Notes on repairing a cane chair

Pre-woven cane comes on a roll and is pressed into a groove around the seat, held with a reed spline and glue. It is the easier of the two methods and suits most chairs made after about 1950.

Soak the cane for twenty minutes before you start, and work it into the groove with a hardwood wedge rather than a screwdriver, which will cut the fibres.

Trim the excess with a sharp chisel once the spline is seated, then leave the seat to dry overnight. It will tighten like a drum as it dries.

Tom has restored furniture for twenty years. He teaches evening classes in Bristol and writes here every month.

Linda Greaves

I tried this on my mother's old rocking chair last weekend and it came out beautifully, though the spline was a fight.

Mike O.

What width of spline did you use? The shop near me only sells two sizes and I can't tell which one fits my chair.