What am I doing wrong? Boo question with picture

[ricktrojanowski]

I am trying to make some tonkin arrows for the first time.  I keep having the same problem.    I straighten the shaft between the nodes, then move onto straightening the nodes.  I am using a heat gun.  I heat until too hot to touch with bare hands, then when I go to straighten the crooked node I often get a kink about 1" from the node.  Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? 

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[Coo-wah-chobee]

 Rick............ I use nutin' but tonkin. Ya heatin' the cane 2 much with the heat gun. Temperature of cane is 2 high and its spreading ta between the nodes. Slowly and reduce heat. Ya dont need ta worry about the nodes anyway as long as the tip and nock line up. Ask Jamie when ya see him I sent him 3 dozen of em earlier this year.....bob

[mullet]

 Are you using some kind of wrench or wooden tool? It looks by the picture that something is digging in pretty good. If so, use your hands and you will not get it too hot. Also try sanding your nodes down first and you won't be bothered by such a big hump.

[ricktrojanowski]

Cow-wah-chobee
I'll give less heat a try thanks for the tip.
Eddie
No tool just some thick gloves.  I grind the nodes down some.  I wasn't sure how far I could take them down.  Thanks for the help.

[1/2primitive]

I would try to get the bend directly on the node. I sometimes use the very corner of a table to work the node only.
Maybe with a combination of all these suggestions, you'll come up with something.
     Sean

[welch2]

I agree with Bob ,You are heating to large of a area using a heat gun,if you want a very localized bend .I just use a candle.And they don't have to be that straight. I have had some, that after fussing with the nodes too much ,broke at those nodes eventually .

Ralph

[Pat B]

I think where most folks screw up is by trying to straighten the whole cane(or hardwood shoots) all at once. Start with the internodes(between the nodes) and straighten them, allow the cane to cool completely before straightening the nodes. I usually do this over a few days so I'm sure that everything is cool. You will not get them straight if you try it all at once...and like Ralph said, they don't have to be completely straight. As long as the nock end and point end are in the same plane and the arrow spins true, you are good to go!         Pat

[ricktrojanowski]

What you guys are telling me makes lots of sense.  I think like you say,  too much heat and too much hurry.  I got a 1/2 doz just about done.  They were lucky survivors of my hamfist method. .   Therefore they should be pretty indestructible.   I'll post when they are totally done.  Thanks for the help.

[markinengland]

A tube will collapse like that if overstressed.
I work through a pile of shafts straightening one section at a time using my hands and fairly localised heat. Don't try to do too much at once and just keep going through the shafts until they are straight.
l guess you jut need to be a bit more gentle and work slower?
Mark in England

[cowboy]

Some of my arra's have kinks just like that just outside the node . Yup, too hot in too big an area and just a little too much bending = kink.

[JackCrafty]

Hmmm.....I get the same thing if the nodes are too crooked to begin with.  I usually don't work the really bad pieces of cane (or tonkin, etc.) and just concentrate on the straightest ones.

Also, look at how thick the wall of the tonkin is (at the end).  Most will be thick-walled (the good stuff) but some will be thin-walled and pithy.  I don't know if the pithy stuff I've gotten is tonkin or some other bamboo mixed in....but the thin-walled stuff will kink every time.

Using less heat is good advice....use only enough to get the results you want.

[Pat B]

Patrick, the thin walled stuff might be immature(first year) culms that were cut.

[JackCrafty]

First year culms?  That makes sense. 

[ricktrojanowski]

Patrick
If I only used the straighter pieces I would have nothing to choose from. .