Now it has become popular to make various crafts with which you can decorate any interior, as well as use them to decorate other items for daily use. Every day more and more interesting ideas appear that inspire other craftswomen. Products in the shape of a ball have become very unusual - lampshades, New Year's toys and much more. Those who see similar products on the Internet or in someone’s interior, the question arises about how to make a ball with your own hands. This is not difficult at all, because all the instructions are presented in the most accessible form.
These charming balls can be made from various materials that you have around the house, without necessarily spending a large amount of money. Such materials include threads. Can be made from plastic cups, rattan, polystyrene foam, or plastic bottles. As you can see, you can use any materials. In addition, modern needlewomen make crafts using various techniques, which are being improved every year. Basically, various techniques are used, such as origami, quilling, kusudami, papier-mâché, kanzashi, and a spider web is also made from threads. Handicrafts go to great lengths to decorate their home.
Read this: Do-it-yourself pebble mosaic: the art of transforming your interior
Getting to know the material
If we talk about our country, then the weaving technology mainly involves the use of willow vine. But in tropical regions, rattan palm stems are available. This is the same rattan.
The vine is not difficult to obtain. It grows everywhere. But preparing it yourself is problematic. Plus, wicker furniture will be noticeably inferior in strength and durability to rattan.
At the same time, the technology of harvesting natural rattan for subsequent use is also complex. You won't be able to implement it yourself. That is why artificial rattan weaving is extremely popular among craftsmen and beginners.
This is a completely synthetic material called technorattan or polyrottan. It is produced by extruding soft, processed polymer, that is, plastic, through special holes with different diameters and different cross-sections. The material can have many varieties. Namely:
- flat strips with a textured surface;
- ribbed;
- with imitation of tree bark;
- with braid;
- round cords;
- oval;
- rattan rods;
- crescents, etc.
Nobody hides any production secrets. This is a polymer material that looks like natural rattan.
A brief excursion into history
Surely you don’t need to be reminded in which country they began to weave shoes called bast shoes from tree bark. Around the same time, or a little later, wicker furniture from wicker began to be made here. Moreover, it should be noted that if in Russia this craft appeared in the poor segments of the population (the peasants did not have the money to buy expensive furniture), then in Europe wicker furniture was made mainly for rich people.
Then, after 1917, this art was gradually forgotten, but abroad, on the contrary, it continued to develop. And a few decades later, wicker furniture began to be imported into our country from abroad, selling it for very decent money. However, historical “justice” has triumphed, and at the moment wicker furniture is successfully manufactured in our country, almost on an “industrial” scale. As far as this can be said about exclusively manual production.
Download furniture production business plan
Fortunately, the material for making wicker furniture, willow, grows in almost every region of our country. And learning this is no more difficult than, say, making decorative candles with your own hands, or making garden crafts from plastic bottles.
Advantages and disadvantages
Whether or not to sign up for courses for beginners, take online weaving courses, or abandon such an undertaking is up to each individual.
If you don’t know what a flower pot is and have never held a tool in your hands, then you need to start with theory. And then move on to practice.
Artificial, but very similar to real rattan, it has a number of strengths and weaknesses compared to natural rattan.
Objective advantages are:
- affordable price;
- improved flexibility and elasticity;
- increased strength;
- resistance to loads;
- moisture resistance;
- frost resistance;
- resistance to temperature changes;
- ease of care;
- the material is completely ready for use;
- wide selection of varieties, etc.
However, the rigidity is still quite low. Because of this, you definitely need to know how to attach it to a metal acting as a frame or other base material. It’s just not worth making furniture from rattan itself without a frame. Most likely it won't last.
Where and how to sell products
Finding a sale for wicker furniture given the existing demand will not be difficult. There can be many options here: from a regular store (for this you will have to open an individual entrepreneur, you can find out about the registration procedure here -), which will sell exclusively your products and sell furniture at home based on advertisements in the media, to an online store. In our opinion, at the present time, making wicker furniture is a very worthy, profitable, and cost-free business that anyone can master if desired. As they say - if there is a desire. We hope you have it!
A small master class on weaving from a professional:
Tools and materials
In order to make one or another piece of interior or furniture using artificial rattan with your own hands, you need to decide on a specific design, come up with a configuration, and choose a weaving pattern that suits you. It is better to first draw up a project and make a sketch. This is necessary at least for calculating the material.
