Hmmm-
The guy from the online Caning Shop in CA says he is going to have black cord soon! I *think* this is the place that has authentic Danish cord. The cord from Frank's and probably most other US sources is not made in Denmark and is not quite as dense as the Danish-made cord. It's also a tiny bit smaller in diameter. Just a hair.
Their prices for the natural cord are more than double that of Frank's. If you are considering getting some, I would just check with them first about the origin.
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc=220033;article=12270;tit...
Oh, good news!
That solves my problem. I want to use black on my first attempt. I do have roll of black i picked up in Chinatown a while back. It is craft woven wire wicker so not the same as for chairs. (Similar?) I also have a roll of natural and did a tint test with aniline dispersed in alcohol to avoid any swelling. Also did a few tests with India ink. I have a few different brands. BlackCat brand is nice and warm, not purple. Took the purple out of the aniline black with a few drops of brown.
Letting them air cure at the moment. Would be a total pain in the pants, so good to hear it will be available.
Any time i have used iron sulfate on woodworking projects it has needed a spring thunderstorm amount of rinsing after the color is achieved to prevent the 'iron content' from leaching later. (will turn sweaty pants an unsightly orange).
The cord i have is similar to this...
(it feels like it has a sealer/coating. Would not like it for a chair but the natural is un-coated)
http://www.weddingsbypritchard.com/Wired-paper-cord-BLACK-20-meters--_p_...
Rockland,
I have seen that paper-wrapped wire stuff. I think it might be hard to weave in the Danish pattern. Seems like it would, anyway. I also wonder how the wire would wear against the paper from the inside when sat upon, especially where the cord is also wearing against wood---like along the inside of the front rail. That's where it always starts to fail and I have a feeling wire would hasten the process, maybe?
.
I tend to agree about the wire core and how it would wear. And, i have no experience at all with this process. Just surprised that black is available for 'craft' with or without wire, but not for chairs. So hopefully soon.
Just wanted to mention my ink tests. The BlackCat india ink was by fare the best of what i tried. Not sure the binder, but the color was warm, not blue or purple, and it cured a very matt finish and did not seem to change the texture.
I then soaked it in water and placed it on a paper towel...no color bleed at all.
The trans tint, aniline, was a bit tricky to get the proper binder amount. Alcohol thinned i just used a spit of clr shellac. With h2o i used ModernMasters dead-flat varnish. Both fine and did not swell a noticeable amount but the finish/texture did change a bit.
I do not even have a project chair yet! I have way too many chairs but if i come across something i would like to attempt the weaving for a desk chair for my Cado unit desk . (i'd like a red seat, or black)
Long, but pricing on UK Unlaced Black cord
The third writing of this post. I am concerned that I am not doing the right thing, but in this day and age . . .
Email from UK Supplier:
Thank you for your enquiry. We do ship materials to the US, but unfortunately the cost of transport can be very high so is usually only worthwhile if the amount ordered is large. For example the cost of sending two reels of black Danish cord to the US would be £62, four rolls would be £91.
However, as an export outside of the EU we can send the materials VAT free, this would mean that a bobbin would cost £58.34 instead of the VAT inclusive price of £70.
I understand that Jim Widess will be stocking black cord soon, so it may be worth contacting him, transportation should be considerably less expensive!
Email from Jim Widess:
Dana, I will only be getting Unlaced Black Danish Cord. I don't believe Laced is made in Black - only unlaced.
I hope this does not cause problems for Jim.
This means for me:
A roll/reel is enough for four to five chairs according to UK website. Website uses COIL and this email uses both reel and roll. I assume (at my own peril) that they are synonymous.
Roll/reel/coil cost and shipping per - £62 = $96
£58.34 = $90
£91 = $140
So, my singular purchase results in $186 which is $46.50 per chair.
Me plus one, $276 which is $39 per chair.
Me plus three, $456 which is $28.50 per chair
All this based on the numbers provided. If there was interest, I would broker and would not up charge on the shipping from CT to elsewhere - just the exact charge per USPS or whatever service you would like. I think we should split the UK shipping evenly. I cannot estimate if there are more than 4 coils as shipping data is not provided. I can accept paypal.
