Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

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foxd
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Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

Post by foxd »

I'm interested in trading for some Ch. tumidissinoda culms to experiment with to work out how to do the bend for walking canes. Anybody have some canes to spare for this experiment? I will take pictures and document procedures once I have the technique worked out. I have a pretty good idea what the procedure has to be, but it is good to actually try it out first to be sure it works...
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Re: Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

Post by ghmerrill »

Hmm... Try to pm growinghabit.... She may have a a couple she needs to remove, although they aren't large. The one place I saw decent size tumi at, and asked if they ever had any canes to get rid if, I got laughed at. :shock:
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Re: Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

Post by kudzu9 »

When I started working with bamboo, I figured there would be some readily available books that gave details about how to construct things, make joints, bend bamboo, etc. All I could find were books on building fences and other not-very-complicated things that don't require much in the way of bending or joining. I finally stumbled on a reprint of a book written in 1901 by Paul Hasluck called "Bamboo Work"; as far as I know, this is the most recent book devoted to this subject!

Bending of bamboo requires a fairly high degree of skill and a lot of practice: you put the bamboo under tension, and then slowly and evenly heat the area you want to bend with an open flame. Too little heat and you accomplish nothing; too much heat and you char/burn the culm or collapse it! I went through quite a few different culms and still couldn't get to the point of making extreme bends. I believe that this technique is still used in Asia today in the construction of furniture.
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foxd
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Re: Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

Post by foxd »

The book "Bamboo Work" by Paul Hasluck can be downloaded here:

http://archive.org/details/bambooworkcompri00hasl

The site also has a number of other books on bamboo for free!
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The legal issues that will arise when the undead walk the earth are legion, and addressing them all is well beyond what could reasonably be accomplished in this brief Essay. Indeed, a complete treatment of the tax issues alone would require several volumes.
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Re: Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

Post by kudzu9 »

foxd-
That's great that it's available as a download. When I found out about that book and was looking for it (about 10 years ago), I had a terrible time finding an available copy. It was so old that it wasn't in my local library. You could get it as a rare book for about $150. There had been a paperback reprint in 1997, but that was difficult to find, although I finally located it. Hasluck was an amazing guy who wrote dozens of practical how-to books. Besides "Bamboo Work," he wrote on things as diverse as coffin-making, bee-keeping, saddlery and harness-making, bookbinding, electric motors, etc. I see that quite a few have been digitized as well:

http://archive.org/search.php?query=cre ... 54-1931%22
Last edited by kudzu9 on Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Alan_L
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Re: Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda culms

Post by Alan_L »

Wow. That Cyclopaedia of Mechanics is amazing!
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