constructing bamboo dwelling

yeah temper ive thought of that . i am most certainly going to use the saw . looks like it will keep the ends from splitting and being dificult to use . thanks , and what type of saw do you recomend.
 
I used a SAK one time to cut about half a dozen lengths that were over 30' long and about 7" thick. The walls were about .5" thick but they still yielded easily to the little saw. Anythign with agressive teeth will sail through (its only grass after all :) )
 
i guess just a good small hand saw will do then . i still have alot of stalks to cut and fot the most part its easier to just use one good whack at the base and be done , as for actually sizing the lengths thats where a good saw will come in handy . i realized today just how much bamboo goes into the making of a structure[alot]. ive desided on the roof finally , im just going to use more conventional stuff thats easier to maintain and replace . some sort of heavy duty fabrick will do fine and probably cope with water better i think.so far i think im going to just use the bamboo for the floor , supports and hold the roof up. gettin the floor off the ground and in a stable manner will be the clincher im guessing .
 
ill be sure and up grade my membership after i get this little project finished and post pics . i guess i need to borrow somebodies ak-47 and dress acordingly:D also. ah , who knows what somebody with a nick name like "gutsy" will do.
 
You can use a hacksaw to cut bamboo. Other very fine-toothed saws can also be pressed into service for the job.

But there are specially designed saws by the Japanese (who make AMAZING crafts of bamboo) for bamboo harvesting. FWIW, the Japanese word for bamboo is "take" (tah-kay) and shows up in some of the item listings below.

Tashiro Hardware has the Diamond Z brand bamboo blade, as well as handles for it. It will fit the Hacksaw, Air Jet, King, Short, and Folding handles on his website. It will also fit the unhandled blade holder he sells, if you want to make your own handle. He calls the Diamond Z bamboo blade the "Narrow Blade" and there is *not* a picture of it with its listing on his Saw Blades webpage. Other vendors of Diamond Z blades will probably call it the model 240 (its length in mm) which is stamped on the side of the blade. The good news is that it is only $3.60 at Tashiro's website, so it is easy to afford spares. I use this blade for joinery and other precise-but-delicate woodworking.
http://www.tashirohardware.com/

Hardwick's Hardware in Seattle has both bamboo saws and splitting knives. They are another Seattle source for Diamond Z saw handles and blades.
http://www.ehardwicks.com/product_line/cats/bambootools.htm
(edit to add) Here's a direct link to their Diamond Z (Hishi Z in Japanese) bamboo saw:
http://www.ehardwicks.com/product_line/pros/HSZ-8002.htm

Hida Tools carries bamboo saws, among many other Japanese woodworking tools:
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/saws.html

Gyokucho model #420 bamboo saw at Japan Woodworker, another site carrying high-end Japanese woodworking tools:
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=19.420.0&dept_id=13084

A garden supply site with folding bamboo saws:
http://www.shop.com/op/~Folding_Bamboo_Saw-prod-5674128

Some bamboo construction methods for a fence are shown at link below. They may be applicable to other structures besides just fences.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_structures_other/article/0,1785,HGTV_3639_2650125,00.html

... and a bamboo fire saw firestarting method:
http://www.jewishnaturecenter.org/html/fire_making.html
 
Bamboo truely is a wonderful material, its so strong and you can actually see size increases day by day in the summer. Its a pity its got a cheap Chi-Com image. Some place in the US makes flooring from it, it looks fantastic too.
 
I spent 60 bucks getting a single culm to make bows out of. You're lucky to have such nice stuff.

There is a book called Grow Your Own House you might find interesting if your library can bring it in.
 
bamboo is a a short-term structural material, by that I mean that it will decay rapidly over time, so you can never build anything semi-permanent with it, especially in a hot humid environ. Having siad that it is a magnificient building material becasue of it's inherent strength, lightness and felxibility in wind. You might try to google for some Papua New Guinean 'Sky-Huts' (my own name for them. the PNG guys build amasing tall airy structures, sometimes using bamboo. I would LOVE to build one of them sometime; 40 ft in the air, think of the view!
W
 
I bought some replacement tops for my workmate 400 last summer, and they were made of bamboo. So far they have held up well.
Also, when I was in Hong Kong in the early 60's, all the scaffolding used in their building construction were made of bamboo. Didn't loook very stable to me, but the workers were all over it like a swarm of bees.
 
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