Description

Bamboo is one of the most useful plants asitcan be used to make houses, traps, cages, furniture,tools,weapons, bridges, rafts, towers, fences, water wheels,irrigationpipes, and thousands of other items. The challengehowever, islearning how to connect those bamboo canes. Bamboo polescan betied together using any of the traditional lashing knots,such asthe square lashing, round lashing, diagonal lashing, shearlashing,tripod lashing, floor lashing, or ladder lashing. But,there arealso more advanced techniques for joining or lashingbamboo stickstogether by using pegs or braces of which we will showsomeexamples below.

1. One of the simplest bamboo joints is the drilled lashing.Anupright pole is cut above a node, and a hole is drilled all thewaythrough the pole, just below the node. A cross-pole is thensecuredto the upright by a lashing through the hole. For maximumstrength,a node of the cross-pole should be positioned on theupright.Lashing on both sides of the cross-pole node prevents thebamboopoles from shifting.

2. A piece of wire bent in half (or an improvised woodenneedle)makes threading cordage through the drilled hole easier,especiallythe last pass or two after the hole is already packedwith severalstrands of cordage.

3. Here is the completed joint showing how bamboo lashings aremadeon both sides of the cross-pole node. The lashing is finishedwitha clove hitch around the upright and a square knot. Tyinglashingsaround any drilled hole is a good way to strengthen thejoint andhelps prevent bamboo poles from splitting.

4. The drilled joint can also be used to connect the end ofacross-pole to an upright, as shown above. For this application,thelashings should be tied above a node on the upright.Downwardpressure on the cross-pole will simply tighten the bamboolashingsfurther as they encounter the larger diameter of the node.This isone of the most basic principles used in bambooconstruction;having the nodes work for you to prevent slippage.

5. Drilled bamboo lashings can be used to connect more thanonecross-pole to an upright, which is a good way to makebambooframeworks.

6. Using the drilled lashing, two cross-poles can be connectedtoan upright at right angles to form a corner joint.

7. Drilled lashings have been used to connect threecross-polesto an upright as in this example.

8. In this example, drilled lashings have been used toconnectfour cross-poles to an upright. Once the bamboo joint hasbeenformed and tied in place, extra lashings can be addedforreinforcement if desired.