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Caning is a seven-step process in which strands of material are woven together to create chair seats or seat backs. When cane ages, it tends to get brittle, Barrick said. Old cane chair seats and backs are prone to cracking and breaking and must be replaced.
The process involves delicate weaving and takes Barrick anywhere from 6 to 8 eight hours for a square seat and 12 to 14 hours for an oval seat.
“With oval seats, there’s a lot more weaving generally,” Barrick said, “and the alternation of a couple of the steps in making an oval seat … takes me a little bit longer.”
After more than two decades of collecting antiques and stumbling upon damaged chairs, Barrick said he wanted to learn how to repair them himself.
“I had found a couple chairs that I couldn’t pass up real cheap at auctions,” Barrick said. “They were sitting up [in the attic] until I found someone to do them or I figured it out myself.”
He chose to use learn the craft.
While Barrick will replace the chair seat and backs, he does as little as possible to the finish of the chair. Refinishing an antique piece of furniture diminishes its resale value, he said.
“When you are dealing with old stuff,” Barrick said, “less is more.”
Barrick finds antique chairs everywhere from antique auctions to yard sales. He said it’s unusual to find old chairs from the Swap Shop, but diamonds in the rough can be found everywhere.
“It’s amazing sometimes what people throw out,” he said.
Barrick’s latest project was to restore an early-19th century chair he discovered at an antiques auction. The chair’s original design is still in full view and features an eagle prominently painted on the chair’s back.
He kept the chair’s original structure in tact, but repaired the square seat using the reliable seven-stop process that has worked so many times for Barrick before.
He keeps his favorites and gives a few away as gifts. He said he doesn’t sell his refurbished antiques, electing to use his caning hobby simply as a way to keep busy. Barrick is a retired heavy machines operator.
Barrick, a former Civil War re-enactor, demonstrated his craft at Westminster’s Corbit’s Charge celebration in June. He said he hopes to perhaps teach his craft in the future at the Carroll County Farm Museum.
In the meantime, he said he’s always on the lookout for antiques that need just a little refurbishing to be transformed into elegant furniture.
“When you learn how to weave the seats,” Barrick said, “you’re bringing them back to life.”
Reach staff writer Brandon Oland at 410-857-7862 or brandon.oland@carrollcountytimes.com.
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