Pressing nodes

[Paul Cook]

That's interesting Paul, because the number of whole cane butt rods that have a split near the node ( not yours of course .... don't send the boys round ) is substantial.

I did see a very nice early B.James Avocet a few years ago , I think an Ealing label if memory serves me well . At first glance it looked immaculate and in fine original condition but upon closer inspection it had a terrible crack all up one side of the whole cane butt section , a real shame , without that problem it would have been a very nice rod to own .

[Hovis]

Thanks for the info Paul.

Just in time as I was about to bake the canes. I'll be off looking for a thin steel rod now, sure I'll have sometime in the man cave.

[Nobby]

When I moved into my current house I found a 6mm wood bit welded to a long, long threaded piece of studding. The previous owner was a 'chippie' ... I wonder if it would do for boring whole cane.


Bet I've taken it to the dump recently having a tidy-up

[Hovis]

Does anybody know if there is a set time for baking cane or indeed can I do it over an open flame? Will I see the cane change colour and does this mean it is done or am I waiting for it to go harder so I can no longer make an impression with my finger nail?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Nobby]

I can't help with rods....and it's been proved to me that dark cane is no stiffer than light cane, yet I know of pale floppy rods I disliked the moment I picked them up and dark rods that just felt so good. So once more I am at a loss to explain what is going on...which is most annoying after all this research.


But I can speak about BBQ skewers that I have heated to stiffen them up for floatmaking.

You don't need much colour at all...the stiffness is not proportional to the dark colour. It happens just as a tiny touch of colour is created and it doesn't seem to increase any more regardless of how much colour you add.......right up until it bursts into flames, at which point it is indeed very hard, but also very fragile.

Somy thoughts so far, are that a tiny bit of colour is all you need, and the whirls and circles we see on whole cane products are largely decorational.

What counts is to chase the moistrue out and i suspect that is part of the spiral pattern we so often see on whole cane handles.

[MHC]

Heating bamboo strips prior to making a rod forces some moisture out but more importantly allows only a proportion back in. Heating ( 8 mins total at 375 degrees C) tempers the strip which helps it spring back straight again after flexing under load. Waggle cooked and uncooked rods about and you will not likely feel a difference, instead after playing a fish look along the rod to see the difference. Heat too much and you carbonize the internal cells of the bamboo. Yes it will feel stiffer as it is partially burned on its way to being charcoal. Toning the outside is one thing but over heated (trying to make the bamboo stiffer) may result in more easily breaking cane. I would not think heat treating a landing net handle would have any advantage at all.

Malcolm