Wood and Carpentry 21

wood and carpentry 21 CHAPTER TWO WOOD AND CARPENTRY There is no doubt that wood is the most commonly used material in southern Asia. Almost every species has been used, even those that would seem the least likely to ensure good results. For example, date palm trunks were used for carpentry at Baluchistan after a rough scantling by splitting the wood with wedges. In Cambodia and Java, the trunks of coconut palms are trimmed using the same technique. This method is demonstrated on a relief of Bayon (outer gallery, southern side, west wing, Ph. 4). The poplar tree is probably the only wood used today for purlins in northern India and Pakistan. In regions with large forests, it is not only the quality of the wood, but also its market value—sometimes completely independent of the qualities required for construction—that justify its use. Thus, a trunk of teak wood (Tectona grandis) keeps its value and is used even if the wood is flawed. In Thailand, for example, we can see crooked pagoda pillars that are made of teak, which is reserved for the noblest buildings, pagodas and palaces. We are thus dealing with a quality independent of technical value. In Cambodia, the Hopea odorata (“koki” in Khmer) plays the same role. It is a very dense wood (about 0.80) that is highly resistant against insects and has low flammability properties. In the 1960s, in the Siem Reap region of Cambodia, when a pagoda was under construction, a plantation of “koki” was planted at the same time. The “koki” requires forty years to reach maturity, and as this species was beginning to disappear in the forest, they had to be sure to be able to replace flawed beams or pillars if necessary. For other buildings, the builders used other varieties of Dipterocarpaceae, which unfortunately proved highly flammable29. Many towns and villages burned down, and arsonists (even when the fires were set on accident) were severely punished. For this reason, the kitchen is separated from the house and is usually set on the ground. In this region, the Shorea obtusas was also used often. It is very dense (1.08) and highly resistant 29 The resin of one variety of Dipterocarpaceae (Dipterocarpaceae alatus) is used to caulk small boats and make torches. 22 chapter two against insects. This wood is also used for inland fleets, especially in Java where the Shorea acuminata is used. Finally, in southern Asia, all varieties of bamboo are used, as well as all sorts of leguminous plants, which were sometimes given a value independent of their quality. Thus in Sulawesi, the Drosperos celebrica (a type of extremely rare ebony) is thought to ensure extra protection for the inhabitants of a house constructed partly of an expensive wood of mediocre quality. Before their use on the worksites, the trunks often undergo a preparation called retting. This consists of soaking the wood in a muddy vat. The wood is prevented from floating on the surface of the water and a system of transverse beams keeps all of the wood underwater. The same process is used for the beams of the framework, when the roofing material is plant-based material. The process is more or less long; the biggest beams may undergo the treatment for several years. For roofing set over screeds, it was necessary to soak wood in water in order to curve the beams, which called for a long preparation before the construction could begin. This probably explains why large shafts were rare, and why the technique of roofing over screeds for large buildings fell into disuse in about the 9th century. However, the use of curved roofing for small constructions was used for a great deal longer, in particular for rice silos (in Bali and Lombok). Woodworking was largely dependent on the evolution of tools. The axe and the adze have been used since the Stone Age. Each of these tools was found in Mundigak in Afghanistan, made of bronze and featuring a hole for a handle. These two tools, along with scissors, were the sole tools of carpenters for a very long time. A carpenter using an adze is represented on a relief of Borobudur. Contempo- rary workmen of Java, even today, often have only an adze as their work tool, which is used with great dexterity (the axe being used only by woodcutters). Although the saw has been used since the Bronze Age30, it seems that it only appeared in India at the beginning of the Christian era, perhaps under the influence of the Romans. It is difficult to pinpoint the date that these tools arrived in south-eastern Asia. The representation of a scene depicting wood being trimmed by splitting in the 13th century (Ph. 4) is not a good indication of the rapid diffusion of this tool. However, taking into account the creation of complex stiles as early as the 7th century, it is likely that the saw 30 These notes on the origin of woodworking tools were taken from W.L. Good- man, A History of Woodworking Tools. G. Bell and sons LTD. London, 1964..

Load more