anybody turn bamboo?

[Hu Lowery]

There are about a zillion and one varieties of bamboo including giant, thickwall, and solid. No idea if any are suitable for turning but what started me thinking about it was running into some bamboo toothpicks. These were the hardest, tightest grained wooden toothpicks I have ever seen. Very strong too. If some of the bamboo that is thick walled or solid has equally dense wood, even in the lower stem which I believe may be solid on many varieties, it would seem it might be an ideal material to turn finials out of.

Anybody?

Hu

 

[MichaelMouse]

Hollow, brittle, and loaded with edge-eating silicates. Not a good candidate.

 

[James Plessner]

I love the look of bamboo. It would definitely be worth a try.

 

[john lucas]

Well I couldn't find the hand mirror I made from glued up Bamboo flooring. It came out great. I didn't find that bamboo turned all that bad. Didn't dull my tools much worse than a good hard wood and this was glued up flooring so you would think that between their glue, my glue and the wood itself it would dull a tool.
If you have access to it I would turn it.

 

[BobCoates]

My son and I put down a 3/8" thick bamboo floor, so I took the cut offs. Made a small segmented dish and found that it would get tear outs (perhaps bad tool technique or sharpness). Took a lot of sanding. Google how bamboo floor is made and that seemed to indicate why. I plan some day to try again so that the end grain shows on the inside/outside instead have the long grain show. That may prevent the tear out. Don't think I would buy any, but the free stuff is worth a try.

 

[KellyDunn]

Have turned long desk pens from it. Neat looking. You do have to make correct directional cuts. And when you are finished sanding get the piece damp to raise grain and hit it again with your final grit. Or sanding sealer. Your choice. Splinters hurt.

 

[Patrick Miller]

bamboo

I saw Kip Christensen turn a small lidded box in a demo at Utah this spring. He had some small (1-1/4" or so diameter) end grain black bamboo discs that he used for inlays in the top of the box. The end grain look was quite attractive and made a nice contrast with the light wood he was using. I bought a piece off the digital yard sale (ebay) when I got back to try this with but as of yet the project hasn't got to the top of the list. Maybe this conversation is the push I need.

 

[Jim Rinde]

I have turned a lot of bamboo. I really don't enjoy turning it , but it looks great when combined with epoxy resin. If you want to turn finials then what you want is rattan. It similar to bamboo but is solid... that is no center hole. You can find rattan at Frank's Cane and Rush supply. franksupply.com/

 

[hockenbery]

I turned some while helping with a class at arrowmont. A few students a class working with bamboo showed up around lunchtime and wanted some help turning a Lips on some cups. The bamboo was whole pieces hollow except at the joints. Very hard and unforgiving if the bevel comes off.
Turned nice and needed little sanding. Easy to make a razor edge on it so watch for that.

A friend of mine, Jorge Salinas, was in the class and he turned 3 or f4 bracelets from what was left and gave them to the bamboo students.
When we got back from lunch there was a pile of bamboo on Jorge's lathe a note that said "we will do anything for bangles"

Find the right size and you can make a bunch of attractive bangles in a short time.

Al

 

[Hu Lowery]

thanks everyone!

Thanks to everyone!

I will look into the rattan too. A little bamboo research turned up endless varieties as I suspected. One of the main ones used for timber planes very poorly, tear out issues, one very well. I'll have to try to find the one that planes well or something similar, maybe the rattan. A cousin has some huge bamboo behind their bed and breakfast, some might be big enough for bangles. Could have gotten a few pieces a few weeks ago, don't know when someone will get that way again. Just a matter of curiosity if any of the bamboo was suitable to turn finials out of since the toothpicks were so strong and slender.

Seems the bamboo basically grows inside out, the softer wood is in the middle, has that hard outer shell then it gets progressively softer towards the center, no clear definition between sapwood and heart like a tree. There are solid varieties of bamboo but the image I saw showed a distinct line between what is usually the cane and the hollow part making me suspect what is usually hollow is still very punky, not suitable for turning.

I'll try turning bamboo sometime, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Hu

 

[hockenbery]

Hu
Bamboo is not wood. Doesn't have the growth rings etc.
It is more like palm than wood. Both are more like grass.

Bamboo will cut nicely but the the cuts have to be made angling across the vertical structure.
Just like woodturning the cuts have to be across the fibers.
Any cut parallel to the fiber will have more of a splitting than cutting action and you get tear out.

The bangles are easy a bead on each edge.

 

[robo hippy]

Plyboo has been around since maybe the 80's. The timber bamboo has fairly thick walls for grass, so you have to laminate it up for anything of any size. 3/4 plyboo is cross laminated. There are also sheets maybe up to 1/2 inch thick that are laminated, and can be glued together for thicker pieces. I have seen black palm done the same way. It does not work well in a planer because of the growth nodes or bumps. It sands excellently, takes glue and finish very well, but has long nasty splinters. You can buy the sheets through a lot of the big hardwood companies that supply cabinet shops. It ain't cheap, and prices probably won't go down because it is very labor intensive. I think retail for a 3/4 by 8 ft. by 4 ft. sheet is in the $300 range. Colors from straw to brown, and I have seen some that looked spalted. I haven't turned much of it but have made table tops with edge strips of solid wood because the end grain wants to tear. Rips fairly well, cross cuts need a score line or blue tape top and bottom.

robo hippy