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anyone know about bamboo bending?

updated wed 13 jul 05

 

Jane Murray-Smith on tue 5 jul 05


Try this site


http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showgallery.php?si=bending+bamboo&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=12&cat=all&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=all&x=10&y=10
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Green"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 8:06 AM
Subject: Anyone know about bamboo bending?


>I just aquired some bamboo from an aunt of mine, and
> was wondering how do I bend it for handles. The shoots
> are still green and I have deleafed them but i am not
> really sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
> I have enough to mess around with and I don't think
> this will be the last bundle I get. Well thanks a ton
> in advance.
>
> -Pat
>
>
>
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Patrick Green on tue 5 jul 05


I just aquired some bamboo from an aunt of mine, and
was wondering how do I bend it for handles. The shoots
are still green and I have deleafed them but i am not
really sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
I have enough to mess around with and I don't think
this will be the last bundle I get. Well thanks a ton
in advance.

-Pat



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pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on tue 5 jul 05


Hi Pat,



...one may use some sort of impromptu Mandrel which one heats...could be a
sort length of larger Steel Pipe or some solid object with outside curves to
it...

Heat, and maybe residual moisture from soaking in advance, I believe will do
it...with the appropriate pressures of being guided to bend...over or around
the mandrel, which of course, should be something quite smooth or even
polished if possible.

This means or method anyway, could be worked out by experiment, as for how
much heat and so on...


Phil
el ve


----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Green"


> I just aquired some bamboo from an aunt of mine, and
> was wondering how do I bend it for handles. The shoots
> are still green and I have deleafed them but i am not
> really sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
> I have enough to mess around with and I don't think
> this will be the last bundle I get. Well thanks a ton
> in advance.
>
> -Pat

Logan Oplinger on wed 6 jul 05


On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 08:06:35 -0700, Patrick Green
wrote:

>I just aquired some bamboo from an aunt of mine, and was wondering how do
>I bend it for handles. The shoots are still green and I have deleafed them
>but i am not really sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
>I have enough to mess around with and I don't think this will be the last
>bundle I get. Well thanks a ton in advance.
>
>-Pat

Hello Pat,

When making kite frames, I have successfully bent pencil diameter, 1 ft.
sections of bamboo by holding them over a low flame on my gas stove. Hold
one end of a section between the thumb and forefinger in each hand and roll
it over the flame. As heat is applied, the bamboo will soften enough to
bend. Apply the heat over as much of the full length as you can. Working
quickly & smoothly is key. If you hold the bamboo over the flame too long
it will dry out, become harder to bend, and begin to char.

I do not know how successful you may be with larger diameter bamboo.

Wood bending techniques require first soaking in water and then bending
over heat, or heating the wood for a while in a steam box before bending.

I did find the following links on the web with google:

http://www.tangokites.org/tangokites/html/ncb_interview.html
http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-757.html
http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/archive/index.php/f-139.html
http://groups.msn.com/FreeFlightOnline/bendingbamboo.msnw
http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~bwc/bwc-e/bambooqa-e.html

http://www.megspace.com/lifestyles/njmarine/Steam.html
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Rx_For_Bending_Wood.html
http://www.allwoodwork.com/article/woodwork/methods_of_bending_wood.htm
(This one has an article about using a microwave oven to heat the wood.)

http://64.233.179.104/search?
q=cache:LAaep2fNh5MJ:members.aol.com/woodmiser1/bend.htm+wood+bending&hl=
en&start=5&lr=lang_en
(This is all one address line.)

Good luck.

Logan Oplinger
Another Tropical Island

Lee Love on thu 7 jul 05


Patrick Green wrote:

>I just aquired some bamboo from an aunt of mine, and
>was wondering how do I bend it for handles. The shoots
>are still green and I have deleafed them but i am not
>really sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
> I have enough to mess around with and I don't think
>this will be the last bundle I get. Well thanks a ton
>in advance.
>
>
Pat, my friend Genevieve taught me how to use bamboo to
make teapot handles. Roots are what is normally used for handles.
Genevieve wraps the ends with copper wire to attach them. He made some
during the pottery fair.

