How To Build with Bamboo, by Jo Scheer
Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2004, Salt Lake City, Utah
(http://www.gibbs-smith.com)
ISBN: 1-58685-220-5
How to Build with Bamboo is a classic how-to book describing 19 craft projects that you can make with bamboo. I admit that although I have bamboo, I’ve never tried to make anything more complicated than a plant stake, so this book was a fun adventure for me.
Although the book is only 94 pages, the photographs are strikingly sharp and the narratives clear. The 19 projects range from a nearly ready-made Picture Frame (“easy”) to a Bed Frame (“advanced”). Bamboo enthusiasts may remember Jo Scheer when he gave a delightful presentation of the “Hooch” (and its furnishings) at the 2005 annual meeting of the American Bamboo Society held in Houston.
I found Jo’s book very easy reading, the kind you can read some and come back to time and time again, skipping ahead or back, depending on the creative mood. The projects themselves are divided into three categories: Fun and Functional, Furniture and Accessories, and Outside and Garden. The first chapter concerns itself with the basic tools and tips for working with bamboo. To get going you will need a few basic hand tools and some power tools, although a couple of the power tools may not already be in your tool chest. Even so, I did fine without them and I am sure you will too.
So now it's time to look in your tool chest and take inventory: hammer, file, rasp, X-Acto™ knives, 18-20 gauge wire, drill with bits, machete, Swiss army knife, vise grips, wire cutters, glue ... check. A belt sander is pretty handy too, but don’t go out and buy one just for the projects; it's not required. If you have a power compound miter saw, a couple of the projects will be a lot easier; that went on my wish list for Santa.
Bamboo, as most of us know, is not like ordinary wood. One might say it's extraordinary wood. For this reason Jo’s tips on splitting and joinery are most welcome. Bamboo has a fantastically straight grain that makes it split like a woodworker’s dream. Even so, it's safe to say that there are two things to keep in mind when splitting: keep them straight and know where you need to stop. The straight part is an issue if you have a lot of splits to make, as in the Reading Lamp project. Stopping the splitting at a certain point is obviously desirable or your Hanging Plant holder project may unexpectedly become your Burmese Ball project.
Jo’s book advocates the mortise and tenon joinery as needed. This approach demands that the outside diameter of the tenon be less than the inside diameter of the mortise. Weaving bamboo splits is handy and decorative. Also, inserting smaller diameter bamboo into larger diameter bamboo can be done as long as steps are taken to avoid splaying the end.
I don’t have any of the larger diameter bamboos, so the Porch Swing was out, even though it looks great. For my first project, I settled on the Picture Frame, which can be made with a smaller diameter bamboo. In my opinion this project is perfect for scout troops; it's simple, practical, and looks good to boot. This project presents great opportunity to teach about mortise and tenon joinery and structural rigidity (I’ll explain more shortly).
The design for the Picture Frame requires four lengths of bamboo. The smaller two have to fit inside the larger two, using mortise and tenon. A length of string is passed from opposite corners through the bamboo, tied to small twigs, and tightened by twisting the twig. The string creates diagonal tension, which gives the picture frame remarkable rigidity. Also, if the holes for the string are drilled carefully along the same line, the string can be used as a backer for the picture that is to be framed. All in all, the project took about two days to complete; one and seven-eights days getting the perfect bamboo, and about 45 minutes hour of construction time. If you are not fussy about the bamboo then you can do the project in about an hour.
The next project I attempted was the Earrings. I have two daughters and although they are both in college, I saw this as a great opportunity to save some money on Christmas presents this year. Besides, as they made lots of jewelry out of seashells and other found objects, bamboo just seemed like a natural (oops, pardon the pun). So I dug out all of that jewelry-making stuff and set to work. Needless to say this is another great activity for kids. What mother would not proudly wear earrings made by their child? Again I cannot help but think of all the money I could have saved over the years.
In truth there is no end to the number of do-dads you can get at an arts-and-crafts store for jewelry making, but all you really need is 20-gauge jewelry wire, head pins, and ear wires. You can get additional colored beads if you like but I made my earrings with bamboo twigs cut to various lengths using an X-Acto™ on a cutting board. I also successfully made shorter, almost round beads the same way. I colored them with a permanent marker to make them more distinct. Then, just run them on the head pin and assemble the ornaments onto the ear wire and ... Ho Ho Ho ... Santa is in the house! Once you get started it's like an assembly line; you can easily make as many of these earrings as you could possibly need in about an hour.
After my two successes, I felt it was time to try my hand and growing confidence on a more difficult project ... the Burmese Ball. The Burmese Ball is a woven bamboo slat sphere that, we are told, owes its origin to a game dating back to the 7th century called “Chinlone”. It is made with six bamboo strips of the recommended length of 3 feet. When completed it resembles the iconic image of an atom.
Splitting the bamboo into 3-foot strips proved a more persnickety task than I anticipated. Also, I was a little thrown off during the construction phase because the photograph of the finished ball is not the ball one was making. It depicts a much more complex version constructed from 18 strips, six groups of three. It took a bit longer than it should have for me to figure this out. But after a few false starts and careful reading of the instructions, I muddled through. In the end, my ball looked a bit anemic, especially compared to the photograph, but I found the exercise rewarding. Again, it took me about two hours to do this project, but with practice I am sure somebody could do it in about 30 minutes.
As Jo points out, the basic structure can be easily scaled up to be a trellis or other outdoor structure. With a little imagination you can see that 25-foot-long culms would make an 8-foot diameter sphere that could be flattened at the base, front and back, to make a woven arbor.
One project that I regret I did not get to is the Water Spout, shown on the cover of the book. It requires only two pieces of bamboo and a water pump, but the aesthetic is fantastic. Imagine a little stream of water pouring out of the end of the bamboo onto a tiny rock garden and the lovely sound it makes. Jo also offers plans for a small elegant Water Wheel to compliment the Water Spout.
The other projects in the book — the Screen Door, the Lamp Shade, the Fence and Garden Gate, and others — all share the theme that demonstrates the beauty and versatility of bamboo. This unique book is a “must-have” for any bamboo grower, enthusiast, and “crafty” person. For those of us who admire bamboo’s many commendable attributes, both functional and aesthetic, Jo Scheer’s book captures that admiration. By making useful and beautiful objects, one cannot imagine a better way to show the harmonious balance and contemplative ambiance that bamboo engenders.