Alittle O/T BUT it does have to do with Tiki's and Drinking......

i personally recommend tikicentral.com as well..i visit there every now and then and i know guys who post there,plus there's plenty of people who just got the idea to do it one day and showed their processes to give yall ideas, just like the good old HAMB!
creepy

 

Now that Tech week is over I feel comfortable bringing this back up. Thanks for all the links and ideas.

I did pick up some bambo. The pieces are about 2 inches by 6 feet. I'm going to tackle splitting them lenghtwise. Any hints or tricks to doing this?? I'm hoping someone on here has done it. I'd ask this on one of the tiki message boards but the thought of doing an intro and getting involved in ANOTHER board isn't real appealing at this time.

 

Chris has one on his deck. I think it was a put together unit. Its really nice and quite sturdy. I looked but I don't have any pictures at work of it. I could go over there on my break and take a couple...

 

Thanks sweetie but thats not necessary. I already have the plans for the shape and everything....kinda a combination of the two photos I posted. I just need some guidence on how to split these things cuz I don't want them to fall apart or split in the wrong spot after I start the cut.

 

Denise -

We put a tiki bar up this past year by the pool, and I can tell you that bamboo does NOT split real easy - it kinda gets buggered up at each of the joints.

If I were you, I'd find a GMB'er with a table saw (sorry! not me!) and have him/her rip the stalks for you - much neater and no risk of waste!

 

I too am in need of some split bamboo for a Christmas present. When I googled it I came up with this website (amongst other not so 'clean' websites!)
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1911/chinese.htm
that gave some pretty good tips to splitting.

Good luck, I'm sure it will be fabulous!

 

id rip saw them.

 

You'll be belly-ing up to it on the 10th

 

ripping them on a table saw is NOT a good idea... the edges arent square, and thus wont ride on the fence of the saw making the pieces wander against the blade causing binding, and binding leads to them getting tossed back from the blade and through the wall behind the operator... not a good thing, i know from experiance

find someone with a bandsaw, you have more control over the cut, feed and line of cut to keep them nice and even, and less chance of kickback and injury

T

 

This is exactly the type of info I'm looking for. Thanks. I certainly don't want to "injure" myself BEFORE the calendars are packed and shipped.

My neighbor down the street is a woodworker. I think I'll bake him a batch of cookies and pay him alittle holiday visit tomorrow.

 

Another thing about bamboo is that acts sort of like fiberglass as you can stab yourself with the superthin strands. Found this out the hard way in Iraq.

I agree with FiddyFour on the bandsaw good idea.

 

I know Fiddy said don't split the bamboo witha table saw, but that is how I do it, and I have split MILES of this stuff. Your woodworker friend is a good source for help. A table saw is no joke, so be CAREFUL! If you are going to nail the bamboo to something, predrill the holes in the bamboo, otr it will split on you. sand down the edges that a persom may rub up against. The bamboo will cut you like a razor blade in a second.

Denise, if you want, you can call me up Friday and ask any questions you'd like. 323 899 5486

Danny

 

...........they had her late in life silly............

 

Looks like some great ideas Denise. I am sure what you make will be great!

"Me old bamboo, me old bamboo,
You'd better never bother with me old bamboo,
You can have me hat or me bumbershoe,
But you'd better never bother with me old bamboo."

 

you can find bamboo blinds really cheap alot of the time and those are easy to cut with a regular saw. They(the bamboo that is) come already all strung together so you just have to cut to size and staple or glue into place. Its smaller bamboo but it doesn't look bad. they do it all the time on the home and garden shows on HGTV.

 

I use a table saw to split irregular round materials like bamboo. Build a simple jig that will ride on rip fence and table top, (two boards screwed together at right angles) secure bamboo to it. Will work just fine. The kick back preventer should be in place and saftey glasses used as well.

 

I've split shit-loads of bamboo in the past. The easiest way I found was to simply lie it flat in a workmate and saw through it - carefully - using a regualr wood saw. As you move along the length, use a block to open out where you have already cut. This will make it easier to cut the remainder of the pole.
I found using a bandsaw awkward and I prefer the control of doing it manually.
Not a great photo, but you can just see on the walls here some of the bamboo I've cut. The poles are between 2" & 3" in diameter and are simply screwed into the walls.


Here's another shot of the same room.

The bar was manufactured over here in the '50's and they occassionally come up on eBay.

 

We call these table tops...Hatch covers. I happen to have a garage filled with them. If you know the famous surf shop Ron Jon's, that is where we purchased them back in the 70's. My Dad and Uncle made table tops for everything back in the day. They went nuts and still have a garage filled with these. There is also a killer Bamboo place here in NJ, I built a giant bar....I mean a giant bar on the beach one summer for this place right on the water. Probally sat 40 to 50 people. Made of cement, bamboo, white cedar timber, and thatching. This bamboo place also slings mud on some of there bamboo, then they torch it and remove the mud, giving it a tortoise style look, super nice. You can also buy it in any diameter or ripped any way you want it. Bar cloth is the name of the material you are looking for too. I do interior design as well as chop cars, hahahaha. Anyway to pay the billzzzzzzz!

 

Any updates on this?