Expert: Anderson's Restorations-Rob Anderson - 12/2/2010

Question
Hi - we have an old oak dining room chair that we inherited from my mother-in-law and she inherited it from some grandma. The chair is in real good condition but it has a caned seat that is coming apart and has a hole. It's bad enough that no one wants to sit on it and so the chair is just stored. We don't know how to fix it or who does caning like this. Should we try to recane it ourselves? Or is this best left to someone who knows how. My mother-in-law knew how to do it and why she didn't do this one, I don't know. The other chairs in the set went to other kids and their seats are fine. Just this one is bad. Is it worth the trouble and expense to even bother with it? Should we just get rid of the chair? I don't want to pass on worthless stuff to our grandkids. The chair itself is fairly ornate - legs, etc. are turned wood, etc. The wood all seems to be in real good condition. If we need to send it to someone, do you have any suggestions? We live in SW Arkansas and we'd rather take it to someone we can personally meet rather than ship the chair to someone we can't see. Thank you -  

Answer
If it's hand cane I would seek a caner to do it. Many well intended people have started chairs but either can't finish it or if they do, it looks bad.
I have 2 names for you of caners in ARK. I don't know how close they are to you but give them a shout and mention I gave you the info from the Wicker Womans caning directory.

 Blackdog Chair Caning,
  Bald Knob,AR
 bob@blackdogchaircaning.com  501-230-1414


 Linda's Chair Caning
  Hot Springs Village, AR
 lakelady@suddenlink.net    501-922-4088

  Good Luck,
   Rob