Green Bamboo

[jtwodogs]

Will be cutting some rather large green bamboo for knife scales. Plan on letting them sit a couple years to cure/dry out.
Would it be better to cut them to rough dimensions of scales to cure or let them cure uncut?
Thanks.

 

[3fifty7]

I’m intrigued by your plan.

How large is this bamboo, large enough to cut your scale slab from or do you intend to cut and flatten sections?

I’ve never worked with giant bamboo, nothing really over 2”. While very strong for its weight it can be quite brittle, wanting to split along the grain. Do you intend to stabilize it ?

Bamboo root is solid similar to wood and can be used for handle material.

Seems I’ve also heard of an Eastern technique where green bamboo is fire cured but don’t quote me on that.

 

[joedhiggins]

You are gonna want to cut and flatten while green I think. You may also want to laminate while green as well. If you end you not laminating (thick enough already), I doubt it will need more than a couple of months to dry after cutting. The general rule for wood is 1 year per inch of thickness. I have never seen a bamboo wall near this thickness. Furthermore, because bamboo is a tropical or semitropical grass (at least for the most part), it seems unlikely that it will hold water strongly.

 

[jtwodogs]

Some of it is pretty big on the order of a small coffee can. I know it can be "Splitty" thought maybe after shaping and staining I might be able to go back with some super glue treatment and light sanding.

 

[joedhiggins]

Try flattening it green. Maybe with steam.

 

[A.McPherson]

Bamboo is incredibly flexible when heated, much more so than wood. If you need/want to flatten it, definitely use heat.
Steaming will work, but so would any heat source that gets it hot enough.
Be careful if you use a heat gun. You can easily scorch the waxy outside layers.

 

[A.McPherson]

Interesting article on heat bending bamboo.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127517307037

What I gathered from it, 150c is the point where bamboo bends the best. Although they do state that green bamboo will probably bend at a lower temp, as repeated heatings raise the temp at which it likes to bend.

 

[joedhiggins]

Maybe just cut it to hollow cylinders and slice each cylinder once lengthwise, heat in the oven and make a plywood press from sheets of ply and clamps.

 

[jtwodogs]

Some pretty good ideas here. Was wondering if anyone has used it for knife scales stabilized or not?

 

[AVigil]

Take the culm of green bamboo and with a screw driver on one end split one side open, then take a knife and split it the entire length on one side and then stick it in the rafters of the garage laying flat for a few years.

This will help the culm from splitting into many pieces as it dries.

Once it dries you can then split the culm into the size you want.

When you go to use for knife scales cut to size and soak in water for a few days. When the bamboo is saturated you can then use a heat gun to soften the bamboo until it becomes flexible then you can press it flat in a vise. You may have to repeat it a few times until the fibers take on the new position

I use to make split cane bamboo fly rods and have a lot of culms in the rafters still