Monday, October 19, 2009

Chair Caning

I think the Lord may have given me another idea for a home business. Have you ever been to an antique store, or flea market, and encountered a cane bottom rocker? Unfortunately, the weave of the cane is usually broken out. You see, after a time, the reed that is used dries out badly, and becomes brittle, especially since we don't use oil to polish and clean our wood surfaces anymore. So I had a thought--perhaps I could start working on learning how to reweave the bottoms of the chairs. But not with reed, with something that I think would be ten times stronger than reed and less likely to become brittle. It's my secret--otherwise, ya'll might beat me to it, and then my grand idea for a home business won't fly, and you won't hire me to do it, you'll do it yourself. (I'm a selfish soul, what can I say...).
Anyway, if any of you out there happen to have a cane bottom chair that is broken, cracked etc. Lemme know, or if you happen to see one that you could get cheap, pick it up and send it my way, and I'll see if I can repair it for you.
If you are wondering, I was an art major in college, and took weaving, so I'm not entirely clueless about this matter.
Prices--well, I won't know until I actually start doing it, but I am anticipating that the overhead in materials won't be that expensive, it's just a matter of time involved. Let's just say that I am inclined to charge less in labor if it means people can actually afford to pay for it, and use the service. Even if that means I only earn $2.00/hour. I don't know about you, but a product priced high that is sitting on my shelf brings in less income than a lower priced product that goes like hotcakes!! Which makes more sense?? Besides, here at home, $2/hr is more than I bring in now, right??
Lemme know what you all think!!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Laura,

    Chair caning can be and is a terrific occupation for a stay-at-home-mom or even retirees to bring in an income and still work at home!

    I've been doing it for well over 30 years (see the About Me & Pricing/Charges page on my website) and make a comfortable living as well as teaching the craft and promoting and encouraging others to join the fray. Need Cane & Basket Supplies? Get them from the over 30 suppliers I have listed at http://www.WickerWoman.com

    If you'd like to talk to a bunch of others in the field, please stop in for a visit at our Seatweaving, Chair Caning & Wicker Repair Forum that I started in 2004 to unite other chair caners that felt isolated in their craft at http://disc.yourwebapps.com/Indices/220033.html that I started in 2004.

    We also started a chair caning guild in 2007 that's called, The SeatWeavers' Guild and every year in July we hold a workshop/gathering. Check out our website, although I need to make some updates, being the webmaster. I'm also the President, so if you have any questions about joining the guild or anything else related, I'm the person to talk to.

    Best wishes for a great vocation and welcome to the wonderful world of the chair caning professional. If I can be of help, don't hesitate to email after reading all the pages on my information and resource domain website, WickerWoman.com Happy Weaving!

    The Wicker Woman-Cathryn Peters
    http://wickerwoman.blogspot.com
    http://www.WickerWoman.com
    http://www.Facebook.com/thewickerwoman (Become a FAN!)
    http://www.SeatWeaversGuild.org (Chair Caning Guild)

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please be kind, folks:) Differences of opinion are fine, but let the love of Christ reign here...