Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | May 27, 2004 05:56am | #1

   What's the application? How many do you have to cut?

   Can you miter the ends with a chisel or a knife, trimming off the frayed bits?

   Wrap the ends with masking tape before cutting?

   Rotate the poles while you cut them so you get a shallow kerf all the way around before cutting deeper?

   Score them with a knife before sawing?

   
   

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   Edited 5/26/2004 10:57 pm ET by Uncle Dunc

2. 
   nikkiwood | May 27, 2004 06:42am | #2

   I can't help you , since I've never worked with bamboo.

   But my question is this: what are you using it for, and where do you get it?

   Around here (Minnesota), the only bamboo I've seen are skinny little sticks for holding up your tomato plants.

   In other parts of the country is bamboo starting to hit the lumber yards in some form you could actually build something with?

1. 
   tufenhundel | May 27, 2004 05:56pm | #5

   Just thought I share the fruits of my hours and hours of surfing the web:

   http://www.bamboohardwoods.com/index.html

   I have some ideas for using bamboo in furniture...seems such an ecological thing to do...

3. 
   301 | May 27, 2004 08:53am | #3

   You need to "chop" it with a big, sharp, thin-bladed knife.  Just put it up to a chopping block and then come down hard with something like a machete, do it with one big blow.  Round over ends with many smaller, angular cuts.  The problem with the stuff is that it consists of many loosely attached fibers, like celery.  A saw will pull the fibers loose from the bunch but a sharp uninterrupted blade will cut them cleanly.  Try a utility knife with a new blade.  It grows in yards and creeks here in Tennessee, sometimes we use it for tomato stakes and bean poles.

1. 
   JoeWood | May 27, 2004 04:14pm | #4

   They make a special bamboo pull saw (not the same as a woodworking pull saw) that does very well.

   When cutting it with a chop or circular saw, if you cut it on a slight angle, its a clean cut.

4. 
   joker | May 27, 2004 07:51pm | #6

   I have used alot of rattan, like bamboo, only solid instead of hollow, I used a hacksaw to cut it and turned it to get the curf all the way around and then cut it through all the way. I don't recall having a problem with the ends fraying. I would imagine any fine tooth saw similar to a hacksaw blade would work without any problems.

5. 
   Shopmole | May 27, 2004 08:49pm | #7

   If I understand you right, the splintering happens because on bigger pieces of bamboo there is nothing supporting the cut  ( hollow tube). When you cut it with a machine the vibrations create havoc . When I've cut bamboo before I've always tried to cut as close to the knuckle as possible. You can also support the bamboo by cutting it at the closest knuckle an then cramming something inside to support the cut.

   I have had success using a cuttoff wheel to cut bamboo,  but that tends to burn the material unless you are very careful.

6. 
   MBL | May 27, 2004 11:53pm | #8

   Friend,

   Try wrap masking tape around it and cut over it. Try a bandsaw too.

   Have cut bamboo with the scroll-saw well, but only small pieces.

   -mbl-

1. 
   Sphere | May 28, 2004 12:23am | #9

   green or dry?  it makes a difference, green use bypass loppers, SHARP ones, or a machete..

   dry, wrap with tape and cut through the tape..a pull saw is all ya need 

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

7. 
   user-5880422 | May 28, 2004 02:33am | #10

   just installed some bamboo flooring, found that wrapping with blue masking tape controlled the fraying when cutting with my miter saw.