Wicker furniture with your own hands. Wicker furniture manufacturing technology

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Wicker furniture is used not only for relaxing in the country and in country houses. Graceful openwork products made of wicker or rattan will be appropriate in cafes, summer playgrounds, ethnic restaurants, and baths and saunas, and even more so in the setting. modern apartment(for example, in the kitchen, loggia, recreation area, hallway, hall, winter garden). The originality of the author's manual labor and the high environmental friendliness of the material - this is what makes products from wicker rods so popular. And therefore expensive.

But, despite the high profitability of products and the lowest cost of all types of wooden furniture, the market for wicker products is far from saturation and is filled mainly with expensive imported models. Therefore, it makes sense to start production and develop in the middle and low price segment. Fortunately, there are no problems with raw materials or equipment. It's only for talented craftsmen.

Types of wicker furniture

If we consider wicker furniture in terms of the materials used, it can be divided into:

completely made of plant materials (stick furniture with wickerwork of various types;
furniture from solid wood with decorative braid)
combined - furniture, in the production of which, in addition to weaving rods, chipboard, plywood, frames made of wood, metal, plastic and soft elements for sitting and lying are used.

With the help of weaving they make:

chairs, stools - mostly hard, non-separable;
armchairs, deck chairs, sofas, couches, beds, baby cradles - can be both soft and hard;
tables - coffee, dining;
bookcases, chests of drawers, cupboards, chests.

Raw materials for the production of wicker furniture

Wicker furniture It is made from any climbing plants with a sufficiently dense and flexible base.

For the production of wicker products can be used:

willow raw material- the general name of the blanks from a number of plants, which include: vine, willow, willow, sheluga, willow, sedge, willow. Three-year-old rods (and older) are used for the furniture frame, and a one-year-old vine is used for weaving itself. Therefore, two types of raw materials are in demand in production: willow sticks for the frame, with a diameter of 10-40 mm and flexible stems-rods with a root thickness of up to 10 mm (Fig. 2);
roots of pine, spruce, fir, cedar- harvested at logging sites and uprooting;
birch bark- a layer of birch bark, used for weaving decorative elements furniture. Birch bark strips, 20-40 mm wide, are harvested in the spring and summer from growing trees intended for felling or just cut down. Such birch bark has a beautiful natural shade(pink, yellowish-white), which lends itself well to coloring and goes well with other plant materials: vine, cattail, rattan;
rattan- shoots of rattan palm;
bamboo- tropical (subtropical) grass of the cereal family;
linden bark- Bast in the form of ribbons of various widths serves both for decorative weaving and for connecting individual parts of the product into a single whole;

Today at industrial production rattan and willow raw materials are widely used. Full-cycle production includes independent preparation of rods with subsequent processing (sanding and drying). But you can also use ready-made raw materials, peeled and processed to give the desired size and shape (round, flat, plano-convex rods-blanks). There is also a special finished material for the manufacture of seats for sofas, chairs, armchairs - reed fiber or rattan bark, which is split into fibers, "spun" on special machines into fabrics and sold in rolls.

Advantage of wicker furniture business- in its availability: it is possible to produce products in industrial scale or organize piece production to order - it all depends on the volume of sales and the number of working craftsmen.

Wicker Furniture Market Development Trends

Reasons for growth and world leaders

As of 2012, the volume of the Russian wicker furniture market exceeded 50 million rubles. At the same time, it should be taken into account that many handicraft industries and craftsmen "at home" do not officially register their business, so the real figures differ significantly from the statistical ones. Of course, in a big way.

But, undoubtedly, the market of domestic wicker furniture is actively developing. In 2011-2012 alone, its volume increased by more than 35% (in monetary terms). The reason for this growth was the increase in the volume of country and cottage construction. At the same time, the owners of new private houses prefer to immediately purchase sets and sets of wicker furniture for furnishing premises and household plots. And among the "old" owners there is a tendency to abandon plastic (which until recently was considered the best option for country and garden furniture) in favor of much more comfortable, strong, environmentally friendly and wear-resistant wicker furniture.

In the world market of wickerwork, leadership traditionally belongs to Asian countries: Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines. And Russia is an exception here: domestic production occupies no more than 35% of the market volume. Everything else is an import.

