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My Bamboo Sticks

11268 Views 6 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  littleknife, 
Brian T
Hello everyone, howdy!

I have been working on these bamboo sticks this week and what a project! My daughter bought some bamboo poles at only £2 (US$3) each and then I have spent a further (lots of $$$$) and lots of hours!! to transfer the poles into very sturdy sticks. She first saw them on a Canadian blog by a walker who made himself a lightweight but tough hiking stick very simply out of bamboo. So I thought I could make it a bit fancier and make then look more like really good hiking sticks.

But what a material! It cracks and splinters really easily while working on it and the cut edges are razor sharp. I had to sand down the whole stick all over.

The tops and bottoms needed to be capped but, because of the splintering, I had to make 6 inch inserts and use a whole tube of epoxy resin/glue on each stick!

But, hey-ho it was a labor of love and I have made some good ones now. I even dropped them on the floor a few times to make sure they were up to the job and they were. I have attached a picture below and would like to know your thoughts and if anyone else has worked with bamboo, please reply with your experiences! Curtain Wood Metal Twig Pipe

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Rad
Brian: No experiance -- But I like what you have done!
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CAS14
Improvise, adapt, and overcome, a Marine Corps motto. You accomplished all of those.
Bravo Zulu!
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Sean
Very nice indeed and welcome to the forum! Those look sharp. I picked up some bamboo here locally and was

making some staffslings from it and I can attest to it splintering easily.

Nice thing about bamboo at least around here it's so cheap.
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AAAndrew
Bamboo. Yeah.

The first walking stick I ever made was out of bamboo. It's too short and it was the devil to work, the Japanese do some amazing things with bamboo, but the have the right tools. It is plentiful around here and can be very strong and light, but it is trickier than most hardwood.
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Kemjak
Very nice! Are the handles bamboo as well?
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L
First of all, congratulations! The bamboo sticks you made are really nice! :thumbsu: :thumbsu:

I made several bamboo staffs from bamboo sold at home decor stores. Usually the bamboo staves sold there are cracked, only a few % are free of defects, of nice color and the right size (thickness and position of the nodes).

The ones I made were not fancy at all, they were not carved, capped or drilled, like yours.

I like to cut both ends really close to the nodes with a Japanese flush cut saw. I carefully whittle and scrape with a pocketknife and sandpaper the sharp edges of the cut.

I treat the ends with beeswax & mineral oil mixture and cup the lower ends with a rubber chair leg tip. I still have some of these and use them for a casual stroll on a paved surface. I am sure they would be fine for a more demanding hike too.
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