Guide to heat bending bamboo

[bambubrasileiro]

Tradução Portuguese Curvando bambus (Portuguese translation)

Bending a Phyllostachys aurea pole, of 3 cm diameter (aprox. 1 1/8 inches)

1. Break the nodes using a iron bar. Do not break the last node. You can bend the end of the iron bar to use as a handle. Some people even put a plastic tube (a piece of a plastic hose) at the handle to protect the hand.

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Fill the pole with thin and dry sand. Use a paper or the top of a PET bottle to guide the sand into the pole. Put a foam or paper at the open end of the pole to close it.

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You will need a base where you can apply the bending force. Usually people use a wooden post, with a cemented base (to make it heavier and stable) and different sized holes (to accommodate different pole diameters). Put the end still with the node inside the hole.

Note the bucket with water, the place to hang the torch handler, a big hole near the top, and small diagonal hole at the top of the wooden post (the small diagonal hole is for straightening the poles).

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You will have to choose in which direction you will bend the pole. All bamboo poles are at least a little elliptical (oval). The ellipse has two major axis, one bigger and one smaller. You will have to bend the pole along the smaller axis.

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At first, apply the heat (flame from a torch) over the entire pole.

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Then start pressing the pole to bend it, applying the heat at the point you want to bend. It is a matter of experience, observation and patience to know how much heat and pressure you should apply. The heat can expand the air inside the pole making it explode (not really dangerous) or toasting the skin. Too much pressure will crack the pole, too little will not bend it.

You can use a wet cloth to cool the parts already bent or too hot. Remember: the heat permits the bending, while the cool does not permit it.

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After reaching the other end, you can come back and apply heat again on points you think you should bend again, or re-shape.

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Then you tie both ends with some rope, and empty the pole from the sand. You can help it cool faster by applying the wet cloth.

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Another way to do it is to build a mold, so all curves will have the same size and shape, like in the pictures below:

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Now you can JUMP OVER THE HAPPY CROWD!!!