Undeniable competitive advantages in the form of low cost of raw materials (rattan and bamboo), a large number cheap and trained in weaving techniques, Asian manufacturers have supplemented the active introduction of machine weaving, which reduces the quality of products, but allows you to increase volumes and reduce costs. In addition, most Asian countries prohibit the export of raw materials or impose severe restrictions on exports. Therefore, the domestic manufacturer uses mainly local raw materials - willow vines.

The structure of the Russian wicker furniture market:

rattan furniture - 58%;
wicker furniture - 31;
bamboo furniture - 7%;
furniture from other materials for weaving - 4%.

Market prospects

Industry development trends:

replacement of expensive imported raw materials with independent procurement of domestic ones;
reduction in imports. In 2012, the Indonesian government announced a moratorium on the export of rattan raw materials. This has significantly reduced the production of wicker furniture by other countries that do not have their own raw material base. Many factories, even in the Asian region (for example, China), have repurposed to produce furniture from bamboo or artificial rattan. European manufacturers - for the production of solid wood furniture with decorative rattan braid, remaining in production stocks;
use of machinery for mass production of wicker furniture;
tracking fashion trends- unlike Asian manufacturers, local entrepreneurs have the ability to quickly respond to changes in consumer demand;
development of new furniture designs that would allow moving away from the stereotype that “wickerwork” is Street furniture for cafes and furnishings for summer cottages, as a result of which sales have a pronounced seasonality. In Europe, wicker furniture has long been recognized as convenient and environmentally friendly for furnishing apartments - products from well-known Italian and Spanish furniture companies (Roberti Rattan, Bonacina, Gabar, Rattan Wood, Rattan Deco) cost as much as luxury furniture. The price of an imported chair is about $450, a two-seater sofa is from $1300, a set of a pair of armchairs and coffee table– from $2000. In our country, the direction "wicker furniture for the home" is just beginning to develop.

In general, in the next 5 years, experts predict the growth of the domestic wicker furniture market by 25-30% annually.

Equipment for the production of wicker furniture

Depending on the complexity of the technological process, in the production of wicker furniture, hand tool and machine tools. The braider's workplace is a stable table 750 mm long, up to 650 mm high and 400-450 mm wide with drawers for tool storage.

To manual equipment for machining furniture include:

hand saws;
shmol (for sharpening tapes in width);
plows;
zhamki (steel plates for bending or straightening rods);
bit;
iser (a cone-shaped steel plate for aligning rows in products and thickening weaving);
chisels;
drills, drills;
screwdrivers;
emery skins;
knives and other tools.

Regarding automated production- at the moment this does not exist. There are only machines, the prototype of which was weaving ( Loom technologies), but for natural raw materials such technologies were not justified in terms of quality: even the weaving of a simple fabric after stitching is prone to deformation, and an accurate fit of the frame with uniform braid tension along the entire length can only be achieved manually.

Technological process of making wicker furniture

Modern wicker furniture is not just a piece of furniture made from natural plant materials. The design can combine wood, leather, various fittings and even glass.

But the classic technology for the production of wicker furniture consists of the following steps:

mechanical processing of wood (cutting, bending, planing, grinding, connecting parts with screws, viscous);
wood heating;
drying;
weaving;
gluing;
decoration and varnishing.

Stages of weaving furniture

Let's take a closer look at how wicker furniture is made from vines:

1. The cheapest and most accessible raw material in our latitudes is willow vine. It is collected in forests, swamps, in the backwaters of rivers. Checking whether the willow is suitable for weaving or not is very simple: before cutting the rod, bend it at a right angle. If it does not break, then the raw material is suitable for harvesting.

The collection of willow ends as soon as the buds appear on the vine. Depending on the cut period, the color of the raw material also changes: in the cold season, the vine has a creamy hue, and in the summer it is white, the most popular. But cutting a willow in warm weather is not recommended: the butt (the remainder of the rod) does not heal for a long time and does not give new shoots. Therefore, the official vine collection period is late autumn (from the end of October), winter and early spring. And in order to achieve a snow-white shade, the raw materials are bleached.

