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Yungflutes wrote:
Looks like he's using mono filament? Doesn't seem authentic for that era. Thanks for the belly laugh Derek!
Ha... thanks Ed/Perry... yeah, that's rattan. I'm always battling the little twisties & coils, despite several hours of pre-soaking, so I had to incorporate that element into the pic .
Ironically, speaking of Neanderthals (though a distant era), I just planted some "Equisetum Hyemale" - http://www.floridata.com/ref/e/equi_hye.cfm also known has Horsetails or Scouring Rush. It's been around a few hundred million years and was commonly used to scour utensils and polish fine furniture, given the high silica content. I've been experimenting with it on bamboo and it does a surprisingly nice job of pre-polishing the root area. Similar to a 1200-1500gr, I'm guessing? Really a neat plant, and useful!
Ugh.
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Derek Van Choice wrote:
Ironically, speaking of Neanderthals (though a distant era), I just planted some "Equisetum Hyemale" - http://www.floridata.com/ref/e/equi_hye.cfm also known has Horsetails or Scouring Rush. It's been around a few hundred million years and was commonly used to scour utensils and polish fine furniture, given the high silica content. I've been experimenting with it on bamboo and it does a surprisingly nice job of pre-polishing the root area. Similar to a 1200-1500gr, I'm guessing? Really a neat plant, and useful!
Ugh.
In the old days we used to use it for sanding reeds(sax, clarinet or whatever). They sold in the music stores in 2 inch lengths in little bottles. I wonder if they still do. It grows by the roadside in many areas. I never knew they used it for all of that other stuff. You are taking me back in time with that one!
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Word is, you can smoke it, too......
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Wow, you're right! I just tried smoking some and it seeeems tou have a neaat ffect on moy gubhrr lllbaa mrga nol moookienen aabag ofofjjje w 432222 7.
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One mighty fine looking shakuhachi maker, there, Derek!
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What would you do with this 1.6 Edo period flute?
I plan to bind the cracks externally to avoid cutting the bamboo at all, and clean the dirt off (carefully, so as not to disturb the wear and urushi coating).
For anything major, I'd send it to someone, but should I even have someone do any restoration, or just do as little as possible to make it playable?
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It looks like the utaguchi is intact which is a good thing. All you need to do is close the split and bind it externally.
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Tairaku 太楽 wrote:
It looks like the utaguchi is intact which is a good thing. All you need to do is close the split and bind it externally.
Thanks I have done a lot of bindings, and practice with it, but would it be unwise for me to at least do that myself? Can I damage it doing external bindings? (I have never damaged one yet doing it, but would hate to harm this one)
Yeah I'm really surprised the utaguchi is in such good shape. Here are more pictures if you're interested. http://www.flickr.com/photos/malaan/set … 841197015/
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External bindings are not problematic, you can always take them off.
The kinds of repairs/alterations that need caution are things that change the nature of the flute, such as utaguchi angle, shape of the holes, opening up the bottom hole, and bore work.
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Tairaku 太楽 wrote:
External bindings are not problematic, you can always take them off.
The kinds of repairs/alterations that need caution are things that change the nature of the flute, such as utaguchi angle, shape of the holes, opening up the bottom hole, and bore work.
I just wanted to share the results.. not sure if I should have started a new thread instead? I reckon this pertains to the current topic though, as I would call it a "relic".
I'm only posting a couple of pics here (small size) so as not to clog the thread, but if you're interested, the rest are here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/malaan/set … 841197015/
Last edited by HarryHansen (2010-09-16 04:43:05)
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Greatest thing I ever found for final polishing is a boar's tusk. I was given a couple by woodcarvers in the Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea some years ago when I was there shooting a documentary--it is what they use for polishing. Rubbing it briskly over the roots and even the skin of the bamboo and utaguchi face brings up a lovely shine. Actually you can use any hard and smooth object that is rounded enough not to tear things up (but not so rounded that you can't apply enough pressure).
Toby
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Toby wrote:
Greatest thing I ever found for final polishing is a boar's tusk. I was given a couple by woodcarvers in the Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea some years ago when I was there shooting a documentary--it is what they use for polishing. Rubbing it briskly over the roots and even the skin of the bamboo and utaguchi face brings up a lovely shine. Actually you can use any hard and smooth object that is rounded enough not to tear things up (but not so rounded that you can't apply enough pressure).
Toby
This is probably 'burnishin'.
K
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