The Old Bamboo MK 1

[Mr B]

Good evening all.
I have a sort of an endless Supply of this stuff so thought I would have ago at a landing net handle ( a usable one not a show stopper)
I have been drying a few lengths out over the summer.
I have read about letting the air out with extra long drill bits but I thought I would try the Mr H Robinsons approach .. ( I am ok with a little filled whole in the bamboo)
So far so good... no fireworks. Just a tiny whole drilled in the side.
Be interested in your views however good or horrific.
No offence ever taken.

Mr B

[Wanderer]

I'm glad you don't take offence but I think it is "Horrific" to keep a baby Dolphin in doors like that, and so close to a radiator too.

[Santiago]

Why is it essential to drill out the nodes to allow the air inside to escape?

[Hovis]

Why is it essential to drill out the nodes to allow the air inside to escape?

In my experience the nodal dams are rather tough. I've found when heating the cane to both temper and straighten you create steam. This steam, from moisture within cane, builds pressure and in some cases can cause fractures longitudinally along the cane. Whether this is the pressure build up or just too much heat I don't know. It doesn't always happen but its frustrating when it does.
Personally I use a wire coat hanger to poke down and break the nodal dams, this seems to reduce the likelihood of splitting.

[Santiago]

Why is it essential to drill out the nodes to allow the air inside to escape?

In my experience the nodal dams are rather tough. I've found when heating the cane to both temper and straighten you create steam. This steam, from moisture within cane, builds pressure and in some cases can cause fractures longitudinally along the cane. Whether this is the pressure build up or just too much heat I don't know. It doesn't always happen but its frustrating when it does.
Personally I use a wire coat hanger to poke down and break the nodal dams, this seems to reduce the likelihood of splitting.

Makes sense! Cheers.

[Mr B]

I'm glad you don't take offence but I think it is "Horrific" to keep a baby Dolphin in doors like that, and so close to a radiator too.

Love it!
I should have picked up my wives jeans to!
Messy!
Mr B

[Homer Simpson]

Bit of a hijack if I may.
I want to make a similar one that doubles as a wading stick, this will be more for getting up and down muddy banks as opposed to actually wading.

How do you securely fit the female thread into the pole?
My concern is lots of stress over a small area of bamboo where the net is attached.

I have the correct tap and die plus a lathe so I can fabricate pretty much any design.

[Old Man River]

So far as the nodes are concerned, I have a method that works a treat. I bought a length of steel studding about 3 ft 6 inches long , it is something like 6 M thread, the actual thread size is immaterial, I tap the studding down the end of the bamboo, and it can go in about 3 ft from either end, so reaches every node,I sharply tap the bar and break the node, the threaded bar also acts like a file, so using it you can file the inner nodes large enough to get all the loose particles of node out of the bamboo pole.

So far as “why bother “ well, there is the chance of making the bamboo into a “banger” if it is heated up without the nodes being popped, also, and in my opinion a far more worrying feature of not popping the nodes is that as the pressure builds up, it can not only split the bamboo as Santiago say, but it can also force moisture out of the are where the nodes are located and split the node around the circumference of the bamboo, I have seen this done myself, so it can happen.

I reinforce the threaded end of the pole by inserting either a slimmer but good fitting bamboo piece about a foot long inside the pole and epoxy resin it in place, or, alternatively, if I have no bamboo, I just go to my “rod bits “ store and find a bit of fibreglass the same size as above and fit it similarly.. I have made over 20 poles which have been moved on to their new owners, and never had a problem with the above.

David

[Wallys-Cast]

Firecracker is the Chinese name for exploding bamboo.

Used during celebrations, short sections with dams at each end were thrown into a fire to make them crack open giving off a loud bang. Long before the invention of blackpowder of course.

Wal.

[Duckett]

Firecracker is the Chinese name for exploding bamboo.

Used during celebrations, short sections with dams at each end were thrown into a fire to make them crack open giving off a loud bang. Long before the invention of blackpowder of course.

Wal.

That’s brilliant Wal, I love it! Though I do wonder about flying red hot bamboo needles!

Phil