2. The stage of cleaning the rod from the bark

After cutting, the rod is sorted and sent for cleaning from the bark. Cleaning is possible in two ways:

cold- to "revitalize" the rods are soaked in ordinary cold water to cause the juices to move. This method does not require any special devices; rods can be soaked both in bathtubs and natural reservoirs. But for this method, raw materials are suitable that have retained at least 25-30% of the original moisture content. Therefore, on an industrial scale, the hot cleaning method is more in demand;
hot. Without “cooking”, it is almost impossible to peel off the bark without damaging the rod. Therefore, the sorted rods are loaded into a special cage-container and lowered into a boiling "bath", in which the raw material stays for about 2 hours. During this time, the hard bark softens and swells (Fig. 4).

The second method, more suitable for small-scale production, is cooking in an open-air boiler. A small ditch is dug under a metal container, in which a fire is laid. The water is boiled and rods, weighted with a load, are immersed there so that they do not float above the surface.

3. Sanding the rod

Next, the steamed rods are sent for sanding. The debarked rod must be completely clean along its entire length, with a creamy shiny surface. On a high-quality rod, there can be no breaks, scratches and other mechanical damage.

And such sanding can only be done manually, in the old fashioned way, with the help of special pinches, through which the rod is “driven” along its entire length, which facilitates subsequent cleaning. The whiteness, elasticity and density of the rod depend on the method of cleaning and subsequent drying.

4. Whitening process

To bleach the rods, a special solution is used: bleach (1 part) is mixed with water (15 parts) diluted with 2% sulfuric acid. Sulfur bleaching is also known. To do this, 60 grams of sulfur are taken per 1 m 3 of wood, set on fire and placed in a sealed chamber for 3-6 hours.

5. Drying of the prepared rods

Barked rods are sent to dryer- a special room where the temperature is maintained at about 60-70 ° C. Here, the raw material is kept for at least 20 hours, after which it is ready for use.

In the warm season, the peeled rod can be dried under sunbeams(At the same time, use the mechanism of natural whitening). True, drying under such conditions will last at least 3 days, but it will not require special equipment. In the rainy season, the rods are dried under sheds for at least 6-7 days.

6. Making a furniture frame

Next, they make furniture frame. To do this, a large-diameter vine is leveled with a zhamka, bends or bends (depending on the design features of the furniture). With the help of the same clamp, the rods are bent to necessary details. Then legs, crosses and other structural details are nailed to the frame.

7. The frame is braided with a split vine

After the frame is braided vine, split on a special machine into three flexible dense strips along the length of the rod. Manual separation is also used: for this, the rods are soaked in water for 4-7 hours (depending on the thickness), after which they are split into 3-4 parts (tires) using splitters.

8. The choice of weaving technique

The craftsman, creating a piece of furniture, takes into account its purpose, shape and load capacity. According to these parameters, he chooses the most optimal weaving technique.

In this case, even in one product, several types of weaving can be used at once:

simple (Fig. 8);
thick;
solid;
rare;
openwork (Fig. 9);
layered (Fig. 10);
rows (Fig. 11);
squares (Fig. 12);
rope (Fig. 13);
bend (Fig. 14).

In order for the rods to bend well, they are moistened with water during the weaving process, after which finished goods dry again.

9. Connecting braided parts

After weaving, the parts are connected in one of the following ways:

simple overlay or trimming of wood by 1/3 or 1/4 of the thickness of one part in relation to the width of another part;
corner joints (overlaid);
overlay with undercutting and rounding;
connection on an oblique cut of two parts;
fastening by girth;
connection by shooters;
podluchki;
prolegs.

8. Varnishing the wickerwork

After processing the frame with a braid, forming parts using various techniques weaving, assembling and subsequent drying-polishing, the time comes for the next stage - product varnishing. For this, nitrocellulose varnishes are used (for example, NTs-218,222,223,224), as well as polyester wax-free (PE-232,247,250). Such varnishes dry well and make the surface glossy, shiny.

After drying for 18-24 hours, the product is sent to the finished product warehouse. Since weaving rods are, in fact, the same tree, they can not only be varnished, but also stained, painted in any color, which gives ample opportunities in terms of design.

Features of organizing a business for the production of wicker furniture

1. Legal form of business

For legal registration, it is enough to register an individual entrepreneur, because the end consumer is mainly individuals.

2. Official type of activity

For reference economic activity you must specify the following OKVED codes:

36.14 - Manufacture of other furniture;
52.44.1 Retail sale of furniture.

