keepin it green?

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ymidt
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keepin it green?

Post by ymidt »

Hello,
I was fortunate to aquire some 4 - 5 inch diameter clums and I want to
split them in half (with a machete?) and use them to "panel" a wall in
my bedroom. I love the look of the bamboo grove they came from , but
I especially like the green/olive color of the culms and wonder if
there is anything I can do to prevent them from turning brown as they
dry. Has anyone succeeded at doing this? I'd sure hate to have to
paint them!

Thanks,

-- Dave
Hollenback
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Post by Hollenback »

Dave,
I do not know of any way to prevent the bamboo from lousing the green color but here is a couple of ways to stain the culms. From the TBS group emails.
________________________
The Roy Rogers way:

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to stain bamboo culms.
The basic problem is that the culms are very resistant to absorbing any
moisture, which means that the tint/stain won't penetrate the culms. I've
tried various liquid solutions, such as alcohol, bleach, stripper etc, but
nothing worked that was easy and simple to do.

The only effective way I've found to get the culms to absorb tint/stain,
but not an easy way, is to sand, sand, and more sanding. If you don't sand
enough, then the tint/stain doesn't really absorb into the culm and you can
easily scrape it off with your finger nail.

I use an electric sander, but the flat sander surface and the round culms
make for a lot of long tedious sanding time. I tried a 3D sander, but it
didn't work well and the wheels kept coming off.

Once I've sanded, sanded, and more sanding, I apply tint/stain, once a day,
over a 4 or 5 day period. Once tinted/stained, then I put about 3 coats of
Wipe On Poly, which takes about another 3 days. This is definitely
something I would not make and try to sell. Labor and time intensive.

I'm working to see if heat will have any real effect on the process. I cut
7 B. v. Buddha's Belly 3 inch culms into 15 internode sections, without the
nodes on either end. The sections were mostly, but not completely dry. I
put them in the kitchen oven for about 5 hours at 170 F degrees. Then I
gradually moved the temperature up to 250 F degrees over the next 5 hours.
I'll start this weekend to see if I can figure out any positive effects
from the heating process. If there is a positve effect, then the next
thing is to figure out how I can get a 6 foot culm into the kitchen stove.

Roy Rogers
Tampa, Fl
_____________________
The Carole Meckes way:

If you take an older naturally weathered piece of bamboo that does not have
much "skin" left on it and stand it upright in a container that has some 'oil'
in it and let it stand for a period of time, adding more oil when needed, the
oil will travel up the culm and transform and stain it - it will also add some
weight to the culm.
I've tried this inside the house, where I can monitor the results easier and
have been fascinated by watching the color of the culm change over a 6 week
period as the oil gets absorbed and travels up the culm. I usually squeeze
some cocounut suntan oil into a yogart container and lean the bamboo culm
again a wall on top of counter so that I can monitor it periocially and have
to add more oil several times as it gets absorbed by the bamboo. Rhizomes are
also fascinating to do this with.
(no sanding needed - but it does require time!)

Carole
_________________________

You can see some of Roy's culms at http://www.bambooweb.info/images/crafts ... s_rack.jpg

Bill
ymidt
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Post by ymidt »

Bill, thanks for the great info. Don't know how I could have found it w/o you!

-- Dave
boonatick
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Post by boonatick »

Roy was talking of sanding and sanding ,and the dificolties of the two sanders ,,,made me wonder if sandblasting might speed that up?just a thought ..Rgds,,.kaylen in central Texas
Kaylen. zone 8 borderline b.near Boerne Texas
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Roy
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Location: Tampa, Florida, USA,............Florida's SunCoast <Zone 9B-10A>

Post by Roy »

boonatick wrote:Roy was talking of sanding and sanding ,and the dificolties of the two sanders ,,,made me wonder if sandblasting might speed that up?just a thought ..Rgds,,.kaylen in central Texas
Sounds like a great idea. If you happen to do this, let me know how it turns out.
--------------------------
Roy Rogers
Southern Tampania de la Floridana Universidad (STFU)
STFU Motto: All Bamboos are not Created Equal; @ STFU, the Search Continues
**********
:wave: ROY'S BAMBOO LIST
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terrabamboo
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Re: keepin it green?

Post by terrabamboo »

I know this was posted a while ago, but I am wondering if there have been any advancements here? How do these bamboo fencing companies sell mahogany bamboo fences? What do you think their process is?

I am wondering if you had some large infrared panels that you slowly moved the bamboo through that would turn the bamboo to the golden color, and possibly allow stain to enter through dipping it in a vat of mahogany stain?
Terra Bamboo
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Focusing on Henon, Moso, Robert Young, Rubro, Vivax and Fargesia
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foxd
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Re: keepin it green?

Post by foxd »

fandelem wrote:I know this was posted a while ago, but I am wondering if there have been any advancements here? How do these bamboo fencing companies sell mahogany bamboo fences? What do you think their process is?

I am wondering if you had some large infrared panels that you slowly moved the bamboo through that would turn the bamboo to the golden color, and possibly allow stain to enter through dipping it in a vat of mahogany stain?

I have found that treating the canes with acetone will allow varnish to do a better job of sticking to the canes.

An experiment I've never gotten around to trying is to stick the end of a freshly cut cane in a bucket of ritt dye and let capillary action draw the dye up into the cane. It would seem to me that this would produce colored bamboo that the color could not be scratched off.
Southern Indiana.
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The legal issues that will arise when the undead walk the earth are legion, and addressing them all is well beyond what could reasonably be accomplished in this brief Essay. Indeed, a complete treatment of the tax issues alone would require several volumes.
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terrabamboo
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Re: keepin it green?

Post by terrabamboo »

Hmm, this is basically VSD (Vertical soak diffusion).

I have a helpful pdf I have found in my researching if you would like to try it. It is too big to upload here though.

VSD is a very time consuming process. If I wanted to do 2000 poles a day, it might not be practical.

I wonder if acetone would destroy the "green" concept/marketing concept?
Terra Bamboo
300 acre Bamboo Plantation Project
Focusing on Henon, Moso, Robert Young, Rubro, Vivax and Fargesia
Alan_L
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Re: keepin it green?

Post by Alan_L »

fandelem wrote:...I wonder if acetone would destroy the "green" concept/marketing concept?
It sure would for me!
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foxd
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Re: keepin it green?

Post by foxd »

Alan_L wrote:
fandelem wrote:...I wonder if acetone would destroy the "green" concept/marketing concept?
It sure would for me!
Acetone is produced and disposed of in the human body through normal metabolic processes. It is normally present in blood and urine. People with diabetes produce it in larger amounts. Reproductive toxicity tests show that it has low potential to cause reproductive problems. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children have higher levels of acetone. Ketogenic diets that increase acetone in the body are used to reduce epileptic attacks in infants and children who suffer from recalcitrant refractory epilepsy.
Considering some of the other things out there I think that acetone is pretty "green".
Southern Indiana.
My Bamboo List.

The legal issues that will arise when the undead walk the earth are legion, and addressing them all is well beyond what could reasonably be accomplished in this brief Essay. Indeed, a complete treatment of the tax issues alone would require several volumes.
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