Thread: Looking for bamboo

Hello,

Im looking for 1/8 thick bamboo for some scales but all I can find is wood flooring or whole unfinished pieces. Any help finding some would be great!

Thanks,

Chris

Try searching for a bamboo veneer maybe?

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

Try searching for a bamboo veneer maybe?

Eisenfaust,

I looked for veneers and everything I could find had a sticky back and is in huge quantities :-( I could probably just stick it to g10 or some other thin liner but thats not the look Im going for. I found a site that sells bamboo plywood but Im just looking for a good old piece of 1/8" X 2" or 3" X 6" or 12" finished bamboo:-( Ive seen it on a bunch of factory and custom knives so I know its out there but where oh where could it be???

Thanks,

Chris

A bamboo chopping board may be worth a look. You could also check out garden centers for bamboo canes, which can be found up to 2" diameter.

Either should provide enough material for plenty of practice !

Steve

The option with bamboo flooring may be the best one. If you can, rather than buying the tool, find a woodworking shop that has a sander or a planer built for thinning boards down. It's a waste of some of the material, but an option to solve your problem, especially if you only want a small amount.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

The option with bamboo flooring may be the best one. If you can, rather than buying the tool, find a woodworking shop that has a sander or a planer built for thinning boards down. It's a waste of some of the material, but an option to solve your problem, especially if you only want a small amount.

Mike,

Yeah the wood flooring seems to be the easiest way of getting it. You can get samples for next to nothing and the wood is finished very nicely. The only problem is that its 5/8" or 9/16" thick. Im going to try to cut it in half on my table saw or profile a set then thin them down to 1/8" on my belt sander.

Thanks,

Chris

Thinning down wood evenly on a belt sander is difficult in my experience. If you have access to them, joiners and planers are the way to go.

Originally Posted by socalkid

Hello,

Im looking for 1/8 thick bamboo for some scales but all I can find is wood flooring or whole unfinished pieces. Any help finding some would be great!

Thanks,

Chris

Chris,

If you can find a bamboo fishing rod maker in your area, he will have plenty of scraps that he will give you free.

If you can't find one, please contact me and I will send you some bamboo...I have a few pieces here that will make fine scales.

Joe

Originally Posted by socalkid

Hello,

Im looking for 1/8 thick bamboo for some scales but all I can find is wood flooring or whole unfinished pieces. Any help finding some would be great!

Thanks,

Chris

Chris,

I was too fast to post the reply...here is a link to a number of bamboo rodmakers. Look through it and contact one close to you. As I said, I'm sure they would be happy to give you more bamboo offcuts than you could probably use in a lifetime

Rodmakers

Joe

Originally Posted by joebehar

Chris,

If you can find a bamboo fishing rod maker in your area, he will have plenty of scraps that he will give you free.

If you can't find one, please contact me and I will send you some bamboo...I have a few pieces here that will make fine scales.

Joe

Joe,

Thank you very much for your offer! I think I have what I need. I went and bought a wood floor sample today, profiled it, double sided sticky taped it to the garage floor, used my 3" hand belt sander, and got it down to 1/8" from 9/16" in about a minute. It wasn't to hard.

Thanks,

Chris