Woodworking with Bamboo

Success with
Bamboos &
Ornamental Grasses

Grasses
and Bamboos:
A Practical Guide

Bamboo
for
Gardens

Bamboo is actually part of the grass family, botanically speaking, and boasts an amazingly fast growth rate. However, don't let that fast growth fool you - a first year crop of bamboo is lovely to look at, but it doesn't reach the maturity required for use as a wood until the crop is 5 or 6 years old. Like asparagus, the older the stand, the thicker the stalk.

Bamboo can be purchased in many different forms. Most recognizable is the round pole of a tiki torch or the half shell used for picture frames or wall coverings. However, bamboo is also made into flooring and laminated into a form of plywood.

Kleppin's Wooden-Kitchen uses the plywood form of bamboo as the light colored accents in the Heritage Heirloom Cutting Boards.

One of the best things about bamboo plywood is that the grass is an extremely sustainable harvest. Where a hardwood tree can take up to 25 years to regrow to harvestable size, a bamboo grove can be harvested every 3 to 5 years. This is because harvesting doesn't touch the root system, which regrows the grass stems at a rapid rate.

The bamboo stalks are cut, split, flattened, and laminated together to form the bamboo plywood which is then comparable to hard maple in strength.

Spicy Bamboo Shoots
Jasmine Rice Meal

Bamboo
Flute Set

Bamboo
Terry Cloth Robe

While bamboo has many uses, from food for humans and animals, to musical instruments and wind chimes, and even fiber for the manufacture of rope and cloth, bamboo as a wood product is our focus.

Bamboo
Toilet Seat

Bamboo
Pet Bed

Bamboo pattern
Fan Blades

The Flagship of Bob's Boards Saga: Heritage Heirloom Cutting Boards

The Archive because the Flagship Got Too Big: Kleppin's Wooden Kitchen 2007-2008

The Ten Hardwoods Bob used:

Bamboo - A traditional hardwood, (really a grass), used in cutting boards. Adds an Oriental texture to the boards.

Cherry - A north-eastern US and Canada wood with a fine texture. Becomes darker and richer with age.

Hard Maple - This wood come from North Eastern US and Canada. Known for its durability and strength. Mainstay of most cutting board manufacturers. White to honey in color.

Hickory - A very strong wood with a tight grain. Found all over the US. Trees live to be 350 years old. Grain patterns are very bold and add character to any item made with it.

Jatoba - A crop wood from central and tropical South America. It is also known as Brazilian Cherry. Very distinct tight grain which adds a unique texture to end grain work.

Katalox - An extremely hard dense wood ranging from Purple to Brown to White in the same board. This very attractive coloring patterns creates character to my cutting boards. Found in Central and Southern America.

Monterillo - Also known as Brazilian Rose Wood. Comes from Central America, Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. This is a crop wood with very distinct black stripes in a dark rich brown wood.

Purple Heart - A very hard wood from Mexico and Tropical South America. It is, as its name suggests, purple in color and brings a special colorization to any board.

Fishtail Oak - The only one of the oak family whose grain is tight enough to be used in cutting boards. Brings a distinct "fish tail" pattern when used as a side trim board.

Walnut - A dark Chocolate wood mellowing to a light brown within the same board. Medium hard but very well suited for end grain cutting boards. Come from Eastern US and Canada.