these cane shafts are ganna drive me to drink!

[WillMac]

I’m having a hell of a time trying to get some of the sharp kinks out of my river cane shafts. I broke five between last night and this morning.   I tried using a propane torch and I guess it cooked the cane faster then I thought it would. Then I tired using my stove top to heat them and the darn things just snapped off. I thought the heat was dead on, but the cane had other ideas.  ???Anyone have any tips for the new guy? I heat the cane until it starts to sweat, and then bend it either over my knee or on some other rounded edge. How far should I bend it? How many times do you have to bend the sane node? It seems like I spend 30 to 40 minutes on one node when I use a candle.

 

thanks for the help

Will

[DanaM]

Not every cane is destined to be an arra

I use my heat gun I like it better than a open flame for heat straightening.
I usually only have to heat a node once at the most twice.

[Pat B]

You might be overdoing it all at once. In bad kinks you may have to straighten it in 3 or 4 different sessions with a good cooling period between each.     Also, when harvesting cane you want to pick the straightest culms that you can find. And also like Dana said, some canes are best used for tomato stakes.       Pat

[cowboy]

Im with ya Will . I've had a few evenings recently where an almost straightened shaft bounced off the wall in two peices, with a few choice words . I've been using a candle with cooking oil. May not be the right way but works for me. I straighten the inner nodes first (think that's right, the long part between nodes) then tackle the nodes the next eve. Oil it up and stick it right down into the top of the flame, I roll it around and drift it back and forth until the oil turns black, let it sit on there and cook for a few seconds then wipe it off and start bending. I just hold em in my hands and bend with thumbs, bend a little and eyeball then bend a little more till your satisfied.
 On the breaking - you'll get a feel for how far you can go with time. Good luck..

[markinengland]

I don't know how similar your river cane is to bamboo, but I have found that some will heat up go bendy and be OK while some will heat up, go brittle and snap. When I have tested the ones that snap the whole shaft seems brittle, as if it is somehow rotted or something.
I have found I get better results by working on one small section for a small bend correction, putting that shaft down to cool and moving through the whole pile, then picking up each one again and doing another small section. I think this way the whole of the shafts gradually becomes straighter without anyone part being too stressed. In the end a shaft can have a few small kinks and still be an acceptably straight shaft. I found a simply meths burner, as used in some camping stoves (triangia type) gives enough heat to do a nice job without bruing too much.
I think a propane burner can be too hot and too localised. I got lots of breakages when I tried this myself, less with a larger less hot more spread out flame.
I generally hold the shaft in my hands, sight down it and put a gentle bend in with my hands. if near the end I will hold the shaft in my hands and push against a table surface. Localised heat will allow most of the bend to happen where you need it. Lots of little bends seem better than trying for too much at once.
The biggest killer is too much heat. I have found that shoot shafts seem to be alright if scorched but bamboo not so good scorched, maybe because the walls are som thin.
Good luck.
Mark in England

[Hillbilly]

You shouldn't be having that much trouble, cane usually bends easily if you just take it slow and easy. I wouldn't try bending it over my knee or a surface, I just hold it in my hands and tweak it. It usually doesn't take much force, even for sharp bends. a cane culm that looks like a streak of lightning will usually straighten right out in a few minutes. What kind of cane, and what stage did you cut it at?