Jimmy, This is why most of us that make bamboo rods heat treat the bamboo before making the rod. I have some Bamboo culms that are over 60 years old. This is to remove the excess moisture from the bamboo. There is less tendency to absorb ambient moisture Tony
--- On Wed, 12/31/08, Jimmy D. Moore <[email protected]> wrote: From: Jimmy D. Moore <[email protected]> Subject: [VFB] QUOTE FOR THE DAY To: "Virtual Fly Box" <[email protected]>, "Fly Fishing World" <[email protected]>, "Hill Coountry Fly Fishers" <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 8:04 AM "When the bamboo is received (in the US), it is checked for moisture content. If it is over 13% it must again be stored and dried until it is 13% or less. Storing and drying bamboo anywhere in the U.S. under natural air drying conditions with the exceptions of parts of Arizona and Death Valley will never reduce the moisture content of the bamboo to less than 8% and very rarely as low as 8%. A hundred years of storing and drying will not reduce it lower than this... If your climate has a relative humidity of 50% you can air dry bamboo to 9.5% moisture content. ... Bamboo with 13% moisture content will shrink little in any part of the U.S. and works up well for fishing rods. Lower moisture contents are, however, some better. By careful, slow, scientific kiln drying, the moisture content can be safely reduced to as low as 4% without damaging the bamboo in any way. In fact, 4% scientifically kiln dried bamboo makes excellent rods." "Professional Split-Bamboo Rod Building Manual and Maufacturer's Guide" by Geo. Leonard Herter (1949) **************** ><((((((((º> ************** JIMMY D. MOORE [email protected] North Zone Fishing Editor - Texas Fish & Game Mag, Author - Moon Holler Misfits Fishing & Hunting Club, Humorist, Past VP Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited, Member TOWA, Retired Scout Exec. BSA. ***************** <º))))))))>< ************* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
