I ordered a bunch of poles. They will arrive at the end of the week. This should be fun. I had ordered from him several years ago and the supply is dwindling (I do rather enjoy making bamboo fifes for fun, to play and/or give away). So, if my mom comes over to babysit, I might be able to find some time to play around in my studio. Yay!
I have some good hard Alabama cane I might could part with if you are interested. The nodes aren’t that long though. But it’s pretty tough.
what sort of bamboo? something like Olwell uses w/ long spans?
inquiring minds & all… /dan
Yeah, like Olwell uses, but most of the ones I can get are for high flutes (fifes).
any particular reason you know of that’s becoming hard to get? i vaguely recall hearing that you could harvest the stuff Olwell uses in the “wilds” of the Florida panhandle somewhere.
Yes, if you knew where it was (I don’t), you could.
None of mine is quite long enough to make a fife with without spanning a node, but possibly a piccolo could be made out of a solid piece.
Is it all piccolo-thin or is there some that is thicker (that could be used for making headjoints)?
I just bought a new house (my first) 4 months ago and the first thing I did was plant bamboo in the back yard. It’s Yellow Groove bamboo, which should stay green down to -10 degrees F. It’s not big enough for flutes yet, but should only take a couple of years to get there.
-Brett
I am not very experienced with bamboo, but here are two suggestions that come quick to mind. First, I have found that the fishing section at Walmart has a good selection of seasoned bamboo, but mostly for smaller flutes. An $8.98 bamboo fishing pole can make two good flutes, I have found.
Also, I recommend the fish pond at Reid Park in Tucson, AZ. The bamboo growing around the fish pond is great for flute making. If you go there late at night, when all is quiet and the park guards are drinking beer, you can harvest enough bamboo to make many great flutes. But don’t tell anyone that I mentioned this.
Some of it is pretty thick. I’d have a lot of thick pieces if I hadn’t used a bunch of it in the garden. But Some of it is thicker yes.
Well, I’d be happy to take some off your hands.
Thanks, Doug. If I ever get to Tucson, I’ll bear that in mind.
I’ll go out and look and see what kind of shape the bigger stuff is in. Something like three foot sections?
I actually have some as well, but it is at my parents place about 900 miles away. When I was there last I remembered that we had a nice cropping, I cured about 200 feet of bamboo so I could try and make my own. As it turns out, the biggest stuff I could get could only get to a G or F# with both octaves in tune. When I am up there next I can see if I still have the bamboo and shoot you an email.
I’ve noticed that the baboo that they make those tiki torches out of have very long nodes, but the bamboo appears very light and most likely not very strong.
I wouldn’t say having to cross a node would rule out making a decent flute, but it would certainly add some labor. I may play with it a bit tonight if I can remember to bring the tools home.
Ok I just looked at the cane stock. I have several feet of fairly large hard cane with nodes about ten to twelve inches apart. Everything smaller I looked at that was any size had a flat or introverted side to it. But the large (were talking kung-fu flute size) has some decent round sections in it. Hard to tell if it’s perfectly cured yet or not.