Need to replace my cane seats on my Old Town. Looking for an easy (and cheap) fix since I don’t use the canoe that often.
Just replace the cane.
You can get pre-woven cane from all kinds of on-line sources. Search on “seat caning”. It is not expensive.
- Clean out grooves - remove all old glue and cane. Use a sash chisel.
- Pick a cane pattern you like.
- Measure the width of your groove. Order the right size spline to fit the groove.
- Soak cane and spline for 1/2 hour in warm water.
- Stretch wet cane across seat field in both directions by hand. Cut 4-1 inch long pieces of spline. Tap a piece into the groove on the cane in the middle of the rail of each side of the seat. The short pieces will hold the cane tight.
- Make a blunt wooden wedge to fit the groove.
- Tap the cane into the groove with the blunt wedge all the way around the seat. Remove short pieces of spline holding cane. Cane must be wet for this to work well.
- Fill groove with wood glue.
- Tap spline into groove with hammer and piece of wood. Wipe off excess glue.
- Let dry.
20 minutes of work and you have a new seat that doesn’t look like a lawn chair.
flat nylon line
There is a nylon line that sport fishermen use that I’ve successfully used when making my seats.
I’m not a fisherman so I don’t even know what it is called or what they use it for, but it is hollow, flat, 1/8th -inch wide, & greyish-green in color.
Simply start from one corner and weave the cord back and forth in a figure-8 pattern (i.e. under the front and over the back, or vice versa). The spacing should be about 3/4-inch apart.
The second step is to tighten it like a drum, which is easily done after the seat has been set over a heater or left the lay in the sun for a few hours.
Not only is this easy and inexpensive, but it also surprizingly comfortable, good-looking, and durable.
