Design Resource
Cane and Rattan Furniture - Mysore
Making of Bamboo Furniture
by
Prof. Bibhudutta Baral, Shruti K., Lija M .G. and Shivangi Sharma
Making Process
Rattan is a long stem of certain trailing or climbing palms. They are rated as minor forest products, in spite of the fact that they are probably the most important forest products, after timber. They belong principally to the palm family of the genus Calamus, but a few other related genera like Daenonorops, Ceratolobus, Plectocomia and Koerthalsia yield canes of lesser importance. The internodes vary in length and thickness in different species and even in different plants of the same species. The core of the stem which are soft and spongy, are made up of coarse fibers. The first step is skinning the surface of the rattan. With the help of a sharp knife outer skin of the stem and the knots are peeled and removed. The cane is cut into desired length. The stem is then heated using a blow torch and bending tool to bend the material into required shape which has limitation. Artisan arranges them together to build the basic frame (structure) of the furniture after bending. Base of the furniture is built first by nailing in the required form. After the parts of the furniture are nailed together in the required manner; the frame is then filled by binding the cane strips or thin rattan stems over the frames. The nailed joints are then tightly bound by lengths of split cane strips which acts as cover, both to cover the visible nails and to give additional rigidity. The binding details sometimes have a decorative quality. Clear varnish, enamel paints are applied over the finished product. Generally the natural surface of the cane is retained without any surfaces application. Rattan accepts colors and it can be worked into many styles.
