Chapter 178 The bamboo umbrella is ready, splashing ink on the painting

Making a bamboo umbrella is not that easy, and its complicated craftsmanship is the fundamental reason why it cannot be passed down.

Moreover, with the popularity of modern umbrellas, this time-consuming and labor-intensive bamboo umbrella has gradually withdrawn from the market.

Looking at this comment, Su Ran smiled and nodded, "You are right. The craftsmanship of bamboo umbrellas is very complicated and indeed requires a lot of craftsmanship. If you really want to make an exquisite bamboo umbrella, then it needs to go through more than 80 delicate and complicated craftsmanship from the beginning."

"Plus, it is purely handmade, which is more time-consuming and laborious. But for a single person like me, I have nothing but fast hands and can finish it in about a day."

Su Ran also teased himself, looked at the current time and said: "It's still early now. If we start working, we should be able to finish around 10 o'clock in the evening."

This way, it’s only six or seven hours.

Li Yangchao, who was watching the live broadcast, didn't believe Su Ran at all when he heard that she could make a bamboo umbrella in such a short time: "Host, do you really think you are Kato Ying? Don't mess around. You can't make a perfect bamboo umbrella just to rush."

Su Ran smiled and said, "We'll know after we give it a try. These bamboos are very tough and elastic, and are perfect for making bamboo umbrellas. Now let's pick out some that look good."

He began to pick out the long and straight ones from the dry bamboos, first peeling off the green skin on the surface of the bamboo, and then splitting it into small strips of umbrella ribs.

Su Ran's movements were very skillful. This kind of delicate work not only requires good eyesight, but also excellent technique and knife skills.

It was obviously his first time, but the speed of splitting the bamboo was so fast that it was dizzying.

After the bamboo is split, the next step is to carve the umbrella frame: "Carving the umbrella frame is the foundation of an umbrella, and it often requires a day or several days of labor for an umbrella maker. However, we have the hand speed gained from being single for twenty years, so we don't have to worry about it taking a long time."

While Su Ran was speaking, he did not stop the work in his hands at all.

Li Yangchao stared at Su Ran's hand movements very carefully and was surprised to find that his handwork was really not bad. He said that even if he asked his old man to compete with him, he might not be as good as Su Ran.

"Haven't you noticed? Brother Su carves umbrella stands very quickly and well."

Su Ran made the frame of the umbrella with bamboo. Since the bamboo skeletons were all hand-split, the curvature of the umbrella surface was very neat.

Looking at the finished umbrella frame in his hands, Li Yangchao was amazed: "The processing of the umbrella frame depends entirely on the umbrella maker's own skills and experience."

"The skills are passed down from master to apprentice, relying on the teacher and apprentice's words and deeds, as well as the individual's understanding and long-term practice. It takes an apprentice three years to become a master."

"Host, have you ever had a disciple before?"

Unexpectedly, Su Ran shook his head calmly: "No."

Li Yangchao was even more surprised. Could it be that he was self-taught?
If this is true, then this anchor is really capable!

After the umbrella stand is completed, the ribs need to be braided together.

A traditional bamboo umbrella has seventy-two ribs, which is considered a medium to large bamboo umbrella. However, many traditional craftsmen would not choose so many ribs because they are too complicated.

But as long as these 72 ribs can be made, the quality of the finished umbrella will be very good.

Weaving umbrella ribs requires skill, but the process is repetitive and relatively simple. However, the tedious process still took Su Ran more than two hours.

Because he not only has to sharpen the ribs of the umbrella, but also has to groove and drill holes in them, and then connect them with short ribs of the umbrella.

The connection requires hemp rope for threading. You can have pre-numbered hemp rope at home. This kind of rope is generally very strong and not easy to corrode.

Thread the needle and connect all the ribs together.

At this time, Mantou was lying on the doorstep bored, with his head resting on his legs, looking very leisurely.

The giant panda had secretly crawled behind its butt and sniffed its anus.

