bamboo scales

A friend of mine that grows bamboo recently sent me a couple of bamboo sheets. These were just cut from regular bamboo and so there was the outer skin still on it and was very convex. I tried different ways to sand it down to make the convex area flat so I could draw an outline of the scale, but I am finding it very hard to get it flat. Does anyone have experience making bamboo scales? What need to be done to grind it down to the proper thickness and flatten the convex outer side?

I've never worked with it, but I would think if it is thick enough a bandsaw or belt sander would work.

You could cut it in 2, boil it and press it in a vice. I would remove anything inside it that woulld inhibit flattening it though. Never done it but flooring among many other things are made with bamboo. Backscratcher end is flattened.

if it isn't cured properly it will crack and warp, be forewarned of this. we used cut bamboo when I was a kid to fish with, I don't remember how long but we put them under the floor of the house for a good while to cure them out, still some would split on their own, they were what we called discards. just threw them in a pile and made a new canebreak. if it touches the ground it will take root and sprout.

It sands very easily.

Make it conform to your will.

This may help;

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...omemade-Scales-out-of-plumbing-pipe?highlight=

I've thought about going up to the local Home Depot and grabbing a piece of bamboo flooring to make scales out of but I haven't done it yet. As a benefit of doing this it would already be flat and completely cured.

Either flooring or what I did. Went to TJ Maxx and bought a 3 pc. set of cutting boards for maybe $5.00. Just watch that they are made of wider pieces and not small glued up strips.
Most bamboo cutting boards are dirt cheap and you don't have to deal with stain or sealers as on flooring.

bluesman 7 said:

This may help;

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...omemade-Scales-out-of-plumbing-pipe?highlight=

Click to expand...

This might hold some potential. Maybe my problem was trying to find a way of flattening the convex portion when maybe I should be using the convex portion as part of my shape which I probably will want to put some shape to it once I flattened it. Okay, got two pieces to experiment with to see if that's a go, then I have one set to get it right with (or I can ask for more from my friend).

dfoulk said:

I've thought about going up to the local Home Depot and grabbing a piece of bamboo flooring to make scales out of but I haven't done it yet. As a benefit of doing this it would already be flat and completely cured.

Click to expand...

When I first thought o bamboo scales, that came to mind, but most stuff at Home Depot is that veneer stuff and not the solid bamboo stuff. Also I think you need to buy a whole case and the samples are not quite as long.

mycarver said:

Either flooring or what I did. Went to TJ Maxx and bought a 3 pc. set of cutting boards for maybe $5.00. Just watch that they are made of wider pieces and not small glued up strips.
Most bamboo cutting boards are dirt cheap and you don't have to deal with stain or sealers as on flooring.

Click to expand...

A cutting board is exactly what I used.

Exactly.
no fuss no muss. Cut it up and call it done.

Seraphim said:

A cutting board is exactly what I used.

Click to expand...

Okay, I'll hit the local TJ Max and Ross' this weekend just in case the power sander or the plastic pipe trick don't work. I'll probably be out of slats by then anyway. I'm visiting my friend next month and so could probably get more and he probably has the equipment for me to work with.