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Folks,

After cutting the bamboo you steep it in melted paraffin wax in a double boiler. I used skewers, but even with the paraffin I had mixed results. I plan on trying chop-sticks.


Regards,
John

I think one should try newer materials like plastic. I am sure that there is a good chance to succeed and it might be possible to make them in larger quantities at a reasonable price. Teflon could be a good thing to start with. But that's future talk...

What is the source of information that fibre needles are impregnated with wax? Bamboo is an extremely hard material -- harder than oak -- and I don't think it would absorb wax, hot or otherwise. I recall Dan Gitmo saying they were boiled in wax, but I'm not aware of any other reference to it myself. I don't get the impression that there is any wax involved when I examine one . . . it just looks like dry bamboo to me. When bamboo is heated or steamed, the sugars in the stalk carmelize and turn dark brown.

Now, having said "just", please know that bamboo is a woody grass and there are thousands of species on the planet. I would think a bit of taxonomy on a needle -- if possible -- may go a long way toward finding the right types of bamboo to use. Perhaps someone should contact the Bamboo Society and see what they have to say since that is their field of expertise.

John,

Good point, and an interesting idea, we'll have to look into it further. My info comes from that same source (Norman posted the link). My experiments with cheap bamboo skewers showed them to be far to soft as is. The hot paraffin bath helped a bit. I had planned on trying different bamboo pieces as well as a few various thorns.....

Regards,
John

I'd just like to see some documentation or citation contemporary with the manufacture of original fibre needles that states that they are wax impregnated. The how-to article is anecdotal.

Shaping bamboo with a razor knife/blade sounds like a good way to visit the ER to me!

John,

I'll look into it. As far as cutting the triangular shape-that was actually very easy, just tedious.

Regards,
John

Here's a doping formula that won't get you into trouble with the IOC. This is taken from Gramophones: Acoustic and Radio which was published by The Gramophone Magazine ca. 1932. Gum Arabic is easy to find. Potassium Bichromate is poisonous but it is still used as a photographic chemical I think. It used in a photographic printing process (the gum bichromate process) using...yes...gum arabic. The compound hardens when exposed to UV light...and that's what they suggest here for the needles. Cool, eh?
Jim

Hardening the bamboo makes more sense to me than wax. A modern polymer plastic may work, too . . . which begs the question that I asked on this subject in a previous post and which has been brought up again in this thread: Why not a plastic needle?

JohnM wrote:Why not a plastic needle?

IMO, the proper plastic (I'm not the guy to say what that is, but I'm sure there are experts who knows stuff like that) would most probably produce excellent results. And once you have a mold ready, they would be very cheap to make.

I think it's only one problem.
And that just might be a big one.
Plastic just isn't authentic.
I can only speak for myself, but I would not feel comfortable putting a plastic needle in the soundbox.