- If it is a chair, then 2 kg of technorattan is quite enough;
- For a small two-seater sofa you will need from 5 to 7 kg on average;
- A large sofa will require at least 10 kg of technorattan.
As for the weaving technique, it is best for beginners to use a checkerboard pattern. If you combine the material by color or texture, a simple checkerboard pattern will look great in the end. If you have experience, you can move on to more complex schemes.
You will also need:
- a frame assembled with your own hands or made to order from metal;
- tapes or rods for making guides on which the pattern will be attached;
- main material for braiding;
- fastenings for guides;
- pins, bolts or leather strips for subsequent connection of elements.
If everything is ready, you can start working. Or rather, weaving.
Ball lamp
To decorate the interior, you can use any method. One of these is an original lamp, which will be different from the usual ones and give the room a zest. You can make such a ball yourself without any problems, and the cost of materials will be minimal. Such lamp decorations can be found not only in homes, but also in offices, salons and other public places where there are some creative notes. With the help of available materials you can set a special mood in a room or space.
What we need to prepare for the master class:
- thick threads, at least 100 meters, and you need to select the color yourself;
- glue, namely PVA, and a brush;
- fat cream or Vaseline;
- 2 balloons, if you need a large lamp, you can use a children's beach ball.
Let's start making a lamp. To do this, inflate the balloon to the desired size. We use a marker to mark a circle on the ball so that we can then insert a socket with a light bulb there. We take into account that the resulting lampshade will exactly repeat the shape of the inflated ball. Now take the glue and lubricate the threads well, you can soak them. We lubricate the ball with cream and then begin to carefully wrap it with threads; it is best to do this chaotically. And the density of the lampshade depends on the desire of the needlewoman. When you get the desired wrapping, leave it to dry for one day. After this, we pierce the ball and carefully pull it out. Our ball is ready, you can make several of these in different colors and decorate your kitchen, bedroom or living room with them.
Read this: DIY Halloween decorations: looking at suitable options
Weaving procedure
See also:
DIY furniture: interesting ideas, choice of material
Now, step by step, how to get ready-made furniture using artificial technorattan.
The technician will need to take the following steps:
- assemble it yourself, or take a ready-made frame, which will serve as the basis for all rattan furniture;
- fix a number of guides on the frame to which the poly rattan will be attached;
- a rod or tape can be wrapped around the frame in one turn, but for greater strength and reliability it is better to make several turns with an overlap;
- after this, the end of the rod for the guides is properly fixed on the finished frame;
- during the weaving process it is very important to apply a strong tension;
- technorattan can be attached to the frame using a stapler, or a more powerful pneumatic stapler;
- rattan elements extending beyond the manufactured frame are cut using a construction knife or other suitable tool;
- on a base of fixed guides, rattan upholstery is performed according to a pre-selected pattern;
- It is important to constantly align the weaving so that the final result is a fairly neat and even pattern;
- the ends of the rattan are connected with a stapler or soldering iron, all excess is cut off;
- now you need to braid the frame itself, the legs and other elements;
- To pull the tape through the holes, you can use a special tool with a curved end.
If your furniture consists of several component elements, such as a seat, back, armrests, it is better to make them separately and then connect them to each other.
How to replace rods in wicker furniture?
If there are no rods in the furniture, then everything is clear - they should be replaced with new ones. Broken parts need to be pulled out of the weaving so that they do not get in the way, because they will also have to be replaced with new ones. The next step is to measure the length of the remaining rods in order to choose the correct size for new ones. You need to add 7-10 cm to the resulting length, and you can go in search of new willow or rattan rods.
Rattan sticks can be purchased at a regular hardware store. But willow twigs are mined independently. For weaving furniture, shrubby willow stems 5-10 mm are ideal. thick. Such rods must be prepared for further use; at a minimum, the bark must be removed and left to soak in water for 2-3 hours.
To soften the base of the furniture, you need to place a wet towel on the broken area. Then the furniture will become elastic and it will be easier to repair. And then, when the rods have rested for some time in the water, you need to start weaving. Be enthusiastic about this task and one by one insert the missing parts where they should be.
After the wicker furniture has been reanimated, we let our product dry: at this time the holes narrow and the glue dries. For additional security, you can secure the twigs in the furniture with shoe nails.
Artificial rattan furniture
Currently, wicker furniture is very popular, for the manufacture of which, for example, natural willow is used. In this regard, we want to offer our next idea from the series of Business Ideas 2015, which will tell about a new trend in the furniture business.
