Are you one of beautiful rattan furniture lovers? If so, do you know how to process rattan to form into beautiful rattan furniture? However, in the article we will only explain about how the processing of cane into raw materials for furniture.
Rattan use as a raw material for rattan furniture is rattan that has been through processing. Event processing is advance workmanship of round rattan (cane random) into semi-finished goods and finished goods or ready for use or sale.
Rattan processing stages are as follows:
1. Frying
Frying process is to reduce the moisture content to dry and also to prevent fungal attack. The way is pieces of rattan tied into a bundle, and then put in a container that had been prepared with a mixture of diesel oil.
2. Scrubbing and washing
After rattan fried, drained a few minutes, then rubbed with a rag (coconut husk) or burlap sacks mixed with sawdust to clean the dirt especially sap which is still attached on skin of rattan can be released so that the skin becomes clean. As a final point, rattan will have generated color brightly colored and shiny.
3. Drying
After the cane is washed and then dried by drying in the hot sun until dry to a moisture content ranging from 15% – 19%. Basri research results and Karnasudirja (1987) in Jasni et al., (2005) on manau rattan (Calamus manan Miq.) And rattan semambu (Calamus scipionum Burr.), Showed that the drying time is naturally on the two types of rattan ranges from 22 days up to 65.3 days.
4. Stripping and policing
Stripping and policing generally done on a large rattan in a dry state, the point is on removing the cane skin, so that the diameter and the color becomes more uniform and evenly.
5. Fumigation
Fumigation is done to get uniform and shiny rattan. Fumigation is done on dry cane is still crusted (naturally). Fumigation is essentially a process of oxidation rattan with sulfur (SO2 gas) so that skin color becomes more white cane. Curing time of about 12 hours and spent about 7.5 kg of sulfur, or 1.8 g / rattan sticks (Rachman 1990 in Jasni et al., 2005).
6. Preservation
Pickling is the process of chemical treatments rattan or wicker physical against which aims to improve the life of the cane. Besides functioning to prevent or minimize damage due to organism destroyer wicker, rattan also extends lifespan. Preservative that used to be toxic to organisms both on dry wet rattan and wicker, rattan permanent, safe in transportation and use, non-corrosive, available in large quantities and cheaply.
7. Bending
Bending or bending rattan cane performed on large diameter in accordance with its use. The way this is done by bending the rattan softened with hot water vapor called steaming with a cylindrical tube (steamer) so as rattan tissue becomes soft and easily bent.
Results of the study (Jasni, 1992 in Jasni et al., 2005), shows that the craftsmen at home industry, bending process is carried out by means of direct heating the parts to be bent on fire (gas stove kerosene and LPG). Then the part bent with the help of bending at the rattan still hot. This method has several drawbacks that the process is slow and sometimes-heated parts can be burned, so that the color becomes black. Thus, rattan processing before shaped into beautiful furniture.
