Thread: Drying bamboo?
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Old 15-09-2005, 06:14 AM
bouzouki
 
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ems wrote:
In article , bouzouki
wrote:


Al wrote:

I live in Southern California. My neighbor has had a "forest" of giant,
clumping bamboo growing in his yard for about 30 years. He is now
re-landscaping his yard and getting rid of the beautiful bamboo. I've
already got some of his "clumps" in my yard that I hope will grow strong.



In any case, I now have a large number of cut bamboo poles from 1.5" to
more
than 5" across and 40'+ long.



I have a number of future uses for these but I need to find the best way to
dry.


I also am no expert, as has been pointed out to me on other occasions,
but I will still chip in my two cents worth. As Mike said, good air
circulation is a must. If possible I always try to place fresh cut
bamboo in the direct sunlight for several weeks. I also find that it
seems to dry more quickly and evenly placed vertically. However never
let the ends touch dirt.

Number two... When I lived in Japan, I noticed that they often treat
fresh bamboo with fire to bring out the resins and and harden it. If
you run a torch over the stalk the resin will come to the surface and
you can rub it back in. The heat pushes out moisture and the resin
hardens the surface.

EMS


That would make more sense, to dry it upright, if possible. After all it
grows that way. and the resin thing is cool, I'll have to try it. thanks.