I am not well versed in the history of the early yurts, what materials they were built from, how they were assembled etc. I've watched some vids on YT, and done some reading on the net, and my wife bought a copy of 'the yurt book' by what's his name. lol.. This hardly makes me a know it all-although my wife says I come off like that. heh heh
My thoughts about what early yurts were made from, etc., are all speculation based on computer research and from the common sense view of a carpentry career spaning four decades. And of course, from building two yurts from scratch.
It's possible the earliest frames were tied. How they did that, and still get the 12 cross lattice typical of todays Mongolian yurt to open and close, is a real trip to contemplate, for two reasons.
Typically when you cross two sticks together at 90 degrees and lash them tightly to make a frame, the joint becomes quite immovable say past 45 degrees of bend, or, half of a quarter turn. You have to force the joint open to get that much bend.
So that means the lashing must be loose. To my way of thinking that means the individual pieces of lattice could slip from position and bind up during opening and closing.
Now, even loosely tied, if you extrapolate that lash concept to the hundred or so joints in a typical yurt wall section, and get it to open and close easily enough like the 'knotted cord' version I have seen in YT vids, well... that blows my mind. I'd like to see it in a vid.
All I know is I really had to 'persuade' my lattice into position to bolt it together. I used super premium straight, strong, 5/16ths by 1.5" (ripped 2X) lattice strips that I made myself, that were VERY accurately drilled. There was some definite cussin going on lemme tell yuh when things started getting out of control.
I'm just saying I guess I'd go 'Well, how 'bout that!' if I saw a lashed frame open and close with no problem, based on my experience of building and erecting nearly a hundred feet of lattice.
As for a four foot diameter ring, good luck with that. You might consider opting for a sheet of 5/4 plywood instead of 3/4. Or, double up the 3/4 so each of the two rings ring is 1.5" thick.
I'll close with the expression, "When you are up to your a$$ in alligators, it's difficult to remind yourself that your initial objective was to drain the swamp."
Good luck. Perserverance furthurs.
Re: Bamboo ger!
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