The Wonderful People We Meet

Recently we replaced the seats in several chairs for Mrs. C. Her husband passed away a few years ago and he was the caner in the family. He liked to cane for relaxation - with accomplishment at the end. They had a house full of cane chairs some of which Mrs. C remembered as a girl. The dining room chairs were smaller than the norm and worked just right for her and were so comfortable. We are delighted to meet people that love cane chairs and have a story to tell about them. Do you have a story to tell - let us know.

The most asked question...staining cane

How do you stain cane? Is it possible? Well we don't attempt to try...we used to but we found the easiest way was to find some refinishers that are expert stainers. They mix stain and laquer and spray on the stain/laquer combination. Cane does have a natural finish, and therefore doesn't penetrate like wood. It is almost like painting on the stain. When chairs are made - they put in the cane and then spray the entire chair. It is very difficult to duplicate the color after years of wear and new cane is put in. More power to you if you have discovered the trick - but as for us we leave that up to the professional stainers.

Glue!!!!

After spending many hours trying to get gorilla glue out of the holes, and talking to several people who just had the same experience - I thought I'd mention that it is not necessary to use "cement" on your chairs to keep the cane in. We just had several hand cane chairs where the caner cut off all the ends on the back and used epoxy in every hole...plus on the seats they actually tied them and then poured glue all over the ties. This is not necessary.
Have you ever had a pressed cane job where people did the same thing? All that is necessary is either Hide Glue or Elmers White as they are water soluble and easier for the next person to get out. Remember - you may be that next person!

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Cane Class

  We just started a new cane class every Thursday evening from 7 - 9 pm.  People bring their own chair and learn how to cane or rush.  This class is a floating class where you can jump in at anytime...people work at their own pace - some have even completed their project.  What a fun way to fend off the winter blues - meet new people with the same interests and learn something besides.  If you have a chair that needs work and are in our area - (Kalamazoo - Plainwell) come and join us.  Call 1-269-685-1858 to find out more details.

Wing Craft Show -

  The Craft Show at Wings Stadium was a little disappointing as it was Christmas and what we had were stools that were not convenient to drag along as you were looking at other booths.   But we talked caning all day long and handed out about 300 business cards in which we feel will pay off someday.

  The booth across from us had a food item and they were giving out samples - so the next day we brought samples from our items for sale "stool samples"  and the people walking by (especially nurses) really thought that was pretty funny.

  Would we do that again?  Probably not at that particular venue - but it spurred us on to thinking about another venue - The Alamo Depot Antique and Craft Mall.  We have antiques as well as a great spot to feature the stools with the different types of rush and cane - plus advertising for us as well.

 

Did you know....

We list Caners on our website (www.peerlessrattan.com) and have features of Caners in several areas of the country.

Christmas is coming....

Ok, Halloween is over....it's now time to start thinking about Christmas - if you haven't been already! The Annual Christmas Craft show at Wings Stadium will be on Saturday December 4th and Sunday December 5th. This event is a MUST for all those living in West Michigan. It is perfect for those hard to buy for people!

Peerless Rattan will be having a booth at the show this year!! We will be showing and selling many different types of stools from hand cane to shaker tape to rush as well as splint! Come and check us out and buy for that person who "has it all"!