3. Room

In the workshop for the production of wicker furniture, it is necessary to provide:

a room for drying vines (on the street - in the warm season, in a well-heated drying room - in winter);
room for painting and varnishing;
main production shop.

There are no special requirements for the premises: heating, availability of communications, access roads.

4. State standards

To get started, read the GOSTs:

25552-82 - Twisted and wicker products. Test Methods
13025.5-71 Household furniture. Functional dimensions of tables
13025.2-85 Functional dimensions of seating and lying furniture
19120-93 Furniture for sitting and lying. Sofa beds, sofas, chair beds, lounge chairs, couches, ottomans, benches, banquettes. Test Methods

5. We increase profit

The production of wicker furniture is a highly profitable business, especially if you harvest raw materials yourself. A finished furniture rod costs about 150-200 rubles / 100 pieces (depending on thickness and category).

6. Financial indicators

The cost of a finished armchair made of wicker, made according to GOST standards and sizes, is 1-1.5,000 rubles. (includes labor costs and purchased materials). At the same time, the selling price of the product starts from 3,000 rubles. and above (depending on the region).

It takes about 3-5 days to make an armchair or chair by one master (depending on the complexity of weaving).

Every family probably has a lot of old and unnecessary newspapers, magazines, brochures. They can melt the stove or fireplace, they can be handed over to waste paper. And you can make furniture and interior decor items from this paper. Yes, do not be surprised, newspapers can serve as a durable and reliable material for weaving.

You have all come across products woven from vines. They look nice and airy, but are quite expensive. Therefore, we offer you some simple options that will allow you to master the technique of wicker weaving using cheap material.

So, let's master the weaving of furniture with our own hands to decorate the house on our own and at no extra cost.

Newspaper tube furniture: what is needed to create it

First of all, we need to find out what we need to work, no matter what piece of furniture or decor we will create. The list of materials includes:

Newspapers (magazines, brochures);
Sheets of cardboard;
Scissors;
Pencil;
Knife for cutting paper;
Glue for paper;
Scotch;
Stain and varnish to cover the finished product.

For a simple vase model, you can do without plastic bottle as a form. For more complex structures may need various items as a frame or temporary holder during work.

In this case, you can always get by with improvised means. It can be dishes, legs and much more. If you want to make a wicker chair, the most simple option there will be decoupage technique plastic chair, which will serve as a frame.

The first thing to do is to form tubes from newspapers, which will serve as a vine for us to weave. The tubes must be of the same length, and most importantly, the diameter. Therefore, wind them on a pencil to get the optimal shape, pre-lubricating the paper with glue. This will prevent the straw from falling apart when you remove the pencil from it.

From the outside, it may seem that paper is not the most reliable material for the manufacture of massive objects for a specific purpose. But in fact, do-it-yourself paper furniture is quite practical, strong, and if you follow all the rules when making it, it will serve you for many years.

How to make newspaper tubes

In order for your newspaper products to be strong, their manufacture must be approached with the utmost care.

For more complex structures designed to hold weights, such as chairs, whatnots, shelves, you will need a tube of greater density.

Fold the newspaper lengthwise twice, cut it into 4 equal strips. To make a tube, take a knitting needle of the appropriate thickness, and attach the strips to the corner at an angle of 20-30 degrees. Holding the edge, twist the tube. When you reach half, remove the knitting needle and tighten it by gluing the edges with glue.

If during the weaving process you need to build a tube, do not use glue for this. It is better to leave a gap of 2-3 cm, it is enough to hold a new link. For example, when twisting large newspaper sheets, the tube expands upwards, which is optimal for building up.

Since the paper is much softer than the vine, try to fix the tubes at the end of weaving with PVA glue on the product. Leave overnight to dry and continue finishing in the morning.

If you want nothing to distract you from work, prepare more newspaper sticks in advance. Do not be afraid that there will be extra ones: weaving paper furniture with your own hands is so exciting that you will want to create a few more things.

First, let's practice on something simple. For example, a small round tray.

Weaving a tray from newspaper tubes

For such a tray, you will need prepared newspaper tubes and cardboard, as well as some form to support the structure during the weaving process. Stock up on a decoupage napkin with a pattern that you like, and acrylic paint.

