How to repair a cane change table?

[jc3]

 

 I have this baby change table I would love to repair and give to a friend. 

Does Bunnings sell the cane sticks that make the base? I don't know what they are called to even look for them.

I figured the thin bits strands that cover some joints are called "flat strip" but that's as far as I have got. 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jc3. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about repairing a change table.

I am sorry but I'm unaware of any cane that you could use for your project. You could potentially use Pine dowel to replace the straight sections, but bending it to form the curves at the ends would be troublesome. Perhaps you could consider removing the cane and replacing it with a plywood board. If you cut it to the correct shape, it should sit nicely where the cane was. Given that the change mat will cover this portion, this could be a viable solution.

Let me mention @Nailbag, @Jewelleryrescue and @Dave-1 to see if they have any thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Dave-1]

Good Morning @jc3 

Now that is a nicely done change table! I thought Spotlight sold the strapping and maybe the cane stiks but I cannot find it on their website anymore 😕 I know they did as I have always kept an eye out so I can repair my Grandmothers old round table and chairs.

I just had a wander around google and it looks like you can buy the parts you need  

https://www.wickerworks.com.au/ in particular the ratten (I didnt know the name either )

From memory You would soak the cane in warm water so it become flexible and then bind/shape it to what you need. I remember playing with the flat strapping when I was a teenager and being frustrated that it was harder then expected. My Grandmother said do it slower and take your time, It wasnt the best as a first try but I was happy with it.

There were a few otherlinks to facebook pages and blogs that may help as well from that wicker page.

If you cant get the ratten I would go with @MitchellMc's suggestion and use dowl plus strapping. I wouldnt really try and bend the dowl but have seen people soak it in hot water so it flexes (not confidant of this) and then strap it down with the flat webbing.

Would love to see a couple of photos of the repair process as we all have piece of cane furniture we would like to bring back!

Dave

[Herrenovacation]

Hello & welcome @jc3 

Firstly what a stunning change table it is! 

Both @MitchellMc & @Dave-1 advice is great. You could also maybe look for bamboo ( I have some bamboo garden steaks that look very similar.) And follow the method @Dave-1 has mentioned to soften and shape. 

Can't wait to see how it turns out! 

[Nailbag]

Hi @jc3 I reckon @Dave-1 is on the right track. I have recently had to repair our wicker hanging chair and finding materials is difficult and what I have found is expensive.

For what it's worth this is how I would tackle it. Check you local charity shops to see if there is any cheap cane furniture that might have suitable pieces you could repurpose as can sticks are difficult to find. Alternatively if your not to particular Bunnings sell in the outdoor garden area bamboo stakes in different lengths/diameter. I would then use 80-120G sandpaper to sand the knuckles smooth with the paper cupped in my hand. 

I've only done this with plywood, but I reckon it's the same technique. Soak the timber you need to bend only needs be in cold water for about 1-2hrs. Use solid objects to rest the sticks on and weight it from the top, which will slowly bend them. This is a slow but effective process that maintains strength. Position original pieces next to them to match the bend angle.

You can buy wicking strapping locally online which is expensive but genuine material to tie the sections together.

Hope this helped and good luck. Look forward to seeing the finished photos. 👍

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @jc3 

There is an australian company called wicker works cane specialists they stock both real  cane and PE Synthetic cane.

At about $2.50  to 4.50 a  meter

another way to get cheap  cane is to buy some ones old cane chair and re purpose the materials.

Hope  this  helps.

[jc3]

Thanks so much for the help all.

I spent ages collecting pieces from hard rubbish trying to match it but to no avail. I tried Spotlight and a few other hardware stores but they didn't have anything. I ran out of time (my friend was 32 weeks pregnant) and so drove an hour to take it to Camberwell Cane (Victoria). It was a dry barfing amount of $350 to have it fixed. The turn around was just a few hours and a return trip. No wonder people just throw cane furniture out, it's time consuming and/or expensive to repair. Once my friend has finished with it I will try and sell it to recoup some costs.