Bamboo

Martin Roper

Martin
Senior User
I made some zero-clearance table saw inserts out of a bamboo cutting board. Whatever food-safe finish it had on there is gone after I took about a sixteenth off to get rid of the knife marks. It's a sort of three-ply bamboo plywood so it seems like it will be very stable. It's light but the surface is very hard which is why you see floors made from it.

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I know zilch about bamboo. Any suggestions for finishing it. Just poly and forget it?
 

Martin Roper

Martin
Senior User
Oh, I meant to mention that this stuff is very splintery. I cut the general shape of the curve on the band saw and then used a flush trim bit to finish up. On the insert on the right I had some tear-out along the edge at bottom right. I used some putty to fill in the mess, but it's pretty visible.
 
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Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
They use bamboo here on Hawaii quite a bit. People here use a epoxy sealer on it. It looks like a watery clear epoxy. It is splintery, like black palm can get. Finishes nice though
 

Martin Roper

Martin
Senior User
They use bamboo here on Hawaii quite a bit. People here use a epoxy sealer on it. It looks like a watery clear epoxy. It is splintery, like black palm can get. Finishes nice though
It's actually a pretty attractive wood. I'm sure they don't use the "good stuff" on Walmart cutting boards, but I do like the look of these.
 

Martin Roper

Martin
Senior User
I finished my inserts. I made one with the Micro-Jig splitter, one without for a crosscut sled, and left one blank as a spare.

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I ended up just wiping on a little poly and then giving it a coat of wax.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I would have done just wax. After all, they are a consumable. I did my bedroom floor in the last house with bamboo. Super tough and stable.

FWIW, I had little good experience with micro-jigs. I did better with just a spline. I had inserts for different blade heights so I had a splitter much closer for less a one inch cut. Now I have a proper riving knife.

I wish the climate here was better for bamboo, but not quite cold enough. The only type that does well is "Americian Cane" which is that small ugly incontrollable native stuff you see. Not the good stuff. 1200 or so kinds.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Those inserts look great. Using that cutting board is brilliant. Next time I'm in WalMart I'm going to have to check them out. Sure, I've got lots of wood I could make them out of, but that 3-ply construction makes me think they will be more stable than solid lumber.
 

Martin Roper

Martin
Senior User
the specs say its a little over 3/4" thick. Did that present a problem or at least an annoyance?
I think mine was closer to 5/8". I ripped it to the width I wanted then planed it down to about 9/16ths to fit my Grizzly TS opening. I used super light passes until it was just below table height. I used painters tape to level it.
 

zdorsch

Zach
Corporate Member
Prefinished bamboo flooring also works well. I have a few leftover flooring pieces from a friends renovation years ago that I’ve made a few inserts from.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I have used poly and acrylic cutting boards to make things for ages. Cheaper than buying from plastic supply houses. A lot of spacers and bushings in my little British cars are HDPE cutting boards. Left over flooring is always a good source, and one time< I found some really nice exotic solid flooring really cheap, but I had no space or project at the time. Milled down it was way cheaper than a hardwood supply house. I guess old bed-frames as a steel source is no longer a secret. They are pretty hard streel though, not common angle iron.
 

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