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Bamboo splintering |
tikitortured
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 08, 2004
Posts: 329
From: Huntington Beach Ca.
|  Posted: 2004-07-01 08:21 am Permalink
Hey, I've got a little bamboo project goin' on and need advice on cutting bamboo. What's the best way to cut it without having it splinter? I want to keep it "au natural" so I don't wanna stain or shellac or coat it in any way. I'm using 6" bamboo and cutting it with a standard rotary saw. Is there a specific blade that works best? Hook a brotha' up.
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Benzart
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Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10306
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2004-07-01 11:41 am Permalink
You need as Fine toothed blade as you can get and it needs to be sharp. If needed you may try cutting or at least Scoring it with a hacksaw and then finishing it with your electric saw.
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Swanky
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Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2004-07-03 10:17 pm Permalink
My limited experience has found that it cuts better when you cut it faster. If I used the chop saw slowly it seemed to eat the ends up too much.
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Lake Surfer
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 21, 2002
Posts: 3308
From: Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: 2004-07-03 11:39 pm Permalink
Splitting mine lengthwise I use my dad's bandsaw and a thick blade... quite an investment if you don't have one though...
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Polynesiac
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 29, 2004
Posts: 2021
From: San Pedro, CA
| Posted: 2004-07-05 8:47 pm Permalink
Cutting bamboo is best with fine toothed blades, like Benzart suggested - a hack saw does a very good job. You can also purchase (if you'll be cutting a lot of bamboo) specialty saws for the job here:
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/saws.html
These puppies make the job of cutting bamboo very easy and quick. Just plop it in a Mitre box and cut (or eyeball it too). Very fast cutting with minimal sanding needed (if any).
For cutting lenghtwise, I suggest splitting the bamboo. If there are no cracks in the bamboo it will split straight. I started by using a thin bike wrench to split it, and it worked fine forcing it down through the bamboo and it split relatively straight, but the proper tools work MUCH better. You can order the hatchets here:
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/splitters.html
and here (for a single split to cut it in halves):
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/hatchets.html
I think this place sells the bamboo tools too, and are a little closer to your area, I think.
http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo.html
let this page load (it may take a while if you're on a dialup) and they're in the middle of the page.
No matter how you split and cut your bamboo (with power tools or hand tools) there will still be a minimal amount of sanding that you want to do. Bamboo splinters are extreamly painful. Good luck!
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2004-07-05 11:06 pm Permalink
As for just splitting it length wise, I just use an ax and once it's started well, just push it down. May have to hammer it through the nodes.
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tikitortured
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 08, 2004
Posts: 329
From: Huntington Beach Ca.
| Posted: 2004-07-12 6:13 pm Permalink
Thanks for the tips guys (and gals). I'll post pics of my masterpieces soon.(masterpieces of $#!+)
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