Mark Meckes
13th January 2001, 05:44 AM
Re:Publication - Making Aquatic Weeds Useful:
Some Perspectives for Developing Countries
- National Academy of Sciences
On Phragmites (a grass found in many parts of the world, often growing in marshes or wet places. This plant is also utilized in wastewater treatment)...
`Phragmites is rich in pentosan sugars(1) and can be
used to produce furfural(2) (nodes and sheaths yield
6.6 percent, and the underground parts over 13
percent)
which is important for the making of compressed
fiberboard for house construction...'
I am assuming that bamboo, being a grass, also has
these sugars, and from practical experimentation, that
by heat-tempering a piece of bamboo, converts these
sugars to a pliable glue. Excessive heat causes
brittleness.
Does anyone have literature that outlines specific
temperature and duration of heating to induce optimum
adhesivnous of `sugar-glues' to fiber ?
Are the sugars in various bamboo species different or
just varying concentrations ?
I have found very litle scientific literature that has
helped me understand my craft work, ...but then, I
haven't been able to get access to much of the
literature, or spend time to decipher it.., so any
information will be a great help and a time-saver!
I know that we often expect institutions and
organization to have done the needed research on
bamboo, but not much has been done when it comes to
craft research. Fortunately, a craftspersons skills
are refined through the process of trial, error, and
re-evaluation, so research and development is the
norm, call it a form of self-empowerment.
So to work with bamboo, we must also stress the need
to develop the mind as a thinking tool, and we would
like to encourage this in our bamboo workshops. Even a
non-technical hands-on approach to evaluating bamboo
can be very helpful. We can learn by doing, but we
must also learn how to think.
If anyone is familiar with any form of bamboo
craft-handbooks designed for K-12 projects/ activities
( or for any age group), your input will be greatly
appreciated.
Mark
(1)
pentosan - any of a group of complex carbohydrates
found with cellulose in many woody plants and yielding
pentoses on hydrolysis
pentose - A sugar having five carbon atoms per
molecule
(2)
furfural- A colourless mobile liquid C4H3OCHO used as
a solvent for nitrocellulose and in the manufacture of
dyes and plastics. [FURFUR+AL(DEHYDE)
....from American Heritage Dictonary
Some Perspectives for Developing Countries
- National Academy of Sciences
On Phragmites (a grass found in many parts of the world, often growing in marshes or wet places. This plant is also utilized in wastewater treatment)...
`Phragmites is rich in pentosan sugars(1) and can be
used to produce furfural(2) (nodes and sheaths yield
6.6 percent, and the underground parts over 13
percent)
which is important for the making of compressed
fiberboard for house construction...'
I am assuming that bamboo, being a grass, also has
these sugars, and from practical experimentation, that
by heat-tempering a piece of bamboo, converts these
sugars to a pliable glue. Excessive heat causes
brittleness.
Does anyone have literature that outlines specific
temperature and duration of heating to induce optimum
adhesivnous of `sugar-glues' to fiber ?
Are the sugars in various bamboo species different or
just varying concentrations ?
I have found very litle scientific literature that has
helped me understand my craft work, ...but then, I
haven't been able to get access to much of the
literature, or spend time to decipher it.., so any
information will be a great help and a time-saver!
I know that we often expect institutions and
organization to have done the needed research on
bamboo, but not much has been done when it comes to
craft research. Fortunately, a craftspersons skills
are refined through the process of trial, error, and
re-evaluation, so research and development is the
norm, call it a form of self-empowerment.
So to work with bamboo, we must also stress the need
to develop the mind as a thinking tool, and we would
like to encourage this in our bamboo workshops. Even a
non-technical hands-on approach to evaluating bamboo
can be very helpful. We can learn by doing, but we
must also learn how to think.
If anyone is familiar with any form of bamboo
craft-handbooks designed for K-12 projects/ activities
( or for any age group), your input will be greatly
appreciated.
Mark
(1)
pentosan - any of a group of complex carbohydrates
found with cellulose in many woody plants and yielding
pentoses on hydrolysis
pentose - A sugar having five carbon atoms per
molecule
(2)
furfural- A colourless mobile liquid C4H3OCHO used as
a solvent for nitrocellulose and in the manufacture of
dyes and plastics. [FURFUR+AL(DEHYDE)
....from American Heritage Dictonary