue. I’m sure you could do it if I could.</p>