Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

bambooimport.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 226 posts

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#51

Post by yarcob »

123pie123 wrote: post #40

>Strand woven bamboo panels are available in a maximum thickness of 20 mm, otherwise they would become too heavy Does anyone know what this refers to? too heavy for what??

I assume they just mean that they get too heavy for practical use. They stated that they offer boards with a thickness of 30-40mm, they just don't offer panels of that thickness.

At a density of 1200kg/m2 it's almost twice as dense as some other hard woods like walnut (~650kg/m2) or particle board (~700kg/m2).

I guess for a kitchen countertop it wouldn't matter (stone countertops are popular and even heavier), but for most furniture it would probably be just way too heavy to be practical. Someone needs to be able to carry your furniture :)

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#52

Post by kenneth »

eru wrote: post #32
dehrmann wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wood is mostly cellulose (which is all carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen). There's some calcium and potassium, but not that much. You are correct that it's not entirely renewable.

Not sure what you mean by renewable? Would carbon, hydrogen and oxygen be more renewable than calcium and potassium? They are all just elements we have a lot of on earth. And those elements don't get used up. Toss your wood on a compost pile, and you can re-use them?

Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen come from the air, and are infinitely distributed around the earth via the atmosphere. Calcium and Potassium aren't.

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#53

Post by kwhitefoot »

geoffmunn wrote: post #45
TedShiller wrote: post #43

If you start with something that is natural and sustainable (for example, bamboo), and you add to it something that is neither (for example, glue), then you end up with something that is neither natural nor sustainable. Sorry.

It really bothers me when people try and pass off bamboo-based fabrics as being natural. It's called rayon and it's about as synthetic as you can possibly get. For those who are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayon

There is also an article specifically on bamboo textiles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_textile

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#55

Post by colinb »

My standing desk top, a Fully Jarvis, is made from bamboo.

Comparing the illustrations in TFA to the thing I'm leaning on, I think it is constructed of a core of side-pressed pieces, with a thin layer of plain-pressed pieces giving the working surface and underside.

I've had it for < 1 year. It is a little soft, and shows dents and scratches where I set down moderately heavy objects with too much force, but it still looks nice. I guess I can think of the marks as evidence of actual use and life.

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#56

Post by ZeroGravitas »

TedShiller wrote: post #43

If you start with something that is natural and sustainable (for example, bamboo), and you add to it something that is neither (for example, glue), then you end up with something that is neither natural nor sustainable. Sorry.

This is a genuine question I've been wondering about, but isn't the glue basically the same as the lignin that holds the wood (and I assume bamboo) together naturally. If it's not, could it be?

This applies to a lot of wood products like plywood and MDF not just bamboo.

Looks like some people are investigating it:

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/using-lignin-as-a-sustainable-...

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#57

Post by muro »

colinb wrote: post #55

My standing desk top, a Fully Jarvis, is made from bamboo. Comparing the illustrations in TFA to the thing I'm leaning on, I think it is constructed of a core of side-pressed pieces, with a thin layer of plain-pressed pieces giving the working surface and underside. I've had it for < 1 year. It is a little soft, and shows dents and scratches where I set down moderately heavy objects with too much force, but it still…

Same here (same desk). Whenever my kids drop something heavier on the surface, it leaves deep marks. It's the most easily damaged surface we have at home. Does look nice where there are no marks :)

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#58

Post by g0gzs »

fho wrote: post #50
g0gzs wrote: post #33

Long time lurker here, first time poster. I got pulled into the rabbit hole of building guitars at home during the covid lockdowns. My first build used traditional "tonewoods" (mahogany, ebony, rosewood etc.) and while purchasing materials for my second build, I stumbled upon bamboo boards on a German wood retailed shop. Compared the properties to the wood I wanted to use for parts of it (mainly the core/neck and fre…

May I ask what you paid in the end for the bamboo you used? I went down the same rabbit hole some time ago and in the end went with oak as it was a lot more affordable (for my student budget back then).

121x20 cm board, 20mm thick was around 22 EUR + shipping. The shop I bought it from had 3 kinds of bamboo boards (normal, dark and some "figured" made up of dark and light stripes) but currently sell only the figured.

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#59

Post by thaumasiotes »

Datagenerator wrote: post #12
senectus1 wrote: post #7

I would love to know if there are any "hobby" communities for "doing things" with bamboo. I'd love to pot some of the fast growing stuff at home and harvest it to muck around with.

This was our bummer of this year. We bought eighth small bamboo plants and expected to be busy on containing the natural explosive growth they should show. What happened was the opposite, small and no sign of growth. After some digging this retailer sells genetically modified versions which cannot grow.. Now we are looking for proper natural versions to plant these next year. So if you want to hear and see large patc…

> Naïve and uninformed I tried to find seeds but bamboo doesn't have them?

Bamboo certainly does have seeds. Bamboo blooms are big events.

Blooms are big events because bamboo will go several decades at a time without blooming. But it has seeds.

Re: How is bamboo lumber made? (2016)

#60

Post by eru »

lopis wrote: post #36
eru wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what you mean by renewable? Would carbon, hydrogen and oxygen be more renewable than calcium and potassium? They are all just elements we have a lot of on earth. And those elements don't get used up. Toss your wood on a compost pile, and you can re-use them?

The way the wood is treated, it can't just be composted. It contains too many chemicals that would contaminate the floor. You can't compost furniture.

Sorry, compost was perhaps the wrong word. I meant, getting at the atoms ain't that hard.
Post reply on HN