Yadakefreak
1st May 2008, 01:39 PM
Hey all.. first post here.. been following alot of the discussions here, and i thought id give you some indsights into the works of japanese Yashi (arrow fletcher) works..
What allways makes me smile is that each time a see a description of Pseudosasa japonica /Arrow bamboo /Yadake its stated that its so called because they used it for arrows in Ancient Japan..
well the fact of the matter is that they use it in present Japan for arrows ;)
I figured the general method might be usefull for other things then arrows, this is like a 1000 years of accumulated knowledge passed down.
i dont have the answers to why some of this things are a matter of fact.. they just are ;) but it would be cool to discuss it.. if you guys have some insights..
First off.. the best arrows are made from bamboo grown in the mountains, pref. cut from the down wind side.. allways from 2 year old stems
Its is then bundled in bundles of 19, and either left out under open sky in 6 months, or put in running water for 1 month, in order for the bamboo to lose the pitch. Then the bamboo is dryed for another 6 months.
Then comes the first step in the work process called Neru (forming) where the bamboo is roughly corrected. with a nothced piece of wood. then the surface is roughly worked/skinned, and nodes shawen down with a drawknife called aradame (rough correction), then the bamboo is correted again over a fire, and shaved again. (nakadame- Further correction)
It is then litterly stonewashed (ishiarai) where its pulled through an oval stone with two grooves in it, using sand as an abbrasive.
then its smoothed down with iron fillings, reheated/tempered in an oven, or in hot sand, the nodes are burnt with hot air. And then oiled with camelia oil, or lacqured.
Since a bamboo shaft is stiffer where the nodes are, the nodes allways goes in the same places for an arrow. there are 4 nodes on a normal arrow, and the first one is usually around 5-10 centimters behind point of the arrow, since the arrows is stressed the most when hitting. arrows mesure from ca. 90 to 105 centimeters depending on the size of the shooter.
whats makes these thingss extremly expensive its not only the works involved in making them ca 40 operations) but also the fact that you usually make. sets of 4, so they have to be absolutly identical, in weight size and diameter. needless to say the yashi is extremly picky when selecting his bamboo.
a set of 4 usually runs about 300$ for the lowest quality, and 600 for the finest quality. and thats only for the shafts mind you ;)
German article with a Yashi working
http://www.kyudo.dk/yashi1.jpg
http://www.kyudo.dk/yashi2.jpg
http://www.kyudo.dk/ya.jpg
http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/japanarchery/japanarchery2.shtml
I wanted to try making them myself, but i cant get a hold of any bamboo around where i live.. if anyone knows where you can get yadake, id be glad if you could pass that on ;)
What allways makes me smile is that each time a see a description of Pseudosasa japonica /Arrow bamboo /Yadake its stated that its so called because they used it for arrows in Ancient Japan..
well the fact of the matter is that they use it in present Japan for arrows ;)
I figured the general method might be usefull for other things then arrows, this is like a 1000 years of accumulated knowledge passed down.
i dont have the answers to why some of this things are a matter of fact.. they just are ;) but it would be cool to discuss it.. if you guys have some insights..
First off.. the best arrows are made from bamboo grown in the mountains, pref. cut from the down wind side.. allways from 2 year old stems
Its is then bundled in bundles of 19, and either left out under open sky in 6 months, or put in running water for 1 month, in order for the bamboo to lose the pitch. Then the bamboo is dryed for another 6 months.
Then comes the first step in the work process called Neru (forming) where the bamboo is roughly corrected. with a nothced piece of wood. then the surface is roughly worked/skinned, and nodes shawen down with a drawknife called aradame (rough correction), then the bamboo is correted again over a fire, and shaved again. (nakadame- Further correction)
It is then litterly stonewashed (ishiarai) where its pulled through an oval stone with two grooves in it, using sand as an abbrasive.
then its smoothed down with iron fillings, reheated/tempered in an oven, or in hot sand, the nodes are burnt with hot air. And then oiled with camelia oil, or lacqured.
Since a bamboo shaft is stiffer where the nodes are, the nodes allways goes in the same places for an arrow. there are 4 nodes on a normal arrow, and the first one is usually around 5-10 centimters behind point of the arrow, since the arrows is stressed the most when hitting. arrows mesure from ca. 90 to 105 centimeters depending on the size of the shooter.
whats makes these thingss extremly expensive its not only the works involved in making them ca 40 operations) but also the fact that you usually make. sets of 4, so they have to be absolutly identical, in weight size and diameter. needless to say the yashi is extremly picky when selecting his bamboo.
a set of 4 usually runs about 300$ for the lowest quality, and 600 for the finest quality. and thats only for the shafts mind you ;)
German article with a Yashi working
http://www.kyudo.dk/yashi1.jpg
http://www.kyudo.dk/yashi2.jpg
http://www.kyudo.dk/ya.jpg
http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayson/japanarchery/japanarchery2.shtml
I wanted to try making them myself, but i cant get a hold of any bamboo around where i live.. if anyone knows where you can get yadake, id be glad if you could pass that on ;)