Lets talk Bamboo

ProbsMagobs · Post by **ProbsMagobs** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:46 pm

as most of us know, bamboo is a very strong, cheap, renewable resource that is great for skis/snowboards. Ive seen a lot of posts saying people have used bamboo but never going into detail about it. i was wondering if using bamboo lumber from calibamboo can make flexible sidewalls that will bond with everything else using a vacuum press and a room temperature curing epoxy. also, if this works out, i eventually want to make cores from the stuff if that is at all possible. im pretty new so any help would be great

twizzstyle · Post by **twizzstyle** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:10 pm

It makes a great sidewall. It doesn't soak up much water, and doesn't seem to have any issues when it does (on the few pairs I've had bare bamboo sidewalls, no issues all winter)

It makes a great core.

It basically acts like wood in that it bonds great with wood glue or epoxy, cuts and profiles easy, etc.

It smells like hay, and my dog LOVES to eat the sawdust, despite my best efforts to make it inaccessible for him.

The only downside is that its not the cheapest - I buy it locally as unfinished flooring boards. I used to be able to get it in the remnants section at Bamboo Hardwoods in Seattle and it was SUPER cheap sometimes (like $30 for a pack of twelve boards), but no more - now it's about $100.

I use it in all of my skis, I love it.

ProbsMagobs · Post by **ProbsMagobs** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:33 pm

still not super expensive which is what makes me want to use it. also there is no real treatment that needs to be done. does anyone have any idea whether or not the glue used to bond the individual strips of bamboo together keeps epoxy from bonding to it well?

twizzstyle · Post by **twizzstyle** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:54 pm

No issues. I haven't done any specific tests to back that statement up, but I've beat the crap out of my skis and have had no issues with delam. You aren't bonding to the glue, you're bonding to the bamboo, the glue interfaces in the bamboo boards are perpendicular to your laminate.

One thing that is important though is that you must use vertical grain only, do not use horizontal grain.

I used horizontal grain on one pair where the boards had 3 layers - the top and bottom layers had the fibers running longitudinally, while the core layer had the fibers running laterally. The core layer was also comprised of lower quality bamboo, that had a loose grain with lots of voids. I landed hard on my tails once, and had the lateral grain part of the bamboo rip apart.

ProbsMagobs · Post by **ProbsMagobs** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:03 pm

OUCH! thanks for the tips. i feel pretty comfortable using bamboo now. for your cores, do you rip the bamboo into strips and mix it with other woods? im interested in a poplar bamboo mix to keep weight down but keep it snappy

twizzstyle · Post by **twizzstyle** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:27 pm

I use all bamboo. Since I get flooring boards, I have to rip off the tongue and groove, and end up with boards a little under 4" wide. For "normal" skis I'll glue 3 of these together with normal wood glue (I use Titebond III) and cut that into two cores, for powder skis I need two of the boards per ski.

I've never mixed it with other woods.

ProbsMagobs · Post by **ProbsMagobs** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:32 pm

how do those ride and are they too heavy?

ProbsMagobs · Post by **ProbsMagobs** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:14 pm

oh well... is it better to buy the plywood natural vertical grain from calibamboo or to buy the boards? or are there any suppliers of bamboo flooring in 72" lengths on the east coast? that seems to be my biggest problem is that im in east pa and nobody seems to have bamboo lumber, plywood, or flooring in long enough boards

twizzstyle · Post by **twizzstyle** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:38 pm

It's less work, and less waste, buying a full sheet. When you buy the boards you have to rip the sides off, then glue them together. Not hard, but extra time is extra time. With a full sheet you have virtually nothing to do, just cut the shape and profile.

And no they are not heavy - they are very light weight and ride wonderfully. Bamboo is very stiff for it's weight, so it works great in a ski! Very lively.

skimann20 · Post by **skimann20** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:16 am

ProbsMagobs wrote:oh well... is it better to buy the plywood natural vertical grain from calibamboo or to buy the boards? or are there any suppliers of bamboo flooring in 72" lengths on the east coast? that seems to be my biggest problem is that im in east pa and nobody seems to have bamboo lumber, plywood, or flooring in long enough boards

Check out ambient bamboo. I did my whole house with their flooring. Great group of guys working there. They are in Maryland and shipped all my flooring to my house in mass.

neatturns · Post by **neatturns** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:15 pm

Does anyone else feel that bamboo is harder on the planer blades than other woods?

ProbsMagobs · Post by **ProbsMagobs** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:21 pm

thanks for the help! i probably will go with flooring if i can find it unfinished just because shipping a 4x8 piece of plywood 3000 miles would probably get a little more pricey than i would like.

btw, i dont use a planer, but i assume the glue in the bamboo and how much its compressed is probably way harder than other woods and is harder on the blades

More · Post by **More** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 4:15 pm

Neatturns, bamboo is somewhat hard on cutting tools (relatively to other woods) because of it's very high silica content. If you're using HSS knives and they're getting buggered too quickly, you can look into carbide knives... sometimes it can work out cheaper in the long run depending on how much work you're doing / if you sharpen them / how much you value your time. Depending on the knives, you may lose some finish quality if you go for carbide though.

powderho · Post by **powderho** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 7:17 am

twizzstyle wrote:I use all bamboo. Since I get flooring boards, I have to rip off the tongue and groove, and end up with boards a little under 4" wide. For "normal" skis I'll glue 3 of these together with normal wood glue (I use Titebond III) and cut that into two cores, for powder skis I need two of the boards per ski.

I've never mixed it with other woods.

I've used some 4" Teragren bamboo flooring on a number of pair that seemed to work just fine. At first I used two pieces per core to get the required width. Very wasteful obviously. I went against using 3 pieces for 2 cores because I was concerned about the glue line not being in the center of the ski. (Maybe a non-issue.) Now I use 1 board per core and add sidewalls to it. I'm not a fan of bamboo sidewalls, but I'm huge fan of maple sidewalls. I use either 5/4 or 6/4 maple for the sidewalls. These come out to be around 1.25" wide. Two of these sidewalls and the center board come out to a perfect width for my skis. It's still just a basic ghetto rectangular core, but it's tough to argue with the results.

falls · Post by **falls** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:40 pm

why don't you like bamboo sidewalls?

Ski Builders Forum

Ski Builders Forum

Lets talk Bamboo

Lets talk Bamboo