Bamboo

[Phil Gwinn]

Does anyone know of a site that features working with bamboo? I've seen bamboo cutting boards in cutlery / gourmet stores and would like to see what one does to work bamboo. Thanks.

[Jamie Buxton]

Bamboo is available in sheet form. I've seen sheets with cross plies (like plywood) and I've seen sheets where all the fibers run the same direction. I've used it to make stair treads, and to make cabinets. It works pretty much like wood. You can saw it, rout it, glue it, and screw it. It has a nice smell, kinda like straw. The only downside I've noticed is that sharp edges ding easily, and the ding can form extremely nasty splinters. I wear gloves while handling it. If you round over the sharp edges just a bit, they're find in service.
It is somewhat expensive -- like $150/sheet for 3/4".

[Chuck Nickerson]

http://www.craftandartofbamboo.com/ Carol's book "The Craft and Art of Bamboo" is just what you're looking for. It has 30 projects working with bamboo in different ways. No affiliation, I'm just a very happy customer.

[Phil Gwinn]

Thanks to both of you. I once read somewhere that Bamboo would become the replacement for many varieties of wood due to the accelerated growth rate. Besides, I am a tinkerer by nature and love to use any excuse to get new toys, I mean books and tools.

[rodney mitchell]

For what I am doing, a good source of bamboo is Lumber Liquidators. You can get a whole case of bamboo flooring for 65.00. Don't remember how many square feet are in there, but it is a LOT.

TR

[Jim Becker]

Plyboo is the sheet version I'm familiar with, although I haven't used it. It comes in several orientations and formats...but isn't inexpensive.

[Neil Lamens]

Hi Phill:

A local guy, David Ebner, a Castle decipal won a bamboo contest run by the American Bamboo Society.

Copy/pasted his sight http://www.davidnebner.com/ that should work to get you started. Go to his gallery.

Neil

[James Carmichael]

Check out Frank's Cane and Rush Supply.

Their bamboo planks are great for building primitive bows.

[Joe Dusel (Vista, CA)]

Here's an article I put on my site talking about bamboo. I put it there mainly for my clients. I have a friend who also makes jewelry boxes with it.


http://woodistry.com/articles/BambooPlywood.htm

Joe

[Phil Gwinn]

Thanks again to all. Wow that stuff is expensive. More things to add to my "To learn list". Then it'll go on the "To try" list.

[Joe Dusel (Vista, CA)]

If you think of PlyBoo (or other bamboo plywood) as just "plywood", then it does seem expensive. If you were making a whole kitchen full of cabinet boxes out of it the cost would add up quickly. I use it as a substitute for hardwood in the products that I make - like furniture, table tops, drawer boxes, drawer fronts, doors and other specialty items. For me this translates to an exotic wood that is around $6/board foot ($180 for a 4' x 8' sheet), which is not so bad. And, it's a board that comes as big as 4' x 8'.

Take care,

Joe