Hello all, I recently saw a bamboo cutting board at a local mall about, say, 8″x10″x3/4’thick. It’s edge’s were darker and seemed to have a complete 3/8″ quarter round perfectly done on either side to become a great half round. A natural branch could look like this in observation.
It was side grain all the way and the tag claimed that it was much stronger and long lasting then most on the market today. I wanted to cut it up right there to see all the grain directions- it listed around 12$. Fair price for the work I would say.
Anybody out here with any bamboo applications they would like to write about? Join my thread because I am very interested how you have worked it into your living area’s or what project’s which included this bamboo wood.
I recently took a nicely dried piece of bamboo, measuring 28″length x 21/4″diameter, and cut it into 1/2″ strips, glued them up with titebond, planed them, glued them up with titebond again, cut them, glued them one last time and came up with a 5/16’s ” square roughly 8″x8″. It’s nice but all that work for a 8″x8″x1/4″t square. How do you get the best yield from bamboo?- Brogan
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You can buy actual bamboo plywood from various sources. Bamboo Hardwoods (in Seattle WA) is one source I know of - several others are listed on the web.
Haven't done a great deal of work with it. But what little I've done has revealed that it's kinda stringie being actually a grass rather than wood.
Timber bamboo grows differently than what one usually thinks of as a typical bamboo pole. The walls are a good deal thicker than the old fishing poles we used to use as kids. To the point that a 2" round stick of it will have a hole in the middle maybe a 1/2" big or less.
All the bamboo plywood I've seen is glued up from small strips about 1/4" thick for what they call 'vertical' grain or sliced to about 3/4" wide by 1/8" thick and laminated for 'horizontal' grain. The logs, if you will, turn well with very sharp tools.
I had planned on making cabinet doors out of the horizontal grain bamboo plywood until I learned how much it cost! Plus it's quite a bit heavier than most other plywoods. We are, however using it for flooring in most of the rooms of our second story remodel.
Take a look at some of the web sites related to bamboo timber and you can get some ideas on how it's been used.
From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.
Dennis
Hello,
Yeung Chan's book "Classic Joints with Power Tools" shows how to use bamboo to pin mortise and tenon joints and flowing glue into joints. It's a great read.
Busto
I understand there are many different species of bamboo having a variety of uses and coming in many sizes. Two well known uses are scaffolding and fishing poles. A hand made Tonkin cane flyrod is a coveted piece for many fly casters. Throughout Asia, workers still erect scaffolding with bamboo. Lately we have seen bamboo flooring come on the market, beautiful and strong. It also makes an interesting ornamental plant but some species are quite invasive. There is a bunch of one type growing in the Boston Gardens.
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