Cut out three circles of the same size from cardboard.
Paint one of the circles with white acrylic paint. After drying, decoupage on it and set it aside for a while.
Draw the second circle into sectors of the same size. Use a protractor for accurate calculations. For example, if you take an angle of 8 degrees for the layout, you will get 45 rays. Stick tubes on them, they will serve as the basis of the product.
Now, on top of the tubes of the base, glue the second circle of cardboard. Thus, you will have the bottom of the product ready.
Take two tubes and braid the first row with them, exactly adhering to the edge of the cardboard circle so that the ends are closed. Turning to the second row, lift the tubes of the base vertically. In this case, it will not be needed for braiding, since the working tubes from which weaving started hold their shape well on their own.
Continue braiding the tray with either a simple tube binding technique, or a more complex pattern if this work is not new to you and you have already mastered several patterns.
After the tray is completely woven, cover it with two layers of varnish, and after it dries, fix a decoupage cardboard circle to the bottom.

So, you have practiced, filled your hand, and you have got a nice and functional element of the interior. Now let's move on to more complex options.

Do-it-yourself furniture for the room: weave a beautiful chair

This is exactly the same decoupage option for a simple plastic chair, which we talked about above. For this you will need:

plastic chair;
Sheets of cardboard;
Tubes from newspapers or paper;
Glue.

Let's get to work. For convenience, you can put the workpiece on the table, but if it is preferable to work on the floor, lay a soft blanket under your feet, as weaving a chair can take a lot of time.

Place a sheet of cardboard under the chair and cut to the right sizes, forming the bottom of the future chair. To each side of the resulting shape, glue the newspaper tubes parallel to each other, on the folds - at an angle of about 30 degrees.
Having set the chair level, raise the tubes, they will serve as racks. Now take four tubes, fix them on the base and braid the first row as shown in the photographs. The extra two tubes need to be hidden inside, and the remaining two weave two more rows.
After the fourth row is completed, it is advisable to use two tubes for weaving at the same time. Having weaved several rows in this way, you can return to weaving using the “rope” technique. Thus, the bottom and the stand of the chair are ready.
Let's move on to the seat. It is woven in one tube. For every fifth row, a working tube is left on the right side, and on the left, a new one is added with a margin. This is how the side racks are formed.
The sides and bases are braided together with the “rope” technique from left to right. After that, the remaining ponytails from the seat are hidden inside, under weaving. Proceed to the back: you need to weave it from new tubes. After several separate rows have been woven, begin to braid the back around the chair. To narrow the armrest, take two racks together; one of them can then be cut off.
Start weaving the back on the left, gluing the ends of the tubes to it and cutting off the excess. From the inside, you will need to reduce the width strictly in the form. Add two bent tubes on the armrest and weave in a circle, bending the work tube on the right side under the first right rack. Cut off and glue the ends. To cover the arches of the armrests and backrest, weave the top section until the top and bottom posts meet. We bend the edges. We cut off the excess.

Now our chair is completely ready, it remains only to cover it with stain and open it with varnish.

In the same way, you can braid any for a room with your own hands, which has long lost its presentation, but throwing it away is a pity.

DIY paper furniture: a master class on weaving a cat house

You love cats? If yes, then surely you are the owner of this affectionate fluffy animal, and take care of your pet. Why not make such a two-level house in which you will feel comfortable and cozy. Moreover, you will need a little for this: cardboard and newspaper tubes.

Such furniture made of paper with your own hands is made simply and does not take much time.

First, pay attention to the size and fatness of your cat. The larger the animal, the denser the newspaper tubes should be and the wider the bottom. Let's consider standard size: oval bottom 40 by 35 cm, the first level of the house is 23 cm high.

The tubes are glued to the bottom at the same distance by the sun. Raise them so that they form a wall and begin to braid. In each row, when weaving, bring the warp tubes closer to each other so that the walls taper towards the top.
After 23 cm is woven, make a few more rows to form a straight rack of about 5 cm. The crossbar between floors will be placed here. It must be woven in advance in the form of a circle, and the tubes of the base should protrude sufficiently beyond the working canvas to connect with the tubes of the base of the first floor.
Now braid the resulting compacted base in a circle, forming a basket semicircular from the inside.

