URGENT crack prevention advice needed!

[Sirchronique]

Any time that you have wooden instruments (or bamboo, in this case) I think it is beneficial to keep them in a humidity controlled environment. I keep all of my stringed instruments and flutes in a room that generally stays between 45% and 58% humidity at all times, and have never had to deal with any cracks, warps, or other issues with my wooden instruments. A good hygrometer isn't terribly expensive, and neither is a humidifier, which can be turned on for short periods when the humidity level starts dropping down to the bottom of the ideal range. I imagine in Norway that humidity could certainly be an issue, especially if you live in one of the colder regions. During winter here our house has dropped down to 18% relative humidity, which is lower than the average humidity in the Sahara desert! This is more due to the central heating used in homes, rather than the actual season itself. But anyway, if you have heat running in the house, humidity issues will occur. Keeping things at a constant and stable level of humidity will prevent cracks.

I don't know what Patrick Olwell treats his bamboo flutes with, but whatever he does seems to work wonderfully, as cracking doesn't seem to be a problem with them.

[Nanohedron]

When it comes to serious tonewoods, the time investment of drying, aging, and curing is the first part of the process whether you do it yourself or draw on someone who's done it for you beforehand. I remember Olwell telling me about a chunk of wood he had sitting in his back yard for twenty years before he laid a hand on it, and by some standards that might be considered a rush job; I've read that the most sought-after bamboo for sideblown Japanese flutes comes from under the roofs of traditional homes where it's sat through the changes and the hearth smoke for ideally a hundred years. Curing gives you the most stable material to work with, but that kind of patience is way beyond my scope.

[Feadoggie]

but that kind of patience is way beyond my scope

You, and me as well. And I think that is the reason why some cane flute makers will flame/heat temper their material before they make the flute. The best tempering methods will evenly reduce the moisture and crystalize the sugars so that the treated cane does not expand or contract violently over time. It's a bit faster than waiting a hundred years or more for the cane to season over the hearth. It's kind of like the poor man's torrifaction process - which is being used for some string instrument tonewoods these days - baking wood at high heat in a vacuum chamber.

I'm wondering how the whistle is getting along in Norway. Inquiring minds want to know.

Feadoggie

[Nanohedron]

It's kind of like the poor man's torrifaction process - which is being used for some string instrument tonewoods these days - baking wood at high heat in a vacuum chamber.

I'd search for a different term than "poor man's". Have you priced those things? Wee little vacuum ovens can set you back as much as nearly 3 grand, so I expect the ones suitably big enough for instrument materials require an even greater financial commitment that is apt to be repellent to your average hobbyist.

For me, the poor man's solution would be to use your kitchen oven which I assume is not, without the vacuum process, an option. Or is it?

[Feadoggie]

Have you priced those things?

Well, yes, I have priced them. And you are right. They do show up on Craigslist now and then. Really! But even then they aren't exactly cheap. I'm still looking for one that's a proper size for my purposes. But I digress ... and I also probably confused things with the way I wrote the previous post.

I guess my point was that, as you pointed out, a craftsman has to season their materials to guard against cracking. Torrifaction is the high-tech way to do that with wood. Heat tempering is a way to do it with cane and bamboo.

Torrifaction is surely an expensive undertaking. But Heat tempering bamboo does not have to be expensive. It is the poor man's process, likely originated in a bamboo forest.

Heat tempering of bamboo or cane is usually done over an open fire or flame. Cheap enough. I've seen videos where the craftsman just rolled the cane slowly over a fire in a Weber kettle grill. I am sure there is a better way but it does not have to be high-tech. It's probably more a matter of the craftsman knowing when the job is done properly and also about not burning up the cane. There might be a learning curve to it.

[whistlecollector]

Can can be finicky and it may never be really stable. The maker may not have allowed the cane to dry properly or long enough, in which case trying to prevent cracks may be a lost cause. I agree that tight binding is your best bet. If small cracks do develop, you can fill them with cyanoacrylate glue.

Given that the average humidity range of the P.I. as a whole is about 62% to above 80%, I don't think anything ever really dries out! Though I wouldn't be surprised if some better makers didn't try to heat dry the cane. Couldn't say if the cane is further sealed or anything like that.