Duckster Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hi all, my first real post to the woodtalk forum. I've got a tricky project, and I'm just not sure how to handle it. My mom has a rocking chair, built by her great-grandfather in Newfoundland, oh so long ago. Over the years, people have taken a crack at restoring it, and have failed abysmally. She asked me if I knew any way to restore some of its former glory. Here are some pictures, any ideas you might have would be appreciated. My initial thought was to take a flush trim bit on the router, rout off the cracked, semi-circle remnants of the previous attempts, rout a channel in the center of the back pieces, and insert some sort of pre-drilled bit to string the back through. Just a thought though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterrum Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 I think you are on the right track in what you are thinking but my goodness, what a mess it is. I suspect that the back would have originally been caning material like the seat. If you are going to go to all the work you forsee then the steps for the roping material would be pretty close to the same for caning. I have no idea what you could do to fix the headrest, you cant really fill in the holes, the only option might be to trim some of the bottom off the original or see if you can get anyone to copy you a new one. Hell, I got a headache looking at those photos......... Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 Before you take any material off, I'd recommend checking with a caning shop. Show them the photos, and ask them how they would cane it. My father knows one antique furniture restoration person, and used him for some cane back seats, and the bill came to almost double the estimate, but was faster than my father expected. (Which left him the problem of where to store the dining table and six chairs...) I'm not saying don't do it yourself; I'm just suggesting you check with someone who does caning work on a regular basis for their opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckster Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks for the replies, I'll take your advice under, um, advisement? I've started looking for someone who canes chairs in my area. No one so far, I'll have to ways out, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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