Practical, eco-friendly, beautiful, and always individual - willow wicker furniture is confidently changing its once narrow designation "for summer cottages" to furniture "for dining rooms and salons" country houses. Many city apartments are also getting original functional wicker interior objects.

Previously, trips to the Black Sea or the Caucasus were always marked by the purchase of a beautiful wicker basket for fruits, which were then used for mushroom picking and storing onion-garlic. Later, a laundry basket appeared in the house from a vine instead of a faceless and annoying plastic one. I accidentally found out that it turns out that in our area there are excellent masters of working with a vine. The Germans who stayed with us in the summer at the dacha were generally wildly delighted with my unpretentious wicker utensils, all this led me to the idea to take a fresh look at the ancient craft and engage in the production of wicker things. Well, I myself have not advanced much in skill - my hands are weak, pampered, and I don’t have perseverance, things didn’t go beyond the basics and a couple of coasters (although the work of my hands flaunts in the most prominent place in the house), but the idea is to popularize this worthy cause did not leave for a long time. What to do? Of course, look for craftsmen and open a store! I immediately refused to create a workshop - it made no sense to collect all the masters known to me in a bunch, each has its own devices: some in the garage, some in the barn, some equipped themselves at home workplace, my task is to secure orders and organize sales and try to start a business on wicker furniture without start-up capital.

Procurement of material and tools

All work is carried out almost entirely by hand using the most simple tools: knives, secateurs, meters. You will need pliers and round teeth, wood saws and a set of various templates. The main material is the same willow vine, harvested all year round, but has different quality, price, purpose.

By the way, harvesting high-quality vines, cultivating your own plantation can become a separate good business even if you don’t know how or don’t want to do weaving at all. For plantings, the varieties of purple willow, black willow, red shelugi, and almond willow are considered the best. A very interesting variety of hemp willow: it is more suitable for weaving furniture - it forms a bush with shoots more than 5 m high, which bend beautifully, but have a large core, therefore it is suitable as a frame base for the product. The willow vine is grown on clay and sandy soils; on fertile soils, the rod is too thick, does not bend well, is not very suitable for weaving, but is great for hedges. Wicker fences are actively used by landscape designers to decorate flower beds and various compositions, as well as to create interiors for cafes and restaurants in folk style.

You will receive the first high-quality harvest of vines from your own plantation in the third year (there are technologies by which you can harvest in a year), and until that time you need to harvest in nature, which is not difficult in itself, along the rivers and in the swamps this stuff is full , you need to select suitable bushes, clear a place around them and prune in late autumn or in early spring. The cost of packing the finished vine, depending on the category, is from 120 to 300 rubles / 100 pieces. a specially prepared, processed and dyed vine or willow ribbon costs even more. By the way, both grapevine and corn leaves, some types of cereal stems are used in weaving to give things more decorative, different textures.

Wicker furniture - a romantic accent in minimalism

In our city, as, indeed, throughout the country, many studios for the manufacture of kitchens, cabinet furniture have opened - it was to these workshops that I first of all offered cooperation - to use our retractable wicker boxes in design. Design Ideas with boxes of vines, gleaned from the Internet, were met with a bang. There were many who wanted to diversify the look of their standard chipboard cabinets.

Any detail made completely by hand carries a powerful positive energy, maybe that's why people are so drawn to everything non-standard, worked in one copy. On the Russian market wicker furniture competes with rattan furniture (made from rattan palm shoots), but this is only because there are not enough local manufacturers of weavers. Rattan is more expensive, the quality is not higher than that of the vine, and the range is narrower. Therefore, our market has room to move, especially due to orders for individual sizes and sketches.

Courses on the basics of weaving cost an average of 10,000 rubles for two days, but this depends on the area of residence and the master. You can get a job for a couple of weeks "as a worker" and combine training with ancillary work on the skill of harvesting and processing material, so it turns out that they learned and did not pay money. Each craftsman, on average, makes a shelf-stand, or a small locker or rocking chair from 3 to 7 days, depending on the complexity of execution, such work costs about 7,000 rubles for the most unpretentious medium-sized cabinet at its cost of 1,400 rubles (subject to purchased materials ). In any case, this is not a mass production, and between the search for a customer, the coordination of order details and the price, manufacturing, delivery, enough time passes, often a master makes 2-3 items a month, this is very good. I took on all the work of making ends meet.

