Bamboo

[oldgringo]

Here's a page from a local vendor's website, describing several varieties:
http://www.alligatoralley.com/bamboostock.html

[warbonnetguy]

sounds like the variety matters alot then, because some do grow to a reasonable diameter (big enough to hang from) i also believe some varieties don't spread via the roots like that and are thus easier to keep them from spreading out. i think it would be kinda cool to plant a patch of them and have them get big enough to provide shade and hanging options from. from your experience it sounds like it would be a decade before they were that big enough to hang from unless there's some other varieties that grows faster

[kayak karl]

what's the best way to dry bamboo to keep it from splitting.
inside-outside
vertical-horizontal
you yous got me thinking.....AGAIN!

[Oh-No]

what's the best way to dry bamboo to keep it from splitting.
inside-outside
vertical-horizontal
you yous got me thinking.....AGAIN!

I've had fairly good results drying slowly. I put it in my
garage in the summer (high humidity here on the east coast)
Fast drying (in the sun on my black driveway) results in more
cracking.

[TeeDee]

what's the best way to dry bamboo to keep it from splitting.
inside-outside
vertical-horizontal
you yous got me thinking.....AGAIN!

I just kept it in the basement for about 2 to 3 weeks and haven't seen any splitting thus far. Put some in the garage also and haven't seen any splitting on that either.

When cutting the live, green stuff, I used an anvil pruner and it cuts clean, no splitting. When it dried and I tried the pruner, it just crushed the bamboo. Had to use a fine tooth saw on my Dremel to get a clean cut.

[TeeDee]

Here's a page from a local vendor's website, describing several varieties:
http://www.alligatoralley.com/bamboostock.html

That 6" and 7" diameter stuff looks very interesting. Might have to try it.

[ikemouser]

We make cabinets out of bamboo.

[pedro]

One way to make bamboo more structurally sound is to wrap it with dacron or other polyester thread that has been wetted with WEST system epoxy. Diagonal wrap. Dacron thread is nearly as strong in this application as kevlar. You could use other types of epoxy resin, but WEST is best.

[TeeDee]

We make cabinets out of bamboo.

I've seen bamboo flooring at Lowes. Beautiful stuff.

[TeeDee]

One way to make bamboo more structurally sound is to wrap it with dacron or other polyester thread that has been wetted with WEST system epoxy. Diagonal wrap. Dacron thread is nearly as strong in this application as kevlar. You could use other types of epoxy resin, but WEST is best.

Do you mean this stuff?

Do you would have to use the hardener also? Seems it wouldn't harden without it.

Smallest quantity I have found is 1 qt. That would probably be enough to do a heck of a lot of bamboo stiffing. Most would be wasted doing small jobs since it probably doesn't store too well.