OREGON BAMBOO ASSOCIATION
Volume 2, No. 1
IN THIS ISSUE: aMinutes of the Last Meeting aMaking Round Bamboo Square aDouble Happiness: WasteUptake
aManaging Spreading Bamboos aGib Goes to Costa Rica Part I aCalendar of Events aFreeze Damage Reports aMeeting
Agenda and Directions. aPresidential Notes aPhil Davidson’s Miticide Recipe a1999 Membership Roster.
ObA MEETING APRIL 18
U of Oregon Eugene 1:00
Architect Darrel DeBoer
“Building with Bamboo”
Minutes of Meeting on 10/25/98
The program was“ Making Round
Bamboo Square” (see story this issue)
Meeting was held at RCC called to
order at 1:15 pm Minutes of the
August meeting were accepted. The
treasurer reported a balance of
$369.88 after expenses and noted that
it is time to send out renewal notices
for 1999. The newsletter for the
October meeting was discussed. It was
unanimous that this was an excellent
issue. The meeting schedule for 1999
was discussed It was suggested that
we try to move the meeting location
around the state. Max & Jackie
Madden want to host the Eugene
meeting for March. (The H.O.P.E.S.
Conference in Eugene on April 15-18
may influence the date.) It was
decided to use mid-May to June for
the SF Bay Area Bamboo Tour. A
joint meeting in August at Coquille
with PNC-ABS was approved. The
October meeting was planned for
Corvallis. The speakers to be invited
include Jiro Yonezawa-Bamboo
basketry and Jerry Dishon-Bamboo in
Archery. For the upcoming ABS
annual meeting Orlando, FL on Nov.
7-8 the bamboo mite statement was
suggested to be included as endorsed
by the ABS. The OBA would like to
see the ABS spend more effort on
sustainable bamboo agriculture and
bamboo based home occupation .
Galyn suggested developing a OBA
bamboo tour to nearby Northern
California Hakone Gardens, Golden
A Chapter of the American Bamboo Society
Gate Park, SF Zoo, Strawberry
Canyon Botanical Gardens and
Foothill College. The excursion idea
needs further development and was
scheduled for the late May-June
meeting. Tom Taylor was to develop
and coordinate the OBA webpage with
ABS webmaster, Barry Abrahamsen.
Galyn Carlile reported that Rogue
Valley Community College is ready to
give 5 acres for a bamboo arboretum.
Galyn will get plot map. Additional
coordination with OIT and SOU may
result in other projects. Forest Farms
is moving ahead to purchase 400 acres
to develop a botanical garden and
arboretum.
New Business: Paul Pratt's mite
research at OSU has resulted in a
preliminary report The Proceedings of
the PNW97 Bamboo Agroforestry
Workshop have been printed and now
are available.12 copies of Daphne
Lewis’s book were purchased and now
are for sale by the OBA. The book is
reviewed in the October newsletter.
Carol Miles report on her bamboo
research plots is in the October
newsletter. Submitted by Gib Cooper
OBA Secretary
Making Round bamboo Square:
A workshop presented to The Oregon
Bamboo Association by Herb Rudd at
our October 1998 meeting as reported
by Gib Cooper, Secretary - OBA.
The deforming of bamboo from the
normal round shape to a square
section is a Japanese tradition. Herb
pointed out his interest in this idea
came from seeing the pictures and
story about it on pages 206-208 in
Austin, Levy and Ueda’s out of print
book, Bamboo. I have this book in my
library so I reviewed the technique.
The square cross section pole is a
much sought after (and highly valued)
shape in Japan. The most important
part of a Japanese living room is an
1
April 1999
ornamental post made from square
bamboo known as the “tokonoma”.
However, bamboo does not grow in
this shape. The only bamboo with a
natural square shape is
Chimonobambusa quadrangularis,
commonly known as ‘SQUARE
BAMBOO’, and is rarely found over 1
inch in diameter. The Japanese use a
frame or mold made of cedar boards
for deforming the bamboo. The boards
are slightly tapered to conform to the
natural taper of the bamboo. Two
boards are nailed together to make 2
halves at a right angle. Then the two
half-frames are lashed together to
make a long box about 8-12’ long.
The box is placed over the top of the
new shoot when it is about 3 inches
tall and tied to nearby culms for sup-
port. The box is removed after several
months when the culm sheaths fall off.
Proper sizing of the box to the new
shoot is critical. If the shoot is too
small, it will not be square. If the
shoot is too big, it will be over-
compressed and develop vertical folds
and not produce a good shape (see
photo). Herb noted that a box on the
small side can also split open!
