Shaping Rattan
Matthew Saroff
Hi,
I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
peasants tourney. What is the best way to do this? I have some Rattan
sitting in the bathtub, and I see no signs of it becoming pliable.
--
--Sfi Mordehai ben Yosef Yitzhak, Aka Matthew G. Saroff
This is not the Dream. This is what I do on weekends to have
some fun.
The Dream involves 4 sets of identical twins, 2 gallons of Cool
Whip, 5 quarts of chocolate syrup, 2-1/4 pounds of strawberries,
satin sheets, a magnum of champagne, a trapeze, and a python.
Check http://www.pobox.com/~msaroff, including The Bad Hair Web Page
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
Larry D. McCoy
Matthew Saroff wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
> peasants tourney. What is the best way to do this? I have some Rattan
> sitting in the bathtub, and I see no signs of it becoming pliable.
First off, get it out of the water.. Hang in the garage for a few days
till it quits dripping..
ok, now it should be ready to bend..
You didn't mention if it had the husk on or off. I hope it's on still,
otherwise you've probably ruined it..
Anyway.. take it outside to the curb, decide where you want it to bend,
and stand on it while yourself or a friend lifts the long end..
it'll bend, but remember, that it's like some metals that must be
overbent to hold their shape where you want it to bend.
For real tight bends, you'll want to use a three roller system where the
rollers are set just slightly wider than the rattan is thick.
ie.
_
/ \ Roller 1
\_/
_ _
/ \ / \
roller 2 \_/ \_/ roller 3
years ago i did this using three peices of 4x4 4 inches tall. put them
on a small sheet of 1/2" plywood with washered bolts. Worked well. with
them I could get bends of over 90 degrees without major effort..
Trelaine
Mark S. Harris
Greetings,
In article <5k2a77$l...@news.erie.net>, msa...@moose.erie.net (Matthew
Saroff) wrote:
> I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
> peasants tourney. What is the best way to do this?
There is a little bit of information on this in this file in the COMBAT
section of my SCA Rialto Files:
rattan-msg (41K) 11/11/96 Working with rattan. Rattan sources.
My files can be found at:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/rialto.html
Stefan li Rous
> --Sfi Mordehai ben Yosef Yitzhak, Aka Matthew G. Saroff
--
Ld. Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Ansteorra
Per pale gules and or, a ram's head caboshed, counterchanged
Mark S. Harris ma...@risc.sps.mot.com Austin, TX
ejp...@delphi.com
Matthew Saroff <msa...@moose.erie.net> writes:
> I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
>sitting in the bathtub, and I see no signs of it becoming pliable.
well, but can be a strain to get a vessel long enough. If you leave it in
the tub for several days to a week, then bend it by propping the ends up
and weighting or tying the middle down, it will retain the shape pretty well
but will over time, need to be rebent. Try that method first, then you can
steam if you have to later.
Eddward
james koch
Matthew Saroff wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
> peasants tourney. What is the best way to do this? I have some Rattan
> sitting in the bathtub, and I see no signs of it becoming pliable.
> --Sfi Mordehai ben Yosef Yitzhak, Aka Matthew G. Saroff
>
ancient times. They found that wood steamed over dung fires became
plastic and could be easily bent. Upon setting it regained its
rigidity. They associated dung with death and the god Ammon(sp?) and
called the smell of burning dung "the breath of Ammon". This is the
origin of the word ammonia. Ammonia reacts with the lignin and
cellulose in wood to form a plastic. The reaction is reverseable.
I once bent a standard piece of ratan to a 45 degree angle over a
space of less than 2 inches! I did this as follows. I obtained
sulphate of ammonia (ammonium sulphate) fertilizer from the hardware
store along with a can of lye (sodium hydroxide). I placed water in a
florence flask and added 2 moles of lye to each 1 mole of sulphate of
ammonia. This reacted giving sodium sulphate and ammonium hydroxide. I
suppose I could have started with a bottle of household ammonia. I
placed the end of the stick of ratan in the flask and wrapped the lip
with fifth force (duct tape). I then heated the whole slowly on a hot
plate. You might want to do this in a well ventilated area. I allowed
the thing to cool over night. the next day the ratan bent easily. For
longer bends you could use a length of pipe. Gladius
Doug Brunner
In article <336534...@ix.netcom.com>, trel...@ix.netcom.com says...
>
>Matthew Saroff wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>> I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
>> peasants tourney. What is the best way to do this? I have some Rattan
>> sitting in the bathtub, and I see no signs of it becoming pliable.
I just read a short note about bending it wet. A fast question then. I
recently shut down my shop due to a move. But, while I was open, I steam bent
wood. I did this by making a steamer out of PVC Pipe and a Hot water source.
It worked like a champ to make Bones and other pieces. I saw a lot of steam
bent Rattan furniture while I was in the Phillipines. They bend it about the
same way I bent wood. Has anyone tried this in the larger Rattan pieces? I've
seen it done on stuff up to two inches, but I know very little about husk,
skins, etc. I've never worked with it. But, I can heat and bend a large piece
of oakin less than 40 minutes. After it dries, it doesn't move. I think that
bending it wet would tend to break the fibers and weaken the stick. Thoughts??
Ideas???
Bruno
Mark Bennett
> I want to shape some rattan to put a bend in some weapons for a
> peasants tourney. What is the best way to do this? I have some Rattan
> sitting in the bathtub, and I see no signs of it becoming pliable.
HOT water. Boiling water. Try holding it over a large pot of boiling
water, with an aluminum foil 'cap' to trap the steam, about 20 minutes
per half inch of diameter. it's the heat that does it, rather than the
moisture. Alternatively, soak it for a while, then wrap it in a black
plastic garbage bag and sit it in the sun while stressed with lots of
bungee cords or strips of cut up inner tube.
Mark Bennett http://home.ptd.net/~mbennett
malcolm smith
I dont have a lot of experience bending rattan, but i would think the
steam trick should work. Most fo the curves in wooden furniture is
done that way. The fivers wont break because they are soft and
pliable again. Sort of like when they were still growing on the tree.
So, I dont see any problems other than rattan being more springy to
begin with might have a tendancy un-curve itself. Remember, furniture
is usually pegged, nailed, or tied in place.
good luck in the bending,
Malcolm
in serive to the Kingdom