Great work, Peter! Split and cracked flutes residing here are bound
similarly to what you have laid out.
One comment about superglue of any sort. It will penetrate into and seal
the pores of the bamboo skin, effectively freezing the color of the bamboo
at the instant of application. Hmm...new marketing slogan for shakuhachi:
FreezeColored Flutes, Inc. Anyone hot for a copyright...DOUZO!
So as the bamboo slowly, slowly mellows out and the color darkens, the area
of superglued skin will remain color unchanged. Perhaps the only way to see
this is to apply some superglue and then wait. Or one could do a computer
simulation and see results right away.
If it happens, and it's not unusual, that the entire upper half of a two
piece flute cracks wide open from top to bottom, the crack can usually be
closed out of sight as Peter has suggested. When starting the bindings,
start at the bottom of the bamboo. Usually there is a binding already
existing at this location, having been applied as while making the joint.
Starting in this area will facilitate application of bindings before the
crack starts to open as moisture is dawn out of the bamboo by the drier
surrounding air. It sometimes happens that only a few bindings can be
applied before the crack becomes visible. Stop binding and put the piece
back into moisture absorption state. Continue after the crack is out of
sight.
After finishing the binding, dry the bamboo to well below atmospheric
moisture content. The crack should open a bit between bindings. Fill it
with urushi topped with ji and the job is done. NO superglue required. The
bamboo will sill be able to expand and contract as it has always done, and
the bore will not leak vital energy. Some filler may be squeezed out of the
crack on very humid days. A hairline crack may be visible from time to time
but will eventually disappear as house dust, skin oil, dead cells and other
nice stuff combine to form a sort elastic seal...natural silicone.
Cheers to all!
Tom
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