Homemade bamboo brush

[dayoldstubble]

A couple of years ago I posted a photo of an African blackwood brush that I made. I had planned to make a couple more, but I ended up moving after finishing grad school, and I no longer have access to the lathe at the university anymore. So I was wondering what to do with these knots that I have left over, and while working on my new project making a bamboo bicycle frame, I thought I'd try using a piece of bamboo to make a brush handle. I love the look of heat treated, carmel-colored bamboo, and it is exceptionally hard and durable, so it seems like a very good material for making a brush handle, as long as the outside is sealed properly.

I still have a bit of work to do on this one, but I think it came out pretty well. The knot is not bonded into the handle yet--I plan to do some more sanding to even out the color a bit (the back side has a very dark spot in the middle of the handle), then I'll fill the inside with some epoxy or bondo to give it some balance (the hollow handle is very light--these properties, light, strong, and stiff-the carmelizing of the sugars from heat treating make it very hard-are what make it such a good material for making bikes), and then I need to put a durable finish on it, probably CA, but I'd like to keep the natural, low-gloss look.

Anyway, just posting for your enjoyment, and maybe to give other DIYers some ideas.

 

[Akarui]

A couple of years ago I posted a photo of an African blackwood brush that I made. I had planned to make a couple more, but I ended up moving after finishing grad school, and I no longer have access to the lathe at the university anymore. So I was wondering what to do with these knots that I have left over, and while working on my new project making a bamboo bicycle frame, I thought I'd try using a piece of bamboo to make a brush handle. I love the look of heat treated, carmel-colored bamboo, and it is exceptionally hard and durable, so it seems like a very good material for making a brush handle, as long as the outside is sealed properly.

I still have a bit of work to do on this one, but I think it came out pretty well. The knot is not bonded into the handle yet--I plan to do some more sanding to even out the color a bit (the back side has a very dark spot in the middle of the handle), then I'll fill the inside with some epoxy or bondo to give it some balance (the hollow handle is very light--these properties, light, strong, and stiff-the carmelizing of the sugars from heat treating make it very hard-are what make it such a good material for making bikes), and then I need to put a durable finish on it, probably CA, but I'd like to keep the natural, low-gloss look.

Anyway, just posting for your enjoyment, and maybe to give other DIYers some ideas.

that is one smexy beast of a brush. Good work

 

[dayoldstubble]

Almost forgot, here's the end of the handle, another part that I really like. You can see where the heat darkened the fibers which I then exposed by sanding down the node. The node also makes a natural seal at the end, which will be strengthened when I fill the handle with epoxy.

 

[honed]

That is one pretty brush & quite unique too!

Awesome

 

[global_dev]

nice.

for some reason it reminds me of a brush a shaolin monk would use after they have a day of carry pails of water in each hand up the hill while knives are tied to your elbows type training.. is straight shaving the 37th chamber?..

 

[DrColossus11]

Love the brush, but where are the pics of the BIKE! No one else is curious about a bamboo bike?!

 

[DamnFineBob]

Love the brush, but where are the pics of the BIKE! No one else is curious about a bamboo bike?!

Ditto.

I just HAVE to see this bike!

 

[Donmuerto]

That brush is really nice, -please do post pics as you finish it.

Might be nice to have a bamboo handle that spans two segments too. Depending on the species of bamboo, a short-segmented type could produce a handle like a natural version of THIS SHAPE

Great original idea. I had no idea you could heat-treat bamboo.

+1 for the Gilligan's Island bike photos

 

[dayoldstubble]

That brush is really nice, -please do post pics as you finish it.

Might be nice to have a bamboo handle that spans two segments too. Depending on the species of bamboo, a short-segmented type could produce a handle like a natural version of THIS SHAPE

Great original idea. I had no idea you could heat-treat bamboo.

+1 for the Gilligan's Island bike photos

Interesting idea, but for the species I'm using (Blue Henon), the segments are about 10 inches apart, so it might be a bit unwieldy! If I run across some shorter segmented pieces, that would be cool to try.

And as for the bike, I'd be happy to post up once that takes shape, but we're probably talking months, as it's considerably more involved than a brush and I can only work on it in small chunks of time.

Hopefully though, it won't remind you of Gilligan's Island. What I have in mind is more performance oriented. Here are some pictures of a project similar to what I'm working on: Bamboo Bike

 

[surpera1]

i have a bamboo grove myself - phyllostacchys vivax - think i spelled it right - anyway - amazing stuff

 

[Donmuerto]

...the species I'm using (Blue Henon), the segments are about 10 inches apart, so it might be a bit unwieldy!...

Naw. That just means you need an 18" deep lather bowl!

 

[skipnord]

Love the brush, but where are the pics of the BIKE! No one else is curious about a bamboo bike?!

Ditto! Bike pictures, please!
PS - Specifically, how do you heat treat bamboo? Torch? Oven? Plastic explosives? ?????

 

[huck1680]

Really good looking and thinking 'way outside the box

 

[Donmuerto]

So, is that heat treatment done with an oven or a blowtorch? What temp?

 

[mandoman]

nice brush good job well done

 

[penmanship]

nicely done! very unique.....

 

[dayoldstubble]

So, is that heat treatment done with an oven or a blowtorch? What temp?

Plumber's torch. Like so: Heat-treat bamboo

This doesn't completely dry the green bamboo though--just caramelizes the sugars on the outside. The rest of it is either air-dried or dried in the oven (depending on what your wife thinks about you putting bamboo in the oven).

 

[dayoldstubble]

Ditto! Bike pictures, please!
PS - Specifically, how do you heat treat bamboo? Torch? Oven? Plastic explosives? ?????

Plastic explosives would have been cool, but alas, no. See post 18 for a link on the heat treating process and post 10 for a link to pictures of a similar project. My project is at the beginning stage of preparing the poles, so not much to show you.

 

[_MementoMori_]

I wanna see this brush in a SotD with a sweet Japanese kamisori.

 

[dayoldstubble]

Actually, here's a better link for heat-treating:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT-UIWYepR4[/YOUTUBE]