Ash frames and hand-laced hide, made in Paarl.
See the chairsThe frame is white ash, air-dried two years and turned while it is still green so the joints tighten as the wood settles onto them. Nothing in it is glued. The seat is one hide cut into 8mm thong and laced wet, then left overnight to shrink onto the frame. After that it gets a coat of raw linseed and is left alone.
We work out of a shed off Jan van Riebeeck Drive, four of us, and we have not moved since 2011. Marie and her sister Elmarie lace every seat that leaves here. A side chair takes them about three hours. The bench takes most of a day and both of them at it. Hide stretches — that is what hide does. When a seat finally goes slack, send the chair back and we lace it again on the same frame. It is a repair, not a replacement, and it costs a good deal less than starting over.
Tell us how many, which colour, and where they are going. We answer the same day, Monday to Friday.