Genevieve's method is to take butane torch and heat the
middle of a length of dried bamboo. As it gets hot, it bends
easily. This turns the bamboo dark, but it looks nice. I am
guessing you might be able to wrap the bamboo with aluminum foil if you
don't want it to change color. I have small diameter bamboo trying to
take over the yard beside the studio. I should cut some roots to
dry. I picked up 3 cans of butane for my torch today.

I also saw a traditional bamboo fishing pole maker on the
news yesterday evening. He heated bamboo to straighten it. He had
something that looked like a pipe cut in half, and also a board with a
long hole in it, that he would use to help bend the pole straight.
His long sectional bamboo poles were beautiful.

He was in the news because he has started making a new
product: Bamboo Jo sticks. Because of recent knife attacks of
children in schools, the schools have become security conscious.
These poles were being made by the fishing pole maker and police
officers were holding workshops to teach teachers how to use them
against someone wielding a knife.

--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft

"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

-- Prospero The Tempest
Shakespeare

Patrick Green on thu 7 jul 05


Thanks so much you guys have given me quite a bit to
try out. I will need to let the bamboo dry a bit
first, but i really appreciate the help :)
again thanks

--pat

--- Jane Murray-Smith wrote:

> Try this site
>
>
>
http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showgallery.php?si=bending+bamboo&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=12&cat=all&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=all&x=10&y=10
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Patrick Green"
> To:
> Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 8:06 AM
> Subject: Anyone know about bamboo bending?
>
>
> >I just aquired some bamboo from an aunt of mine,
> and
> > was wondering how do I bend it for handles. The
> shoots
> > are still green and I have deleafed them but i am
> not
> > really sure where to go from here. Any ideas?
> > I have enough to mess around with and I don't
> think
> > this will be the last bundle I get. Well thanks a
> ton
> > in advance.
> >
> > -Pat
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail
> SpamGuard.
> > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
> >
> >
>
______________________________________________________________________________
> > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> >
> > You may look at the archives for the list or
> change your subscription
> > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> >
> > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> reached at
> > melpots@pclink.com.
> >
>
>
______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change
> your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>




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pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on fri 8 jul 05


Hi Pat,


It might well bend easier 'green'...(over a hot mandril or what, ) before it
looses it's moisture to the atmosphere in drying or equalizeing to ambient
humidity...where, rehydration of it then, might not be so easy unless you
steam it...or boil it maybe. A Pressure-Cooker might do the trick nicely
too...if you cold work fast when you pull them out.

I am not certain of this, as for Bamboo...

...but I do know that Woods bend much easier 'green' than they will dry...

Although I think Bamboo is a Grass...

Aren't Palms also a Grass?

I forget...

I used to have some Palm ' Wood '...and it was interesting...very dense, no
'rings'...almost non-porous...


Phil
el ve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Green"


> Thanks so much you guys have given me quite a bit to
> try out. I will need to let the bamboo dry a bit
> first, but i really appreciate the help :)
> again thanks
>
> --pat

Lee Love on sat 9 jul 05


Patrick Green wrote:

>Thanks so much you guys have given me quite a bit to
>try out. I will need to let the bamboo dry a bit
>first, but i really appreciate the help :)
>again thanks
>
>
Pat,

Just a bit of warning. I went out and cut a root, hoping to do a
demo for you (couldn't find a good piece, the area is overgrown now) and
it made me think of it: One of the big differences between the
branch and the root is that the root is solid, like rattan. If you
used a burner or torch on a length of intacted branch, you will
possible have a little explosion. The bamboo branches are hollow and
chambered and the air inside has nowhere to go.

At my teacher's workshop, we always cracked the chambers on the
bamboo before we put it in the work fire. Otherwise, they would explode
and send sparks flying.

--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft

"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

-- Prospero The Tempest
Shakespeare

Fabienne McMillan on tue 12 jul 05


Hi,

I got curious and did a quick search. It appears that
you can use a paint stripping gun to bend bamboo,
perhaps that won't turn the wood dark like a butane
torch would.

See
http://www.americanbamboo.org/FAQ.html#UsingBambooInCrafts

Cheers,




Fabienne McMillan

They teach anything in universities today.
You can major in mud pies -- Orson Welles

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