Therefore, it is very important to make
an educated decision when the new
shoot is ready as to what size frame to
use. The book further tells us that in a
Moso bamboo, (the preferred species
for squaring), a grove of ¼ acre, say
100 X 100 feet square, about 200
parent culms should be left. Of the
spring shoots, 100 or so should be
selected for making into square
bamboo. A remaining 50 or so should
be left as parent culms for subsequent
years. The rest of the shoots should be
dug for food.
When Herb read about this in the book
he had to try it. It was in the mid-
nineteen fifties when he discovered
one of the old Henon groves
(Phyllostachys nigra ‘Henon’) around
the Grants Pass region.
The groves were planted by Chinese
gold miners who had moved up from
California as the gold fields played
out. Herb dug a start for himself and
planted it near his home. The grove is
now of magnificent size. It is this
grove with which Herb began to
experiment.
He first tried the board method. This
didn’t seem to work well for him. The
boxes broke open as the shoots grew
inside. Now he says that he wasn’t
experienced enough to judge the
correct size mold to put over the
shoots.
HERB RUDD SHOWS RESULTS OF SMALL
MOLD CREATING INVERTED SEAM
After giving the problem more
thought, Herb decided to construct a
new type of mold from angle iron he
had on hand. Fortunately, Herb can
work and weld metal. From two pieces
of right angle iron he made a mold
that opens and closes on hinges and is
shut tight with bolts. Angle iron comes
in various widths so different size
molds aren’t a problem. (I don’t think
he added any taper to the molds).
When several molds were ready in the
spring, Herb clamped them over the
new shoots which grew and squared
inside without breaking open the
molds. Some of the culms were
compressed from the mold being too
small. Herb is continuing to work on
the finer techniques of making the
square bamboo. It isn’t as simple as it
looks.
UNHARVESTED SQUARE USING IRON MOLD
Making square bamboo may have
financial benefits to Oregon growers.
It is a way to add value to poles
produces in the region. The set of steel
molds can be made by the grower and
used year after year. In addition, we
are fortunate to have a man like Herb
Rudd taking the time to perfect a
method usable by everyone growing
bamboo for utilitarian purposes.
It has been several years since I visited
Koto hardware in San Francisco.
During the last visit, I inspected some
beautiful square Moso poles from
Japan. They were stained with brown
spots in an attractive pattern. The 10’
poles of about 3” in diameter were
priced at $150 each. In a recent
communication with Junji Kagata of
Takehei Bamboo Wholesale in Japan,
he states all square bamboo is Moso.
They have available 3 variations of
square Moso bamboo formed by
wooden frames. The most popular is
called “Patch”. The “Patch” type is
stained by using mud and H2So4
(Sulfuric Acid) after drying. The
“Normal” is just dried Moso.
“Sesame-seed” is a higher class
method made by cutting off the upper
parts of the culm and sawing halfway
through the base in spring.
As examples of Japanese wholesale
prices, a 3” (7-8 cm) diameter by 10’
(3 meter) piece of “Patch Square
Bamboo” sells for $120-150,
“Sesame-seed Square” bamboo at
2
$150-180 and the Normal Square for
$110-150.
The pleasing pattern of brown spots
on the bamboo beige background that
Junji identified as the “Patch” type is
produced through a technique that
A FORTUNE IN SQUARES
uses a chemical “mud”. The “mud” is
made by 2 parts clay and water slurry
plus 3 parts of 60% sulfuric or hydro-
chloric acid
The best pattern may be produced if
the waxy white powder is wiped off
the culm and then the “mud” is
painted or splattered on.
A REAL SQUARE!
Another interesting method for
manufacturing a square bamboo is by
laminating 4 bamboo strips to the
sides of a square piece of lumber.
Junji says this is for interior
decoration. It is easy to make in that it
is not hollow. A piece of this material
with “Sesame-seed bamboo” laminate
about 2 ½” (6cm width) and 10’ long
(3m) costs about $160.
References: Bamboo by Robert Austin, Dana Levy & Koichiro
eda. Published by Weatherhill, 1970. Junji Kagata, Takehei
Bamboo Wholesale E-mail:Takehei@mbox.kyoto-
inet.or.jp http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/takehei
DON’T FORGET TO LOOK AT
PAGE 11 FOR YOUR NAME! IF IT
ISN’T THERE, THIS WILL BE
YOUR LAST ISSUE RENEW NOW