How do you tie/lash bamboo?

[andreabaugher]

My husband and I are going to attempt to make towel bars for our bathroom with bamboo that we bought at an artisan store. We have never worked with bamboo, and until I saw this forum, I didn't realize what a complex art it is!!

My question is, how do you tie two pieces of bamboo together? I have seen pictures of nicely bound bamboo, but I can't find any good instructions on the web besides the knot for making fences... We basically need to tie them in a 90 degree angle. (Or should we just drill holes? If so, how?)

I will buy some of the cord Mark Meckes suggested in an earlier post (2003?).

Any tips would be great!

Thanks,
Andrea

[mike jansen]

I Was Wondering The Same Thing? I Use Steel Brackets And Then Wrap A Decorative Rope Around It , To Hide The Brackets

[Mark Meckes]

Yes, that would work, Mike.
There's a lot of ways, sometimes being combinations of ways to join pieces of bamboo, so long as the finished work is secure and functional, better yet, decorative.
It is possible to make a secure fixture by only using lashing of some form, though, by adding a dowel and plug, attaching a bracket, or by drilling a hole through the two pieces at their juncture and threading a wire through the two, and binding tightly, or a nut and bolt, then wrapping with decorative cord or binding of some sort would work too.

Andrea I agree, we do need to put more info together about lashing and tying bamboo.
This site - Knots on the Web - by Peter Suber (http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/knotlink.htm) is a fantastic resource of information.

The subject of knot tying of itself is mind boggling!

Mark

[ahdd]

We have recently purchased a home with beautiful bamboo closet doors throughout.

The home was built in 1958 and we are most fortunate to be the 3rd owner.

As I know absolutely nothing about repairing the broken "cord" that binds the bamboo together--I am wondering is this something I can do?

Will the "knot" site be able to instruct me?

Thanks to all for any suggestions on how to handle this project.

Ahdd

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Ahdd,
Do you have photos of the closet, showing the type of knotting and repairs that need to be done?

You can upload them here and we can see what has to be done.

Mark