Althea
Maple, Rattan Cane Seat Stool
Craft oriented solid Maple stool, includes Lathe turned legs and braces, Mortis and Tenon joinery, and hand Rattan caned seat. Inspired by traditional furniture while making Rattan youthful, modern and non-intimidating. This piece personally taught me patience and instilled a passion for crafting.
Challenge
Designed for a technical woodworking class as well as my junior furniture studio, this was a self guided project. I had never used hard wood and was given the opportunity to inherit a large plank of Maple from a graduating senior. Besides the skills that come with starting with raw hard lumber, I challenged myself to learn and practice turning on the lath as well as teaching myself to Cane a Rattan seat.
Process
I started by cutting up my wood into eight parts. A two part curve that I roughed out on the band saw and formed with a oscillating sander. I connected those two curves together and to the front part of the seat with biscuit joints. I prepped the 1/4” holes, 3/4” apart for the Caning process. Next, I turned three identical tapering legs, using a template and caliper to check my sizing. Same process with the T bar connecting all the legs. After figuring out the correct angles of the three legs, I connected the seat to the legs using circular Mortise and Tenon joints. Finally finishing with sanding, bees wax and a 10 hour Caning session where I soaked Rattan reeds in water and weaved while pliable.
Construction Continued...
In Conclusion
Working in hard wood taught me patience. When a nine foot plank of raw Maple is presented to you it can be intimidating to see your design in it. Woodworking is about perfection, at least to the naked eye but a large part of it is actually learning to seamlessly fix your mistakes. Rattan Caning taught focus and to accept nothing less than perfection. It is easy to zone out, then realize you went under rather than over seven steps ago. Take a deep breath, rip it out of the weave and start again.
