sorry to be so windy but here it goes:
To make a blow gun I choose a large diameter piece of cane that has a diameter of 1 inch or so on the large end. Blow guns can be most any length but 5- 8 feet is good. Think about it like rifles and pistols. Which one has accuracy at longer distances? The long arm.
I straighten the cane like I would any atlatl dart or cane arrow with dry heat from hot coals or a heat gun. Once straight comes the fun part. I will describe the methods I have heard about and the ones I have tried.
HOT ROD: take a five feet long section of steel rod that is the appropriate diameter to fit in either end of your blow gun stock. Have a good hot fire going - coals are good for this. Stick one end of the rod in the fire to get that bright orange glow. Use welding gloves to pick up your cane and handle the rod (safety) put the glowing end in the hollow internode part of the cane and push until you hit a node, slow keep the pressure until it burns through the node. You then proceed through to the next node in line. I usually can burn two nodes before I have to reheat. If I have a few to do and want to get on this (especially summer when the last thing I want to do is play around a hot fire) I have two rods going at one time. That way one is always in the fire getting hot. In no time at all you will have burned out the nodes. You might run the hot rod over the nodes a bit to help burn them down, but don’t dally too long as the burning rod will burn through the sides of your blow gun. . . . don’t ask me how I know that.
DOWN THE TUBES: you can dump a small burning coal down the hollow portion and push it through with a stick. This was a method described for Cherokee blowguns and I want to try that some time. That same site recommended using a long piece of green cane to “sand down” the nodes and to do it soon after you burn the nodes out so the plant oils can transfer back into the blow gun. Silica in the cane will help sand things.
SPLIT & GLUE: Some Native American blowguns were split, nodes hollowed out and the blowgun glued back together and wrapped. Sources I have on this style say this style can revert to old shapes of crookedness and if the glue loosens you have an air leak in the chamber. I have tried this method and had a LOT of trouble getting the cane to split into even halves. That is why I have the cane string post in the cave men only section. (I have some leads to pursue on this now BTW) . I have created shorter blow guns with this method and have no reservation about their function as of yet but they just do not look like an un-split blowgun to me.
A LITTLE GRIT GOES A LONG WAY: Use some sand or flint chips to pour in a hollow end of blowgun stock then insert cane that has a hollow node section in it. Spin the small diameter cane while keeping the blowgun stock still. This is the process Archaic natives use dot make holes in banner stones using cane and flint chips. For a banner stone you are looking at 200 + hours. For a blow gun less than a half.
SANDING & POLISHING: I glue a piece of sandpaper to a dowel slightly smaller than my smallest end. I then work sanding magic. I speculate whether pine pitch coating a similar stick could be dipped in sand and create the same aboriginal effect. The Cherokee method of using cane to sand is something I will explore the next time I try this.
The smoother your bore the longer your darts will last and the faster they will travel.
It’s pretty simple, it just takes the effort.
Blow gun darts. This is a lot like the difference between making bows and making arrows. I had a fellow bowyer say to anyone who would listen, “making bows is the easy part; making arrows that takes skill.”
Blow gun darts are kind of like arrows. Either it takes time or it takes skill. Sometimes both.
Shafts: You can split out cane segments, black locust splints and then sand them to desired diameter. I recommend you practice making darts with bamboo skewers. They are cheap plentiful and get you going fast. Besides they will be roughly the same consistency as a river cane BG dart. Heat treat the tips of any dart to make them harder.
Milkweed dart: look at the picture below. I go through successive routines of grab fluff, glue and wrap with thread and do it again a bit further down. Over and over this occurs until you have fletched about 1/3 of the dart. I use fletchtite glue and cotton thread. The real trick is getting the fluff. I use a set of tweezers to reach in and get small bundle of fluff out of a milkweed pod. I use tweezers so the fluff does not open up. I can then grip the fluff with my fingers and arrange in sort of a line up.
Thistle: is the same way but instead of looking all fluffy like the milkweed darts do they look like they have annular rings. The fluff is shorter and stiffer and I suppose that is the reason.
When done I like to use some colored thread. It may not be historically accurate but boy it sure does make them look nice. JMO.
The squirrel tail Dart is easy cheesy to make. Skin a squirrel. Take the tail hide off like you would a sock. Trim off the bottom half inch. Slide it down onto the shaft and then it will stop when the tail diameter gets too small. Let this dry and then cut the tail and hair off flush with the end. That way the tail dries real tight on the end before you cut it. Thread wrap as before. A spot of adhesive makes the tread knots stay put even if you tie a serving knot.
