It all starts with a 12 foot culm of bamboo

Bamboo Rod Build, Part VIII, Heat Treatment

Heat treating bamboo sections removes excessive mositure, temporarily relaxes power fibers to promotes straightness of the strips, makes sections resistant to taking sets, and adds the critical element of resiliency or stiffness. Too much heat will ruin a strip; too little heat will not have the desired effect.

According to George Black's "Casting A Spell", Maine's own Eustis Edwards is given credit for being the first rod builder to experiment with heat treating bamboo to enhance its natural qualtities. Later, according to Black, FE Thomas copied Edwards' ideas to eventually create his famous browntone rod.

One of the biggest challenges faced by a beginning bamboo rod builder is how to properly heat treat bamboo sections in excess of 50" without breaking the bank on one of the commercially available ovens. For this reason, most home bamboo ovens are self-made. Borrowing ideas from various plans found on the Interent, I assembled my oven from 4" stove pipe, 2" stove pipe, stove pipe caps, 1/2" plywood, heavy aluminum foil and foil tape, 2x2's for framing, sheet metal, metal wire mesh, and pizza oven insullation saved from a dumpster by friend for the purpose.

Inside the oven, the 2" stove pipe is suspended within the 4" stove pipe. Pizza oven insullation is packed around the 4" pipe. With a heatgun setup on one end of the oven, the air path created forces the hot air down the 4" pipe on the outside of the 2" pipe. At the other end of the oven the air path reverses. The hot air now goes through the 2", which holds the bamboo sections, and eventually vents out the top through a 1" black iron pipe. Even though the interior temperature can approach 400 F, the exterior plywood barely gets warm.

I originally set up the oven to also serve as my planing bench, which it did nicely until I built my new work bench in the basement. I present to you the famous (or is that infamous?) Anderson Bamboo Box:


My family is well aware that one day I want to be buried in this thing

A variable speed heatgun is inserted into a a hole cut into the sheet metal on one end:


The heatgun is initially set to the next to highest setting:


It usually takes about 20 minutes for the interior of the box to come up to the desired temperature of 350 F. Temperature is monitored using a candy thermometer with its probe inserted into the 2" stove pipe at the mid point:

The temperature is manually adjusted to maintain 350-360 F throughout the process.

On the other end of the oven, the 4" stove pipe cap is removed, and the bamboo sections are inserted, resting on wire mesh placed at the bottom of the 2' pipe, then the 4" cap is replaced, and the door is closed to keep in the heat:


The sections are heated for 7 to 8 minutes at 350 F, and then the sections are switched end to end to ensure even heating. After another 7 to 8 minutes at 350 F, the temperature is lowered to 325 F for an addtional 5 minutes. When bamboo reaches that magic critical temperature, it gives off a wonderfully sweet stir fry aroma.

The sections are removed, rolled to promote straightness, and then allowed to sit for a day or two to regain ambient moisture before work continues.