Knotted abaca fibres are hand woven on an upright wooden loom.
The most commonly used devices in abaca fibre extraction are the hand-hagotan and the spindle-stripping machine. The hand-hagotan consists of a knife, a rest or base and a weight to keep the movable part firmly in position during stripping. The tuxies or leafsheath splits are inserted between the blade and the block, with the basal and towards the stripper at a point about a foot from the base. The foot pedal is then released clamping the tuxy firmly in between. The tuxy is then pulled away from the knife with full force with both hands clasping the tuxy which is wound around a pulling aid. Spindle stripping is a mechanised hand-hagotan with an estimated output that is ten times faster than hand stripping (120 to 190 kg per day). Fibre recovery, ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 per cent. Proper drying techniques contribute to the quality of the fibre, its cleanliness and helps prolong shelf life. After drying the fibres are classified and knotted.
Prior to weaving the abaca fibres are warped using a warping machine. When the warping process is finished the warp is mounted into the loom and is inserted into a string harness and in the weaving reed. The weft is prepared by winding the abaca fibre on the bamboo bobbin. During the winding process, sand is placed over the bunch of knotted fibres to act as a counter weight with a black cloth beneath the loom to be able to visibly check the fine strand of the fibre clearly. The bobbin is then placed on the wooden shuttle and the weaving process starts. Silk or pina fibre can also be combined with the abaca fibre.
The finished product is abaca cloth, which can be used in the manufacturing for placemats and table linens, cushions, scarves, bags and picture frames among others and to make it more elegant, embroidery can be added.
For coloured cloth, dyeing can be done either before or after weaving and does not change the quality of the cloth. Whether dyed or natural, the woven cloth is pounded to bring out the shine before it is finished into cushions, curtains or bags.
CARE LABEL
Since Abaca cloth is very fine, it should be hand-washed using mild soap and drip-dried and should not be rubbed or twisted. Dry cleaning is another convenient way of maintaining it. It is not advisable but, if machine-washed, only on a gentle cycle for a short time.
The Bamboo
Introduction. Plant is how the bamboo has been described and this characteristic is apparently the basis for the numerous uses to which it has been put and how its role in projecting rural scenes in local landscape has been romanticised. The bamboo is truly prized for its versatility and beauty.
Bamboo grows in areas at sea level and up to 3,200 meters above depending on the species. Universally, bamboo can be found naturally in all continents except Europe and North America. They are naturally distributed in the tropical, sub-tropical and mild temperate zones, occurring more in the tropical belt.
Bamboo can be found in settled as well as forested areas growing along river banks and streams, hillsides, domestic gardens and plantations.
Bamboo grows within 40 degrees on either side of the equator particularly in the area of the Tropic of Cancer on the northern side and in the Tropic of Capricorn on the southern side. Altitude affects the distribution of bamboo with respect to form or type. The sympodial or clump-forming type, predominate in areas of low and medium altitude. The monopodial bamboo or those growing singly are abundant in places of high elevation. Bamboo generally grows well in places with temperature ranging from 9 degrees celcius to 36. Moisture in the soil is very important for the vegetative growth of bamboo and during the dry season when moisture is low, the bamboo adapts by shedding the leaves to reduce transpiration. Bamboo grows best in well-drained sandy loam to clay loam soil with a Ph of 5.0 to 6.5, which has good drainage and aeration.
The Philippines has approximately 62 species of erect bamboo and 19 climbing species but very few species however, have proved commercially important.
The climbing bamboo has a stem that elongates like vine. It is strictly sylvan or found only in forested and over-logged areas.
The erect bamboo species are of two types:
1 Sympodial or clump-forming, which has rhizomes that elongate upward emerging close together to each other on the ground, forming clumps.
2 Monopodial or occurring singly, which have rhizomes that creep underground and emerge from each other becoming single culms.
Uses of bamboo, once looked upon as a lowly plant and called a poor man’s timber because of its widespread use in rural constructions, has gained greater importance through the years.
The bamboo culm is also a popular material for craft items and furniture especially now that the supply of wood and rattan is becoming uncertain making these materials more expensive and their end products becoming inaccessible to the majority of local consumers. The Philippine exports bamboo furniture to the United States, some European countries and other Asian countries.