I wrote an email back and clarified that he is using roll/reel/coil synonymously (is that a word?)
Let me know.
If it helps, I am a public school math teacher (so, you can verify employment and location if needed to feel comfortable) and am a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy if that means anything to anyone regarding integrity.
I'd do it but I
weave seats for other people and so far I have never had a request for black cord. I can't afford to invest in stocking it when it not be used for a long time. If it becomes available in the US at a reasonable cost and with domestic shipping rates, then I'll probably go for it, even if it's just to redo my own Møllers.
For now, I'll have to pass, but thanks for researching it and doing all the math!
I didn't read your post...
I didn't read your post until now. I'm good for a spool if we can get a couple other people as well. If you'd like to contact me outside of the forum, my gmail username is the same as my forum username.
You really ought to confirm the weight of the spools / coils / rolls in question, as I typically see it sold in 2lb coils or 20lb spools. 2lbs is enough to do 2 chairs, maybe. 2 x 2lb coils will definitely do 3 chairs. 20lbs should do more like 15-20 chairs.
*spanky* / tchp - can you confirm my estimations?
I would, but
I haven't kept notes on this and I have a terrible memory when it comes to math. I think you may be right about 4 lbs being enough for 3 chairs. As for the 20 lb spool---I bought two of those awhile back and have done 14 chairs so far and have enough for a few more so you're about right on that--17, maybe?
Era: make that 18 chairs (i forgot about some CH23s) with enough left for at least two more, maybe three.
Thank you . . .
. . . Spanky. Your email was enough to confirm that the lack of responses indicated a lack of interest. I did not want to assume one way or another. If I came off snarky to anyone - not my intention. All have been very helpful. Awaiting the back cord's arrival in the US before I order. Moved on to refurbishing a Nelson Cigar shade and building it into a pendant for a lofted ceiling - I was given only the shade itself.
After that, working on a Shaw - Walker side chair that, admittedly, needs little work beyond replacement feet.
Thanks again to any/all. When I get to/complete the chairs, will post the results and I will document that learning process/path for any newbies such as myself.
I missed . . .
. . . somehow, missed your post MidCenturyBeehive. I did find your blog (assumption). Nice work. At this point, since others have not shown interest, at $40 per chair and your need for another participant, I will be waiting for Jim Widess' price point and then decide natural or black. If he is unable to source the black prior to July, I will more than likely go with natural and get to work on these over the summer months.
Again, to everyone, thank you for all of the advice, information, education and openness.
Warm regards,
Dana (and Plato)
I'm almost embarrassed to post this,
but here goes. First photo is of the seat of my Wegner J16 rocker which I rewove two or three times with the appropriate bigger diameter paper cord. It was so awful each time that I ripped it out and started over but I could never get it even close to square as I worked. Finally I gave up and did it in the more common diameter cord which is used on all the Moller chairs and others.
IT LOOKS SO AWFUL. I knew at the time that it wasn't very good but now that I have a whole lot more experience weaving in general, I'm kind of horrified by it. I wish I could remember what all I was frustrated by when I did it. I do remember that I didn't use a shuttle (huge mistake--HUGE) and that I would try to weave and keep it tight at the same time. And that sometimes I'd go around the wrong way on one corner and would go back later to fix it but would get even more mixed up. I can't believe I didn't just give up.
Anyway. Fast forward (after years of thinking that this type of seat was really, really hard to do--see above for such testimony) to the second photo of a Wishbone I just did. This is after watching the videos that some dear, helpful soul link to on this thread or the first edition, I forget. I will link to them again here.
Turns out there are just a few little tricks you need to know and then it's really not that hard. At least not as long as you are reasonably meticulous and can pull pretty hard to get the tension as tight as possible. My hands are a wreck after a few hours but I'm so happy that I can do it now.
The J16 might be harder just because that bigger diameter cord is less flexible but I'm ready to redo it now. It has to have the bigger cord---see photo with inset of the detail at the spokes. The smaller cord just doesn't cut it.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az5fjeRdt3A
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