Hemp stalk backing

[Bubbabowyer]

Hey guys! I was wondering if anybody has done a hemp stalk backing like bamboo. Hemp is legal in my state now so I got to witness  some experiments with heat treating some small strips. They seemed amazing in their springiness.  Thanks for your help!

[Bubbabowyer]

I suppose there is not much info out there for such a question. Perhaps I shall pioneer this idea in a build along

[Stickhead]

I just did a hemp linen backed hickory that worked out well.  Seems to have good tensile strength.  Never tried stalks.

[Yellowstave]

I believe this has some promise. I heat treated a stalk from marijuana and it was very responsive. I think I degraded the back fibers so that's where it failed. But it was very springy.

[Bubbabowyer]

I think I'll try one around 40 lbs first then perhaps hot rod it until it destructs

[Eric Krewson]

On the same thought; I ran some dried okra stalks through a chipper one time and the chipper threw out some balls of beautiful lininar fibers that looked like hemp rope. I always meant to dry some stalks for the purpose of testing the fibers but never have.

[DC]

Can you post a picture of one of the stalks? I tried Google but couldn't find a close enough pic.

[aznboi3644]

Yeah I’m confused on what a hemp stalk looks like.  And how it would be used as a backing.

Ummm in my younger years I grew a couple 8ft Christmas trees with beautiful ornaments and I don’t see how a backing with it would have worked.  It would have been great to smoke though 🤣🤣

[Pat B]

I think if you retted the fibers from hemp stalks the fibers would work similar to flax. Without retting the plant material besides the fibers could cause problems or at least be dead weight.

[Bubbabowyer]

I don't have any pictures at the moment. They're very woody some can be as big as four or five inches at the base. Rarely but nonetheless they do grow in lengths up to four feet without any branching. These peices halved flattened and spliced in the handle could be something. They never rot. The farmers tell me they have to burn them. Like boo the power is just under the bark. Its amazingly light and we all know that hemp rope was once hailed as the best rope in the world

[PatM]

The stuff between the fibers isn't likely to be durable long term under stress.

 

[Bubbabowyer]

Just under the living bark is very hard and strong. It's the part the fibers were crushed and separated from to create rope. I think it will impress you patm

[Bubbabowyer]

Aznboi those Christmas trees you spoke of are in fact genetically the same. Ever seen a walking stick from one? They're amazing in their light weight and incredible durability.

[bownarra]

A material similar to concrete can be made from the inner 'stalk'. Check out a book called 'The Emperor Wears No Clothes' by Jack Herer he touches on the unbelievable amount of uses for the hemp plant. By the way marijuana is a name dreamt up by the 'feds' when they did their ridiculous reefer madness propaganda.
Of course the fibers will make a superb backing when stripped from the plant and retted. Hemp fiber is stronger than anything else (when treated correctly or the test isn't skewed )

[simk]

this is the xmastree-fibers i sometimes use for wrappings.
using it for a backing i would be very concerned about overpowering the belly. the fibers are extremly stiff. maybe a very thin layer could work...