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Relatives that lived in Japan brought back bamboo stuff to the US, and it all cracked within a year or so. The reason was that bamboo does well in wet climates
by RobertRoberts 8y ago
Relatives that lived in Japan brought back bamboo stuff to the US, and it all cracked within a year or so.
The reason was that bamboo does well in wet climates where the moisture in the air keeps in flexible. (or something like that) But in the US, it's much drier (most places) than in Japan.
This fits with my experience of bamboo furniture over the years as well. It becomes brittle and fragile the older it gets. But oak/pine/maple don't seem to suffer this fate nearly as bad.
- Tor3 8y agoI don't doubt what you're saying, but I wonder why my bamboo ski poles don't crack. I have lots of them, and they've been used every winter for nearly forty years, from back when I bought them. They're as good as new, still. I bought all the stock of the last shop selling them at the time, in my student town, as I didn't want to use fiber or metal poles in the mountains (can't easily be fixed if they break, while bamboo poles can be fixed if they split, and, with some tape, can even be prevented from breaking in the first place).
- RobertRoberts 8y agoI am sure they are treated differently? Just a guess, but maybe with an epoxy?
- Laforet 8y agoBamboo is anisotropic like timber, which means that expansion and contraction caused by drying or temperature variation will happen at different rates along the tangential, longitutional and radial axis. Crack happens when stress exceed the tensile strength of the material in one direction. Thus a long and thin object is less vulnerable to this type of failure as only one axis undergoes a significant change in size. In addition, the bamboo ski poles may have been thoroughly dried by kiln heating and sealed with some type of resin or lacquer to prevent moisture ingress, especially if they were made to get wet.
- Tor3 8y agoI suspect you are correct in your assumptions in the last paragraph, at least about being kiln heated. That seems very likely. There is also a thin layer of something, could be resin or lacquer as you suggest. It is definitely not epoxy though (re. next poster)
- Laforet 8y agoThe other poster was probably thinking about bamboo fibre-epoxy composite which is more like fibreglass. I vaguely remember the sealant is not really food safe, which is why many bambio utensils still crack after a few years.
- RandallBrown 8y agoThere are a few companies making new bamboo ski poles. Panda Poles and Soul Poles are two that I see regularly on the mountain.
- cmiller1 8y agoI have engineered bamboo "wood" flooring that I like a lot and after a few years haven't noticed any cracking or warping; perhaps it went through more extensive treatment processes?
- brodouevencode 8y agoFlooring - first it's cut into strips, then boiled in a solution to remove the starchy compounds, then dried and pressed, then planed down for a lamination process, laminated (using typically more epoxy than other lumber-based laminates), then cut into the final form for the end user. Bamboo is a grass, and it's hollow - it neither looks nor handles like real lumber. It's often touted as a "greener" alternative to lumber - given the amount of energy and additives I'm not so sure this is the case: I would love to see someone actually do an analysis of this.
- Khanhanhan 8y agoI would love to see a website where I could just enter two alternatives and get the greener one. I find it hard to make any decision these days. Should I buy tomatoes in a can a paper+plastic container? Fish sauce from Thailand in a glass or plastic bottle? Should I buy a small item in a nearby shop or drive somewhere a buy bigger packs. Someone should solve it for me.
- aaron695 8y ago> greener This is not a metric. It pretty much a religious word. So it depends on what you pray to. Do you want a world where less animals die or a world where the current (realistically for a 3000+ years, man influenced anyway) environment changes least. Are mammals more important? Extinctions matter more than size of land? Deserts matter? Man made green environments count? Are your happy to kill poor (mostly black and yellow) people for this goal? I guess yes. They are not usually in the definition green, although they are mammals and their babies are cute. Often with the green religion comes the other religions like is it msg free? I wouldn't want to run the web site, people would be annoying. Gluten free this blah blah Like jopsen says just use less resources by using cheap as an adequate proxy and invest $ directly in your particular religion. It will let you be specific to your brand.
- jschwartzi 8y agoCan you oil it to prevent this from happening? I have several Bamboo cutting boards that have lasted for years because I oil them frequently. I also do this with wooden spoons and other un-finished wood products.
- RobertRoberts 8y agoThat is the problem, bamboo stuff actually requires specific care in the US that it doesn't in Japan. I was going to buy some really nice bowls there, and my sister suggested I not do it because they would break in the US, but not in Japan. (with the equivalent care)
- ConceptJunkie 8y agoI have a bamboo cutting board that I've been using for about 10 years and it's still as good as new. Perhaps it was treated specially, because I've never done anything special to care for it (and had no idea that might be necessary). I also have some bamboo spoons and spatulas that get used almost daily and they have lasted for many years as well. I wash them in the dishwasher, which perhaps gives them the level of moisture needed to stay good.
- djrogers 8y agoYour bamboo cutting board is likely made in a manner similar to bamboo flooring as outlined in the article - a lot of treatments to make it stable and usable.
- siruncledrew 8y agoIf it needs around the same humidity levels as Japan, then bamboo might be good in places like Florida, Louisiana, and Houston at least.