Thread: Wood harness?

Ron I don't think the hardness really matters.

As that is cross cut my advice is to use very sharp tools and taken it steady with fine cuts. The fibrous nature of the beast is more of a worry than the hardness of the material.

Have you thought of cutting the corners off before turning? That will lessen the chances of tear-out.

This looks like a bamboo laminate and those are generally pretty easy to work
with. I don't know about just regular bamboo, I haven't tried any.

Sharp tools help, since you don't want any tear-out. Bamboo tends to light
up when any sort of oil gets into the fibers, but I don't know what this will
do to the strength or finish. (I just enjoyed the effect as it lit up with little
pinpoints like a fiber optic cable)

Try to cut toward the ends of the fiber, not against them. You don't want
the tool trying to 'lift' an exposed end, rather try to shear it off by changing
the direction of the cut. This holds for most woods, but especially for one
that is so fibrous and relatively soft.

It's a nice material to work with, though. You'll enjoy it.

What I usually do with soft/spongy wood is just keep soaking it in CA as you go. You could alwasy chuck it in some wood hardener first of course. I haven't used wood hardener yet though, so can't give any advice on that.

Russell.

I have read somewhere that the dust isn't good for your health - worse then some timbers

Janka test examples here Borthwick Floors - timber hardness, janka hardness test, wood floor denting, wear - species - hardness rating

I have made many a pen from Bamboo, IMHO it will never set the world on fire for absolute pen making but feel its like riding a motor bike without the exhaust even once quite an experience. It is hardish, can be fluffy, certainly as said shows all those cross cut capilliaries and like Palm Tree can benefit from judicial final finishing with paper. The ends burn easily on a disk Sander creating a colour change taken softly no problems. My mate who sells his Bamboo Fishing poles was real happy with mine for him I used a Fish Clip ps his Rods sell for thousands, he hand slits from large rounds.

The real strength in Bamboo is the skin, in this laminated form its straight forward to me. My mates trade mark handles are made from Aussie Red Mallee etc the Silver engravings extraordinary as well.

Kind regards Peter.