The problem that I am constantly dealing with is the search for craftsmen or those who want to professionally learn the skill of basket weaving. Despite the fact that there is a need for beautiful and functional things, people in the city are mainly employed in mining and metallurgy. I am thinking of opening training courses, I am sure that this is a very promising business.

Currently, I work on a permanent basis with two masters from our city and with one from the region. I rent a small area in the mall 4 square meters(I pay 5,000 rubles a month for rent), there are a couple of shop windows, booklets, baskets woven from wicker and birch bark for assortment, I immediately accept orders for the manufacture of furniture, enter data into a computer, look for a design with a client, mainly these are dining groups, cabinets - stands, boxes and various modifications of shelves. The city is undergoing intensive construction of private houses, we keep our finger on the pulse, we already have a preliminary agreement with the architectural and design bureau to order wicker fences and arbors. The fashion for a clean environment and a healthy environment will definitely not go away in the coming years, which means that our business will always be in demand.

Variety of wicker furniture in this video

This business is not new. Wicker chairs are found even in the Egyptian pyramids. In Russia, wicker furniture was as popular as ordinary bast shoes. Over time, such furniture was undeservedly forgotten. However, recently, the fashion for wicker furniture has begun to return again. They began to import it to us already from Western Europe and sell at exorbitant prices. Graceful wicker tables with glass top and comfortable chairs sold out for hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars per set. Later, domestic products joined Western products. But even today, demand for wicker furniture exceeds supply. And this means that now is the time to organize this interesting and very promising business.

Such a business is ideal for those who do not have a large start-up capital. It does not require expensive machines and technologies. The manufacturing process has not changed. It is exactly the same as it was three hundred years ago. This craft is based on manual labor, and therefore cannot be automated.

For, of course, you need a vine. Experts advise using willow vine as a "building" material. It is easy to process and serves for a long time without losing its aesthetic appeal and strength (this criterion is especially important when we are talking about the furniture on which it is supposed to constantly sit). Fortunately, willow grows almost throughout Russia.

Finding and collecting vines

Collecting rods, however, must be done wisely so as not to cause much damage to a tree or shrub. The rods must be cut with a knife or sickle at an angle of 30-50 degrees relative to the axis of the branch. On each stump you need to leave two rods. And do not touch them after this year, two or three, until the young branches sprout. The rest of the rod should be small (up to two centimeters).

Good materials for weaving will be hemp willow, which grows along rivers and lakes. Three-year-old rods are used for the frame, and a one-year-old vine is used for weaving itself. It is considered great luck to find a pointed willow (a hybrid of goat and rod-shaped). Her vine is a very high quality material.

Willow vine should be harvested in the second half of October. The collection of vines is completed in the spring, during the appearance of white fluffy buds. Cutting willow in summer is not recommended for environmental reasons. After all, the wound on the butt at this time of the year does not heal for a very long time. In this case, you can not even count on the appearance of young branches. Here, however, there are nuances. Harvesting in winter allows you to get a cream-colored vine, and in order to get a white vine (the most in demand), you will have to cut the vine in the summer. Before cutting the vine, you need to evaluate it for strength. To do this, bend the branch 90 degrees. The bush will suit you if the bent branch has not broken.

Making furniture from a vine - the first steps

Do not rush to immediately grab onto the complex. Start small. For example, from baskets, on which all specialists hone their skills.

To one degree or another, wicker furniture, of any complexity, is subject to general rules. First, a frame is made, and then rods are woven into it. You can find a lot of training videos on this topic, you just need to go to the Internet and drive the appropriate query into the search box. There is also enough special literature, which describes step by step the technology for the production of wicker furniture.

Masters with experience, as a rule, make blanks in advance. At present, wicker furniture is ennobled with cushions (armchairs and chairs), and tempered glass(tables). The manufacturer has the latest chemicals. They give the vine extra strength and the desired color.

It is believed that the most popular piece of wicker furniture is the rocking chair. In one day, with good preparation, you can make two such chairs. furniture stores willingly take them for sale.

To sell the finished product, you can look for resellers in big cities. Wicker furniture is especially well understood in the spring, when people move to their country houses after the winter.

