5 ms·

Curious about your opinion on bamboo products. I assume you're referring to modern bamboo desks, shelves, and other items that are made from Chinese bamboo and

Curious about your opinion on bamboo products. I assume you're referring to modern bamboo desks, shelves, and other items that are made from Chinese bamboo and made in China. They typically slice the bamboo grass pieces into ~8 sections, then use planing machines to create planks※. These are then pressed and glued together to make products. These products are then shipped overseas using the same methods as other products. If the glue used is either sustainable or they don't use very much of it, and the bamboo is grown locally, what makes it less sustainable than using wood? And certainly more less energy-intensive than steel. ※ I am not a woodworker, don't know terminology.

svachalek 5y ago
The usual complaint I see against bamboo products is that they use hard bamboo that grows like trees, but promote a sustainable image based on the idea of soft bamboo that grows like grass. I haven't heard it's less sustainable than wood, just not any more sustainable.
- wrycoder 5y ago
  Kg of wood per hectare-yr would be a good measure of how much useful wood is created, and also how much carbon is locked up in it.
  - chrisweekly 5y ago
    Time is a critical factor (ie, the "yr" in your metric). Bamboo grows _incredibly_ fast.
    - tristor 5y ago
      density (a critical factor of hardness) is normally inversely correlated to growth speed. Faster growing woods/plants are softer.
      - rstuart4133 5y ago
        It takes 4-5 years to grow according to the article, and you can make Strand Woven Bamboo out of it. You can get a feel for the hardness of Strand Woven Bamboo here: https://planettimbers.com.au/2014/06/25/timber-wear-tear-and-hardness-including-janka-ratings/ Quoting: "Even though a Janka rating of 8 is considered ‘hard’, many Australian timber species achieve ratings of 12 and above." Strand Woven Bamboo has a Janka rating of 14. As it happens I live in Australia, and so have tried to bang the odd nail into an old house, which are often made from Australian hardwood. Almost all of us live in new houses made from pine, and so all make the same mistake. If you are lucky, and after more than a few bent nails, some old codger will take pity on you and tell you it isn't possible. You have to pre-drill.
    - svachalek 5y ago
      Soft bamboo (which is useless for products like these) grows incredibly fast.
      - tomrod 5y ago
        Why can they not be hardened? Or otherwise used?
        ashtonkem 5y ago
        Different species. Bamboo is actually a family of 1,400 individual species, not one individual plant. The grassy and woody varieties are just different plants with different material properties. As a general rule, the structural properties of wood can’t really be changed without just injecting a shit load of petroleum products[0], which isn’t really what we’re after here. If a type of wood, bamboo or otherwise is too soft for an application, then there really isn’t a way to “harden” it. This is the reason we tend to use hard species for flooring, such as oak, as you need to rely on the natural characteristics of the wood for strength and hardness. 0 - For example OSB, which is basically 5% oil by weight. Even still, our ability to adjust some properties is limited. OSB is strong and cheap, but it’s not that much harder than the wood species it was made from, and hardness is a desirable property for flooring to resist dents. Also, OSB is ugly.
blacksmith_tb 5y ago
Some good photos of the process here[1]. The figure that's generally quoted for the time it takes for a mature timber bamboo culm to grow from a shoot to ~20m to be harvested is 3-5yr. Obviously each one is small compared to a large tree, but a stand of bamboo can produce a lot. 1; https://www.bambooimport.com/en/how-is-bamboo-lumber-made https://www.bambooimport.com/en/how-is-bamboo-lumber-made
- bartvk 5y ago
  That's an amazing link, with unadorned and unpolished shots of the factory where the bamboo lumber is made. Very interesting.

svachalek 5y ago

The usual complaint I see against bamboo products is that they use hard bamboo that grows like trees, but promote a sustainable image based on the idea of soft bamboo that grows like grass. I haven't heard it's less sustainable than wood, just not any more sustainable.

wrycoder 5y ago
Kg of wood per hectare-yr would be a good measure of how much useful wood is created, and also how much carbon is locked up in it.
- chrisweekly 5y ago
  Time is a critical factor (ie, the "yr" in your metric). Bamboo grows _incredibly_ fast.
  - tristor 5y ago
    density (a critical factor of hardness) is normally inversely correlated to growth speed. Faster growing woods/plants are softer.
    - rstuart4133 5y ago
      It takes 4-5 years to grow according to the article, and you can make Strand Woven Bamboo out of it. You can get a feel for the hardness of Strand Woven Bamboo here: https://planettimbers.com.au/2014/06/25/timber-wear-tear-and-hardness-including-janka-ratings/ Quoting: "Even though a Janka rating of 8 is considered ‘hard’, many Australian timber species achieve ratings of 12 and above." Strand Woven Bamboo has a Janka rating of 14. As it happens I live in Australia, and so have tried to bang the odd nail into an old house, which are often made from Australian hardwood. Almost all of us live in new houses made from pine, and so all make the same mistake. If you are lucky, and after more than a few bent nails, some old codger will take pity on you and tell you it isn't possible. You have to pre-drill.
  - svachalek 5y ago
    Soft bamboo (which is useless for products like these) grows incredibly fast.
    - tomrod 5y ago
      Why can they not be hardened? Or otherwise used?
      - ashtonkem 5y ago
        Different species. Bamboo is actually a family of 1,400 individual species, not one individual plant. The grassy and woody varieties are just different plants with different material properties. As a general rule, the structural properties of wood can’t really be changed without just injecting a shit load of petroleum products[0], which isn’t really what we’re after here. If a type of wood, bamboo or otherwise is too soft for an application, then there really isn’t a way to “harden” it. This is the reason we tend to use hard species for flooring, such as oak, as you need to rely on the natural characteristics of the wood for strength and hardness. 0 - For example OSB, which is basically 5% oil by weight. Even still, our ability to adjust some properties is limited. OSB is strong and cheap, but it’s not that much harder than the wood species it was made from, and hardness is a desirable property for flooring to resist dents. Also, OSB is ugly.

blacksmith_tb 5y ago

Some good photos of the process here[1]. The figure that's generally quoted for the time it takes for a mature timber bamboo culm to grow from a shoot to ~20m to be harvested is 3-5yr. Obviously each one is small compared to a large tree, but a stand of bamboo can produce a lot. 1; https://www.bambooimport.com/en/how-is-bamboo-lumber-made https://www.bambooimport.com/en/how-is-bamboo-lumber-made

bartvk 5y ago
That's an amazing link, with unadorned and unpolished shots of the factory where the bamboo lumber is made. Very interesting.