Heat treating bamboo sections removes excessive mositure, temporarily relaxes power fibers to promotes straightness of the strips, makes sections resistant to taking sets, and adds the critical element of resiliency or stiffness. Too much heat will ruin a strip; too little heat will not have the desired effect.

According to George Black's "Casting A Spell", Maine's own Eustis Edwards is given credit for being the first rod builder to experiment with heat treating bamboo to enhance its natural qualtities. Later, according to Black, FE Thomas copied Edwards' ideas to eventually create his famous browntone rod.

One of the biggest challenges faced by a beginning bamboo rod builder is how to properly heat treat bamboo sections in excess of 50" without breaking the bank on one of the commercially available ovens. For this reason, most home bamboo ovens are self-made. Borrowing ideas from various plans found on the Interent, I assembled my oven from 4" stove pipe, 2" stove pipe, stove pipe caps, 1/2" plywood, heavy aluminum foil and foil tape, 2x2's for framing, sheet metal, metal wire mesh, and pizza oven insullation saved from a dumpster by friend for the purpose.

Inside the oven, the 2" stove pipe is suspended within the 4" stove pipe. Pizza oven insullation is packed around the 4" pipe. With a heatgun setup on one end of the oven, the air path created forces the hot air down the 4" pipe on the outside of the 2" pipe. At the other end of the oven the air path reverses. The hot air now goes through the 2", which holds the bamboo sections, and eventually vents out the top through a 1" black iron pipe. Even though the interior temperature can approach 400 F, the exterior plywood barely gets warm.

I originally set up the oven to also serve as my planing bench, which it did nicely until I built my new work bench in the basement. I present to you the famous (or is that infamous?) Anderson Bamboo Box:
<img src="http://flyfishinginmaine.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7439&g2_serialNumber=1">

My family is well aware that one day I want to be buried in this thing

A variable speed heatgun is inserted into a a hole cut into the sheet metal on one end:
<img src="http://flyfishinginmaine.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7442&g2_serialNumber=1">

The heatgun is initially set to the next to highest setting:
<img src="http://flyfishinginmaine.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7446&g2_serialNumber=1">

It usually takes about 20 minutes for the interior of the box to come up to the desired temperature of 350 F. Temperature is monitored using a candy thermometer with its probe inserted into the 2" stove pipe at the mid point:
<img src="http://flyfishinginmaine.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7452&g2_serialNumber=1">
The temperature is manually adjusted to maintain 350-360 F throughout the process.

On the other end of the oven, the 4" stove pipe cap is removed, and the bamboo sections are inserted, resting on wire mesh placed at the bottom of the 2' pipe, then the 4" cap is replaced, and the door is closed to keep in the heat:
<img src="http://flyfishinginmaine.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=7455&g2_serialNumber=1">

The sections are heated for 7 to 8 minutes at 350 F, and then the sections are switched end to end to ensure even heating. After another 7 to 8 minutes at 350 F, the temperature is lowered to 325 F for an addtional 5 minutes. When bamboo reaches that magic critical temperature, it gives off a wonderfully sweet stir fry aroma.

The sections are removed, rolled to promote straightness, and then allowed to sit for a day or two to regain ambient moisture before work continues.

Joel,
Other than the flaming markings. Does the heat treating and flaming result in the same effect on the bamboo. Also at this point in the constuction of your rod is the moisture content more than the culm stage or less? And what about splitting/checking caused by drying.

Ron

Although I didn't weigh the bamboo sections before and after heat treatment, I'm pretty sure they are significantly drier after the heat treatment phase. When Culms are first split, the interior surfaces are often "moist" to the touch. During the heat treatment, you can sometimes see and hear the steam coming off the bamboo.

Flaming does not have the same effect as oven tempering, Ron. The temperature produced by the direct falme is too intense to leave it on the cane surface very long without causing damage. The effect of flaming is typically only about 0.010" deep. Most who flame also do some other type of heat treatment. I've even seen one maker who "charred" the interior pith side of his strips as a form of heat treating.

BTW, after proper heat treatment, there's little, if any, color change to the enamel surface of the bamboo strips.

Although the 350 degree temp for 15 minutes was arrived at emperically by various makers through the years, there are now lab results to substantiate that it's just about right. That's where the maximum water removal and resiliency is reached without damaging the bamboo or making it too brittle.

Check splitting (a single split the length of the culm) is typically encouraged because as a culms dries, it will randomly split on its own. The single check split promotes even drying and gives you a measure of control over the direction of the split rather than leave it up to Mother Nature.

Joel -

I've just been catching up on the forums - and this series is fascinating! Thanks for all your work on these posts.

I have one question on your latest post - when you write that the sections are removed and "rolled to promote straightness", does this simply mean you take warm (and flexible?) wrapped bundles, and hand roll them on a flat surface while they cool (kind of like rolling a "rope" out of clay)? Or is there more to it than that?

Thanks for the encouraging comments, Moz. It's a lot of work, but I'm having a good time with it.

You're on the right track. Once I remove the hot bamboo sections from the oven, I'll roll them on a flat surface to make sure they are as straight as possible while they cool into a less pliable state.

joel

Great stuff Joel, your efforts and postings are much appreciated. This series of posts have me looking at Bamboo rods with new level of respect and appreciation.

Joel, WIth the hours you invest in a rod along with materials what do you get for a rod? Or how do cane rod makers base their pricing?

Thanks, KCHRLSE

Thanks for your question. Like any craft, supply and demand commands the price makers get for the bamboo fly rods. Some makers have such a long waiting list of customers, they have stopped taking names. Mike Clark (made famous by John Gierach's writing) and Per Brandin fit that bill. Talking to Kathy Scott yesterday, her husband David Van Burgel has a very long waiting list as well. These makers raise cane rod building to an true art form and their work can command thousands of dollars. Their work is close to perfect.

Then there are many "basement hobbyists", like myself, who build 10-20 rods a year for their own use, to give to fishing friends, and maybe sell a few to help make ends meet and pay for their own bamboo habit. I have a day job and have no intention of making this a fulltime profession. But, with two kids in college and a serious bamboo affliction, a few extra dollars now and then does come in handy.

Most hobbyist are looking to be compensated for their time at a reasonable rate. With 40 hours of time and roughly $200 in components, you see prices for "new" rods from part time builders from $800-$1500. There's a lot of fine builders out their who are producing some excellent rods, but because they are not well known, their modest rod prices are not truly reflective of the high quality of their work.

These home hobbyists selling very high quality cane fly rods at reasonable prices are one of the reasons bamboo is regaining popularity. With the ridiculous prices (IMHO) commanded by some graphite rod producers, the gap between a quality bamboo rod and a latest generation graphite is rapidly closing. People are finally starting to question all the hype that these companies spew every year in an effort to sell rods.

The point I can't stress enough, however, is that all the work invested in making a bamboo rod would fall under the heading of "Incredible Waste of Time" if the end result wasn't such a wonderful fly casting instrument.

Hope this answers your question.
joel