river cane straightening and heat treating?

[beetlebailey1977]

OK I have a few questions...some say to heat treat before straightening and some say after.  Which one is it?  Also do I need to use a grease or oil in the process or just dry heat?  My cane is well cured and I have cleaned up around the nodes but that is it.  Is it best to remove the rind and compress the nodes also.  I know that this is not to hard of a project but I just want to be clear on a few things before I start.  I plan to use my one burner Coleman stove to do the heating.  Oh yeah also is it best to quench the shaft after the heating and straightening?

[jonathan creason]

This is just my process, so take anything I tell you with a grain of salt.  There are some folks on here that are much, much better than I am.  Anyway, I go through and get any major bends out, and work the shafts somewhat straight.  After that I'll toast the whole shaft working from one end to the other, then set them aside for a few days.  After they've sat for a while and reacclimated I'll go through and do the final straightening, which may take a few passes.  You can quench the shafts with a wet rag after you get them straight to keep that section from bending if you're working next to it.

[hillbilly61]

 This is what I like to do. Might be wrong to others, but works for me. I don't use any oil or grease. I use a heat gun and straighted between the nodes first. Set it aside to cool and go to the next one. By the time you get the last one you can start over. After the areas be tween go to the nodes and do the process again I don't sand the nodes or flatten role them till all are straight, but that's my preference. DO NOT scrape the outside of the shaft. You might get into the rind (power fibers) and weaken the shaft. I sand it lightly and get the waxy look off then seal the shaft. I know others will chime in. Take all the advise and put it to gether.Ya can't go wrong that way.

[beetlebailey1977]

This is what I like to hear.  Thanks yall.  I like to get as much info, from as many people I can then I try it out and see what works best for me.  I feel that asking questions and taking from the answers what I need can save a lot of time and head ache.  Granted you can always learn on your own but when you are going to have a lot of time invested it is best not to chance it.  Thanks again.  Anymore input is appreciated.

[Tom Leemans]

I do them pretty much like hillbilly61, except I sand the nodes just enough to smooth them over a little. I do that by a method similar to what I saw on a Korean video. (I believe it was Korean) That fella had two sanding discs mounted to a motor sitting on the ground. I have two sticky back 80 grit sanding discs mounted to some plastic ice cream container lids with the rims cut off. A hole is drilled in the center and the two flexible discs are mounted to a bolt, facing each other, with a washer or two in between them for a spacer. Run a couple of nuts on the other side to lock it together a chuck it up in a drill press (or a corded drill in a vice or something). I chuck up the fat end of a straightened shaft in a cordless drill and use that to spin the shaft as I force it between the spinning discs. The shaft will go in between the discs pretty easily. Makes quick work of smoothing nodes. You get the hang of it pretty quickly. I lightly sand and seal my shafts with wipe on poly anyway. You can stain or char the nodes for coolness if you wish. I use tonkin cane, which is pretty tough, so I've never heat treated them.

[osage outlaw]

Tom Leemans, could you post a picture of your sanding set-up? 

[bowtarist]

I like this thread, thanks.  I haven't done too many, but I've been grinding the nodes down w/ a bench grinder and sanding the whole shaft with 220.  Then I straighten a little on the gas stove or grill if I've already got one burnin'.  I nock both ends on the nodes.  I'm usein' a cr@ppy yellow stripe? bamboo one of my neighbors planted and is tryin' to get rid of.  I only stump/target/small game shoot these.