I believe laced caned seats (not the prewoven pressed cane) are one of the best seat options. Whether natural or synthetic the process is labor intensive. A professional canner will charge $2.50 per hole. On a 10 X 20 inch seat you can have as many as 80 holes. From a production standpoint one must consider the drilling and sealing of the holes as well. The cost of a laced cane seat could potentially exceed that of a web seat by a factor of five. This is why most folks either lace themselves or settle for a different option. I personally don’t care for the appearance or durably of pressed cane. Milling a groove for the spline on a curved surface presents a bit of a challenge as well. So for my small production facilities stapled polypropylene webbing seems to be the best option despite its slow drying properties.
Weaving with rattan on a winter evening by the wood stove is a most enjoyable activity. Have a bottle (or two) of ale and your favorite music playing. I save caning projects for TV football and A Prairie Home Companion.
I feel vindicated! The first version of my laced seats had 88 holes. I need to pay myself $220.00! Took me about eight hours, too.
If I do another lace job, possibly on my existing frame, I may try 3/32" dacron cord with the core pulled out. This would allow me to reduce hole size, and I believe that even for my weight the cord would be sufficiently strong.
A thought: Since I normally finish my brightwork with oil, and some oil invariably gets on the lace, I wonder if it would be acceptable to oil the lace as well? Might drastically reduce the ability of the dacron to absorb any moisture. More consideration is needed…
And oil on webbing is a question that I have not been able to answer. Is it a good idea to put a geneous amount of oil on the wood frame of a seat with webbing on it knowing that oil is getting on the webbing? Does it stain the webbing? Or should I oil all of the webbing like the above poster is contemplating for line?