How to Reseat a Chair

We were able to put this repair technique to the test when our rocking chair broke last winter. My husband was going to rock our colicky baby, but when he sat down hard on the wicker, the seating tore. It was a beautiful piece of furniture and there was no repair shop in our neighborhood to take it to, so we read up on the subject and learned how to repair the seat ourselves. This project illustrates how to reseat a chair using ash splinting.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• ash splint
• twine
• scissors
• a bucket of water
• a utility knife
• a cutting block

1. Ash splinting was the most common seating material employed by early American furniture makers. The splints were wide and easy to obtain. Today, for about $20, you can buy enough ash splinting to repair a chair seat. You may be able to find the material in a local crafts shop. If not, it is readily available in stores online.
   
   Machine cut ash splint comes in pieces of 6 feet long and 5/8 or 3/4 inches wide. An ordinary chair will require 12-15 such pieces. A large chair will require up to 20. You will also need twine, scissors, a utility knife and cutting block, a bucket of warm water, a brush, and a sealant such as Danish linseed oil.

2. Soak the ash splint in warm water for about 10 minutes to make it pliable. As you remove one piece, place the next into the bucket. Ash splint has a smooth side and a rough side. Make sure that the smooth side will be facing upward when you join and weave each piece.
   
   You will need to be able to hook the strips of splint together before beginning to weave. This is done with the aid of a utility knife. Cut a small, arrow-shaped hole at the end of one strip, using scissors to complete the cut. Create a tapered, arrow-shaped point the same size as the hole at the end of another. Slip the arrowhead through the slot and rotate the splints so that they form a straight line and are firmly locked together.

3. The seat is woven in two stages. First, splints are passed across the seat from front to back for the entire width of the chair. Next, a second set of splints interwoven from side to side, with the first set. As the splint dries, it shrinks. Therefore, allow enough looseness initially so that you have enough space to do the cross weaving.

4. When you begin weaving, the first splint will be looped around the front and then temporarily tied to the side rail with twine. Connect a new length of splint to the first strand and weave this one also front-to-back. Continue until all front-to-back splints are in place and then use twine to temporarily tie the side edge of the last strip to the opposite side of the chair. Finally, make sure all of the splint is aligned, and parallel to the sides of the chair. Don't worry if they're a little loose. The splints will shrink as they dry.

5. Weave the first cross split across the top of the seat. Pass the short end around the side rail and weave it across the underside of the seat. Tuck in the short end. Continue weaving. Use a short piece of splint to slide the tip of the cross strand you are weaving, over and under. When it becomes difficult to pass new splints through the weave, use a short piece of splint in combination with your fingers to push.

6. When working with the corners it may be necessary to cut a notch in the splint in order to make it fit neatly against the corner post. When the seat is fully woven, trim off any rough edges or splinters. Finally, if desired, you can preserve the splint with a coat of tung-oil sealant.