Thursday, November 29, 2012

How to Weave A Danish Paper Cord Seat - Series

So I have been wanting to post a series on how to weave a Hans Wegner style Danish paper cord seat for a few years. I finally have gotten around to it. I just finished up a set of 6 chairs that are the CH36/37 in mahogany and they really are the perfect chair to demonstrate with.


Here are the videos starting with part 1 through to part 6 totaling about 38 minutes. I tried to edit out all the none essentials but I left comments on parts that will not only get you through the weave but some very helpful pointers that I could have used when I began. I suggest watching it completely through before starting. Once you have completed a chair, if you watch it again, you will likely understand and appreciate the additional comments better.

Please leave your comments. If I have left anything out or something seems to not make sense, please let me know. I spent a bit of time editing these so I would like them to be useful.

By the way, if you click on the "Danish paper cord" tag to the right of this page then you will see some posts on the basic weaving kit that I use. I don't cover this in the video to keep it concise.

Enjoy!




6 comments:

  1. Hi Caleb
    Thank you for posting these tutorials. About a year ago i designed and built a chair heavily inspired by 2 of Hans Wengers chairs (Elbow and peacock) as part of my apprenticeship training as a cabinetmaker here in Copenhagen. unfortunately seat weaving is not part of the training for cabinetmakers since it falls under the upholstery trade. I wanted a Danish paper cord seat and went about looking for tutorial at the time. The most helpful info i found was from your blog. I did attempt to weave the seat myself but it didn't turn out so good so i stopped about half way through. I think i might dust it off and try again. If you want to take a look at my chair here is a link to my blog http://erikkirschberg.blogspot.com/2011/12/chair-just-about-finished.html
    -Erik

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    1. Erik,

      your chair is absolutely fantastic. Really nice work, way to go! I hope the weaving goes better next time. When I first started weaving I did a whole series of compact stools and sold them cheap just so I could do the weaving over and over again and get good enough to put it on my chairs.

      It is another skill all together from woodworking. I have seen literally 2 or 3 woodworkers that can do a good danish cord weave so don't feel bad. Keep trying, you will get it.

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  2. Hey Caleb - chairs look really nice, good job. As we have spoke in the past I do a lot of chairs, ladderbacks etc using rush and danish cord. Methods vary using the figure 8 patterns or with danish cord the traditional over under methods. I send you a few pictures. Keep up the good work and continue to post on processes and techniques. The chair makng community is a great place to be in. Talk to you later.

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    1. Robert,

      would love to see the pictures of your work and any input you have on variations. I pretty much am self taught so I have just done the few patterns I know. I am not doing repairs so have just stuck to what I know. I assume you have seen and done a lot more variety than I have.

      It is nice to share methods since I know what it is like trying to figure this stuff out on your own. In my neck of the woods there is simply not much in the used market to examine for replication. I had to work from photos of old chairs I could see on ebay or other online resale places and then try and deconstruct the weave patterns that way. Very time consuming.

      On that thought. I do a over under traditional Moller weave pattern that I have not seen anyone else describe the way I do it but I am sure I am not the only guy to do it my way. I am going to try and post something on it before too long. I have a way of wrapping the rails while working from the spool. Everyone else I have seen takes a bundle and goes all the way around the rail to fill in the spaces between the front to back cords.

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  3. I am building a chair to address the back aches I get from chairs with inadequate lumbar support, and will use danish cord for the seat and back. Because the back is curved the vertical supports will have to be the warp. I want the seat and the back to look the same. I saw a picture of a 3x3 pattern which would look the same regardless of which is the warp or weft. Can you explain how this is done? This will be my first adventure in danish cord weaving.

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  4. Hello Caleb, I just wanted to thank you for the resources. I have been digging into chair making in my spare time for about a year, and in the modern era, (about 10 years after the videos and this blog were created) this is still one of the best resources on the internet for educating one's self on the envelope weave pattern. Thank you, Caleb. I appreciate your contribution to the craft.
    Jonathan Brometheus

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