His eyes suddenly lit up, and his hands suddenly pinched Mantou's perky butt.

In an instant, Hu Zi's legs bounced as if they were equipped with springs.

Oh my god, you are a hooligan!

"Ouch!" Mantou howled fiercely at Panda.

The giant panda followed suit and started roaring too.

The audience was having a blast watching the show.

Dahei was lying quietly by the well, because there was a tree there that provided some shade. He put his front legs in front, watching Su Ran concentrating on making an umbrella, and from time to time he glanced at the two playing little guys and yawned comfortably.

The two little guys kept playing until dark, chasing each other all the time.

The giant panda wanted to get close to Mantou, but Mantou looked disgusted and avoided him.

Before they made a mess of the house, Su Ran finally finished making the bamboo umbrella.

The whole process includes drilling holes, assembling frames, threading, and connecting umbrella handles and umbrella heads in series to form the skeleton.

Open the ribs of the umbrella in your hand and then fold them up. The process is very smooth without any sense of lag.

Su Ran was very satisfied with the half-finished bamboo umbrella in his hand: "The next step is just to mount the umbrella surface."

Li Yangchao stayed in the live broadcast room and watched for several hours. Now that Su Ran had finished making the umbrella ribs, he was already full of admiration for him.

At this moment, I am very much looking forward to seeing the finished umbrella: "Host, what are you going to use to cover the umbrella?"

Although it was dark, Su Ran still walked out of the yard with a flashlight. He glanced at the comments and said, "I'll go get the materials to make the umbrella now."

There is no one in Qijiaqiao Village who specializes in making bamboo umbrellas, but there is one person who likes calligraphy.

Arriving at Grandpa Sun's house, Su Ran saw that the lights were still on, so he called out, "Is Grandpa Sun home? I want to borrow something from you."

When Sun Wangfu opened the door and saw Su Ran, the rare guest, he immediately welcomed him in. On the desk in the middle of the room was a large piece of rice paper, on which were several powerful and vigorous large characters written in an elegant and unusual manner.

It's hard to believe that this was the work of an old farmer named Sun Wangfu.

"Uncle Sun, your handwriting is getting better and better." Su Ran praised from the bottom of his heart and looked at some ink paintings hanging on the wall of the room.

Sun Wangfu laughed happily. He loved to hear compliments from others. When Su Ran praised him like that, he felt extremely happy. He served tea and poured water, wishing he could keep Su Ran at home all night.

The grandfather and grandson chatted for a while, and Sun Wangfu asked, "By the way, Xiaoran, what do you want to see me for?"

"Oh, I want to borrow some rice paper from you." Su Ran said with a smile.

Sun Wangfu's eyes lit up: "Have you become interested in calligraphy recently?"

In his opinion, what else can rice paper be used for besides painting and writing? Su Ran shook his head and said, "No, just mounting a bamboo umbrella."

Sun Wangfu didn't understand, but was greatly shocked.

Maybe because he was so happy with Su Ran's praise, Grandpa Sun gave him all the rice paper he had at home.

Su Ran didn't take it for free. He left a few hundred dollars and went home.

After returning home, Su Ran fiddled with things in the room for a long time, then took out a bucket filled with white, sticky paste.

By now, the audience had a rough idea of ​​what Su Ran was going to use to make the umbrella cover, and they couldn't help but feel surprised.

"Brother Su, you are not planning to use rice paper as an umbrella, are you? Can we use it when it rains?"

Su Ran was not surprised and said, "Why not? Aren't oil-paper umbrellas made of rice paper?"

Without waiting for the audience to continue asking questions, Su Ran picked up the brush and brushed paste on the umbrella ribs, then covered it with rice paper and continued to brush on another layer of paste.

Finally, Su Ran took out a small iron bucket from the room and continued, "This is filled with tung oil. Just brush a layer of tung oil on the rice paper and it will have a waterproof effect."

(End of this chapter)