Horsetails ("scouring reeds") are a traditional abrasive, particularly
for Japanese wood and lacquerworking (and thus a tenuous link to
alt.armourers).
Does anyone know how to prepare them ?
They're a lot like bamboo in structure. Hollow stem with a tough outer
layer and intermittent septa, with an external fringe where the leaves
are attached. In evolutionary terms they're quite different though -
these plants are more primitive than flowering plants, they were
around in time for the dinosaurs to munch on.
I've just picked a bagful, from the bogs of Antrim. I then started out
by cropping them to a foot long, taking the blackened and rigid part
near the base. I split this in half, boiled them for half an hour,
then scraped out the soft inner pith. I'm now trying to dry them and
press the outer husk flat.
Wed, Jul 30, 2003, 7:47pm (EDT+5) [email protected]
(Andy=A0Dingley) informs us:
Horsetails ("scouring reeds") <snip>
Does anyone know how to prepare them ? <snip> I then started out by
cropping them to a foot long, taking the blackened and rigid part near
the base. I split this in half, boiled them for half an hour, then
scraped out the soft inner pith. I'm now trying to dry them and press
the outer husk flat.
Andy, Andy, Andy. Rules to live by:
ONE: No longer than about an inch,
TWO: Skin left on, for vitamins.
THREE: Baked, not boiled.
FOUR; Serve hot, with wow-wow sauce. FIVE; Google, google, google.
This quote,
"Horsetails are also called scouring reeds. The silica they contain in
their skeletons makes them abrasive enough to use for scraping and
scouring, either in their natural state or after burning. Their ashes
still contain the silica and, with a little water, make an effective
polishing paste."
is from:
http://www.educationalimages.com/it130004.htm
Whereever did you get the boiling and scraping?
JOAT
Always put off until tomorrow something which, tomorrow, you could put
off until, let's say, next year.
- Lady Myria LeJean.
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 23 Jul 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/JOATorJackOfAll/page4.html
Wed, Jul 30, 2003, 7:47pm (EDT+5) [email protected]
(Andy=A0Dingley) says:
Horsetails ("scouring reeds") are a traditional abrasive, particularly
for Japanese wood and lacquerworking (and thus a tenuous link to
alt.armourers). <snip>
Wait a minute. Which is it you're trying to do, use as an
abrasive, or making armour? I took it as for scouringat first, and
still looks like that's what you could mean, but looking at again, not
sure.
JOAT
Always put off until tomorrow something which, tomorrow, you could put
off until, let's say, next year.
- Lady Myria LeJean.
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 23 Jul 2003. Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/JOATorJackOfAll/page4.html
Yep, grab and use. Dead is better to avoid the green.
"Dan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Andy Dingley wrote:
> > Horsetails ("scouring reeds") are a traditional abrasive, particularly
> > for Japanese wood and lacquerworking (and thus a tenuous link to
> > alt.armourers).
> >
> > Does anyone know how to prepare them ?
>
> When that guy from the Woodwright's Shop - Roy Underhill, I think - used
> 'em for finish sanding, he just grabbed a handfull and sanded with it.
> No treatment, just a big buncha horsetail.
Actually the reeds absorbs silicon as a nutrient and a description of their
prep etc is in "Grinling Gibbons and the art of carving."
the reed is called Dutch reed [equisetum byemale] a relative of the
horsetail. It is dried and sections used between nodes of the stalk A dowel
can be inserted and used in that manner or soaked and slit down one side
opened up and redried,that way it can be used as a sanding pad.
--
mike hide
http://members.tripod.com/mikehide2
"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Horsetails ("scouring reeds") are a traditional abrasive, particularly
> for Japanese wood and lacquerworking (and thus a tenuous link to
> alt.armourers).
>
> Does anyone know how to prepare them ?Grindling Gibbons and the art of
carving
>
> They're a lot like bamboo in structure. Hollow stem with a tough outer
> layer and intermittent septa, with an external fringe where the leaves
> are attached. In evolutionary terms they're quite different though -
> these plants are more primitive than flowering plants, they were
> around in time for the dinosaurs to munch on.
>
> I've just picked a bagful, from the bogs of Antrim. I then started out
> by cropping them to a foot long, taking the blackened and rigid part
> near the base. I split this in half, boiled them for half an hour,
> then scraped out the soft inner pith. I'm now trying to dry them and
> press the outer husk flat.
>
AM Pittman wrote:
> ones were definatly more effective. Up here in Puget Sound horsetails
> are a classfied a invasive weed because they are so hard to control. I
Plant one, and you get 50,000 of them in a couple of years. There's a
reason why they've been around for 20 million years or whatever. Some of
the colonies are probably that old. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 16916 Approximate word count: 507480
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT wrote:
> Whereever did you get the boiling and scraping?
I'll third that one. Grab and rub on something. Never used them for
woodworking, but I've cleaned plenty of camp cookware with them.
The advice to pick dead ones to avoid the green is probably sound, but all
that boiling and stuff is making my head hurt with the level of complexity.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 16881 Approximate word count: 506430
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/