Carpentry as a business is considered a profitable business. But to attract consumers, you need to follow popular trends and directions. One of these is considered to be artificial rattan furniture.
The main advantages of wicker furniture made from natural material:
— attractive price for buyers;
- easy to manufacture;
- does not require large initial investments to create a business based on the production and sale of wicker furniture.
There is also a big drawback - wicker furniture made from natural materials is only suitable for home use, as it is very sensitive to environmental factors. At the same time, buyers need wicker furniture that would serve for many years in the yard. This confirms the prospects of the business plan, which is based on the production of wicker furniture, but from artificial materials, for which weather conditions at different times of the year are not terrible. Similar materials are represented by rattan and synthetic wicker. Furniture from these materials is produced using extrusion.
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Artificial rattan is a man-made thread. How do you get it? It's simple: the molten feedstock is forced through the molding hole. In many characteristics and properties, artificial rattan is similar to natural wicker, but unlike the latter, it perfectly withstands the adverse effects of environmental factors. You need to understand that such a business eliminates the need to cut down willow bushes.
In the structure of potential customers for rattan furniture, the main share falls on the owners of private residential properties: cottages, dachas... Government organizations will also act as customers. That is, there is no doubt about the demand for wicker furniture (chairs, sofas, etc.) made from artificial rattan.
Attention! Are you interested in effective business ideas? Manufacturing pet furniture can generate significant income. Details at the link:
Customers and manufacturers
The advantages of rattan furniture are noted by all people who have acquired it. For example, the owner of one of the Sochi cafeterias noted that the purchased chairs are distinguished by high performance characteristics. At the same time, the texture of rattan chairs is very similar to their counterparts made from natural materials, but they are more durable, since their design includes an aluminum frame.
We found out the opinion of one of the buyers of rattan furniture. It would be useful to know what the manufacturers think. One of the entrepreneurs in the city of Sokol realized himself in the production of rattan wicker furniture. He argues that the main influence on the productivity of rattan furniture production is exerted by the unit that ensures the production of threads from raw materials. The frames used in furniture designs can be made with your own hands or by hired employees.
This is interesting: read our other articles - Countertops made of artificial stone and chipboard, Upholstery of upholstered furniture as a business and Equipment for cutting foam plastic.
Another entrepreneur focuses on the comfort of wicker rattan furniture. According to this indicator, furniture is significantly superior to furniture made from natural materials, including willow. He confirms his words with the need to splice vines in the case of using natural material and the absence of such in the manufacture of rattan furniture. This is due to the fact that the artificial material for one piece of furniture is represented by a single thread. The businessman gave practical advice to budding entrepreneurs: at the start, in the structure of manufactured furniture, give the greatest share to bench sofas, as they are currently more popular.
Equipment for the production of rattan wicker furniture
As in other endeavors, you cannot do without special units, including an extruder. Without it, it is impossible to organize the production of rattan furniture. Features of production in this field of activity are the low temperature of the molten raw material, the ability to impart plasticity to the material, the ability to control the appearance of the thread (can be similar to reed, tree bark, ordinary rod, and so on). The diameter of a strip with a textured surface is 0.6-1.2 cm, a regular rod is 0.3-0.8 cm.
The production line is also equipped with a cooling system, a four-wheeled vehicle that provides transportation, a winder, a crushing unit for recyclable materials, and a mixer. For all this pleasure you will have to pay about 1,500,000 rubles. Such a material base will allow opening a mini-factory. In addition, when making aluminum frames, automatic pipe benders will be required.
This is interesting! Find out how to set up your own framing workshop. Read our publication
Opinions from thematic forums
One of the forum participants recalled that natural rattan is a tropical vine. The length of this material can reach two hundred meters against a background of even diameter. In any case, such material is inferior in a number of indicators (almost all) to artificial rattan. He emphasized that artificial material can be purchased and wicker furniture can be made at home, which is also a profitable business.
Let's get acquainted with the opinion of the second forum participant. He confirmed the profitability of producing wicker furniture at home from purchased material. However, as his personal experience has shown, if possible, it is more rational to acquire your own mini-workshop, which will increase the amount of profit several times, since it will be possible to fulfill large volumes of orders.
The experience of a number of domestic businessmen who are engaged in the production of wicker furniture from artificial rattan shows that to launch a mini-production, an amount of 2,000,000 to 2,500,000 rubles will be required.
- Author: Dmitry
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