The following is a list of the common uses of bamboo.
1 Construction, a) homes, b) fencing, c) bridges, d) scaffolding,
e) concrete reinforcement
2 Furniture
3 Handicrafts
4 Toys
5 Musical instruments
6 Farm tool handles, e.g. sickle, scythe
7 Shipping containers
8 Water pipes
9 Fish pens and traps
10 Outrigger of banca
11 Raw material for pulp and paper
12 Strips thinned for tying purposes
13 Food. The bamboo shoot is pickled or cooked into a variety of dishes
GROWTH AND MATURITY
Height and diameter
Depending on the species, bamboo grows very fast to a height of up to over 30 meters and diameter of up to 20 centimetres, sometimes elongating by as much as 60cm in one day.
Increase in size
The full diameter of the bamboo culm is attained when it is only a few inches high. Unlike the woody stem, the bamboo culm, does not have a cambium, which is responsible for the increase in diameter. This is because the procambium cells formed near the growing tips change entirely into the permanent tissues of xylem and phloem, leaving none in the meristematic or growing condition. Increase in diameter results from enlargement of the cells of the permanent tissues but this soon ceases.
The culm continues to increase in length up to some point because of the continued growth of the primary meristems and is why the culm is long and slender.
Maturity
Studies on the culm growth kauayan tinik, a commercial bamboo species, show that it attains its full height in approximately five months.
After attaining full growth, bamboo hardens and matures in 2 to 5 years and is best harvested when 3 years old for maximum utilisation in furniture and construction.
Structure of the bamboo culm
The bamboo culm belongs to the grass family and has no bark but is smooth, straight, jointed and hollow but in some species it is almost solid near the base.
The outer layer or epidermis is covered with a waxy substance called cutin which prevents water loss and has silica deposits which make the culm impervious to moisture and serve as a protective covering and improve the durability of the culm.
Just beneath the outer exposed layer are two to four layers of sclerenchyma cells and together, form the rind of the culm. Chloroplasts are present in some of the cells, which impart the green colour and help with manufacture of food.
At present, bamboo is better appreciated for other uses such as furniture and handicrafts and as a construction material especially in the rural areas. Pulp and paper mills nowadays, primarily use abaca, which has better pulping and papermaking properties than bamboo or waste paper mixed with imported pulp.
Bariw
Pandanus copelandii (Botanical description)
Pandanus copelandii reaches a height of 3 to 9 meters and the leaves to about 2 to 3 meters long by 5 to 8 centimetres wide with spines along the margins, which are coarse and near the tip. The fruit forms a cylindrical head 7 to 12 centimetres long and 5 to 7 centimetres across. Three to five heads grow on the fruit stalk, which are pale yellow but they soon turn red. It is claimed that bariw fibres are tougher than those from oyango.
Geographic distribution
This species is widely distributed at low and medium altitudes from Northern Luzon to Southern Luzon in the North of The Philippines.
Industrial uses
Bariw leaves are used for making coarse mats and baskets.
Scientific name – Corypha Elata Roxb
Raffia fibre is gleaned from the leaves of the buri tree, a kind of palm (Talipot palm), which produces three kinds of fibres, the buri, raffia and buntal.
The buri palm is found all over The Philippines and grows both in low and up land and when allowed to grow to its full height, it can reach 40 meters tall. Propagation is by seed and the palm can live to about 30 years and it is only when it is about to die that it flowers and produces seeds.
To be able to germinate, the hard outer covering must be removed. In the wild this is achieved either through rotting or passing through the alimentary canal of some animal. Few people deliberately plant the buri palm and any products harvested from the buri depend on wild plants.
The palm has many uses and depending on which part of the plant and the age, at which it is gathered, yields midrib for furniture, whole leaf for baskets and mats, vascular bundles for bags and epidermis for dolls and woven material.
Fully mature leaves yield midribs for furniture and buntal fibre for hats by scraping the leaf from the midrib and after the midrib is cleaned and dried it is tied to a frame to make furniture like peacock and barrel chairs. The petiole of the fully mature leaf contains strong vascular bundles, which are extracted by removing the skin of the petiole to expose the bundles, which are boiled and then soaked in water to make them white and this is commercially called buntal fibre.
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Tissue box made from buri
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