From time to time it’s been difficult to obtain quality takenokawa (bamboo husk) for recovering my barens. For some time I’ve wondered about alternative materials for baren covers, especially about using heat shrink tubing. I bought some six inch wide clear layflat PVC heat shrink tubing (12 inch circumference), cut a length about 2 1/2 times the diameter of my baren, trimmed the ends to make thinner handles and… It seems to have worked pretty well, actually! Covering a baren with takenokawa the traditional way requires a lot of practice and some dexterity. Covering a baren with PVC heat shrink tubing seems to require very little skill or dexterity — as long as you don’t over heat the material (or the baren!) it seems pretty fool-proof.
The particular PVC heat shrink tubing I acquired seems a bit too thin or light weight (5 mil) for a baren. Even so, less flexible than takenokawa but seems hardier. Hardiness is good because the shrink-wrapped baren is completely encased front and back so it’s impossible to rotate the baren during printing so all wear occurs where the high points of the coil press the shrink wrap against the paper and block.
When lubricated with camellia oil, the PVC covering glides over the paper with about the same ‘feel’ as takenokawa, though because it’s completely non-absorbent and glossy smooth, it seems to run dry of lubricant faster than takenokawa and then friction increases…
I think I’ll eventually be able to find a shrink tubing with more ideal characteristics — in the meantime, this stuff seems to work better than I’d expected.
My hon baren in a PVC shrink wrap cover after printing the equivalent of about 800 oban impressions -- no visible wear.
The back of my hon baren with PVC shrink wrap -- because the wrap is a tube of PVC, the back is also wrapped.
Preparing to cover a home made bead chain baren -- PVC shrink tube has been trimmed
coil (bead chain on hot melt glue and paper backing) and backing (plywood sanded into gentle convex shape)
coil and backing inside tube and ends of tube tied to form handle
ready to shrink - heat gun and baren in unshrunk tube
CAREFULLY applying heat to back first, then to front -- too much heat and PVC will melt.
Completed wrap job -- handle side
handle side of shrink wrapped bead chain baren
working side of shrink wrapped bead chain baren