Notching Bamboo Long-Wise

i do it a lot ! did a bunch last week

i screw the bamboo to a board on its straightest side and run the board against the fence . in the photo , the faceframes are cut in half down the middle . the center section on top is notched out 3/4 in and slid on over the arched maple valence . and the one below is notched and slid on to the front of the shelf hope it helps !

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/3855

Thanks Mr. Trim!

my pleasure , good luck ! and i would not stand directly behind the bamboo during this process

Do you experience a lot of kickback from a operation like this?

no not really but i think theres a possibility so i do it very carefully , the noise it makes is a little scary at first .
when im cutting a notch i usually cut one slice on my mark and then move the fence to the 3/4 mark slice again then take out the middle one slice at a time during this process the center part can come flying out towards you thats why i stand to the side

I used to make fly rods for fishing out of bamboo. The quality that made it so good for fishing rods is the fact that bamboo splits very easy and very straight. If you wish to split it in two down the middle just take a fore,(a blunt large knife) and hammer and tap it down through the middle , the bamboo will split easly to the nodes then you must tap it through the node and it will split easly to the next node, and you continue on from node to node. You will find that you will beable to control it very well. If you only need to take out a notch use a carpet or hook nose knife (a dull one ) so you only go through the wall, tap it down and redo it the width you desire. When doing fishing rods we normally would split it into 1/4” strips. If you get any twist or bend bamboo is very plyable if heated. Use a propane torch like you use for plumbing, heat it where the bend or twist is and the hold it straight till it cools and it will remain in that shape.

-- Tom D

I’ll try that Tom. Thanks!