This business is attractive already because it requires almost no start-up expenses. At the same time, the market for wicker furniture is far from being saturated. Basically it's full expensive models foreign production. Why not compete for buyers who are ready to buy such furniture at a lower price. You have all the prerequisites for getting a good income.

Wicker furniture creates something special in the house sunny mood. It is not only beautiful and elegant, but also durable and comfortable. Despite the apparent complexity, you can make such furniture yourself. The main thing is to know some features of weaving.

The most popular material for weaving furniture is willow.

Preparation of raw materials for work

Branches of many plants are used for weaving, but willow is the most popular. The thinner the core of the rod, the better the raw material will be. Rods with a thick core are also suitable for work. They form the basis for large items. But for openwork and airy creations, it is best to choose a material with a thin “heart”. When harvesting, you should pay attention to the width of the willow leaf. The narrower it is, the more elastic the vine will be and the more openwork weaving.

It is possible to harvest raw materials from October until the onset of severe frosts, as well as in spring. During this period, the rods are well cleaned.

Tools for weaving from willow: A - a knife, B - a chipper, C, D - a chip and work with it, D - a planar plow, E - an edge plow.

Before you start making furniture from willow, you should decide how it will be made. Two types of wicker furniture are known: frameless and stick. The peculiarity of the first type is that ordinary sticks are used in the manufacturing process. In the finished structure, they play the role of stiffeners. In products made by the second method, a supporting structure is constructed from sticks.

You can weave furniture in different ways. The main types are single, openwork and combined weaving. They allow you to create both integral surfaces and make patterns.

To fasten parts of wickerwork, two types of joints are used: detachable and one-piece. The first method will be convenient when it is planned to disassemble the furniture, for example, for transportation. However, it should be noted that it is rarely used. The second type of connection is more popular. In this case, ordinary fasteners (nails, glue) are used, which makes finished structure more durable. In addition, this method is much easier to use, especially for a beginner braider.

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Frame manufacturing

You can make any thing from willow branches with your own hands. A small wicker sofa will always be appropriate country yard, and on the balcony in a city apartment. To make such necessary thing need to be prepared. For work you will need:

Willow rods.
Strong sticks with a diameter of 25-30 mm.
Sandpaper.
A hammer.
Sharp knife.
Secateurs or scissors for trimming rods.
Roulette.
Self-tapping screws and small nails for fastening.
Hacksaw.
Glue.
Screwdriver.
Stain.
Foam rubber and fabric for seat drapery.

First you need to prepare the material. Remove the bark from the sticks and rods and leave to dry. Before starting work, lightly process the raw materials sandpaper to protect your hands from splinters.

Elements of wicker furniture frames: 1 - shooters, 2 - substrings, 3 - cross, 4 - horseshoe-shaped prong, 5 - U-shaped prog, 6 - I-beam, 7 - I-beam with two longitudinal rods.

Making a sofa begins with the creation of a frame. For the future seat, 4 blanks are cut from prepared sticks: 2 by 600 mm and 2 by 400 mm. You need to fasten them together with screws to make a rectangle.

In order for the sofa to be more stable, it is better to install 3 legs in front and behind. For the front legs, cut blanks of a length that corresponds to the distance from the seat to the floor, for example, 400 mm. They should be attached with self-tapping screws to one of the sides of the seat frame at an equal distance, in this case every 200 mm.

As for the rear legs, then the height of the backrest must be added to the height from the seat to the floor. For example, a height of 250 mm is selected. Then you should prepare 2 legs of 650 mm each, which will be fixed on the sides. The leg, which will be installed in the middle, is better to be made higher, for example, 750 mm. This will make the back with a beautiful bend. Attach the legs to the seat frame.

To decorate the back, you need to cut a blank that will be longer than the seat. Using self-tapping screws, fix it on the upper ends of the rear legs. The result is a back in the form of an arc.

The frame needs to be reinforced. The same sticks that were used for the frame itself will act as stiffeners. Be sure to mount them at the same height. First, the side and middle legs are fastened together. To secure these stiffeners, it is necessary to attach 2 blanks along the length of the seat. The next step is to connect the extreme legs with the middle back. The blanks are attached diagonally. The edge that will be attached to the extreme legs should be placed at the level of the rib that fastens the rear and front legs, and the other slightly below the seat.