Bamboo joints....

[miles]

Im trying to make a bamboo coffee table but im stumped as to how to make the pieces join...Like the corners of a coffee table. i have a pic to show ppl what i mean. The site is at http://www.marigold-bamboo.com/details.htm

Is there a web site out there that would help me?

[kudzu9]

I recently had a project where I wanted to make joints like the ones shown in your link, but I had trouble finding anything online. I finally located a book called "Bamboo Work" by Paul Hasluck, which shows how to make quite a few joints in bamboo. It's a little hard to get hold of because it was published in 1901! However, the techniques are still very useful and the illustrations are clear. It was reprinted a few years ago by Lindsey Publications, but they no longer have it in stock. One source I know that carries copies is www.bamboogardener.com. Some libraries carry it as well.
I won't tell you all of the techniques, but here are two that worked for me.
1.) Get a short (2") piece of wood that's a little bigger across than the inner diameter of one of the pieces of bamboo. Use a small plane or stationary belt sander to give it a cylindrical form that matches the inside diameter of your bamboo. When you've got a good fit, coat the wood with a gap-filling adhesive like Liquid Nails. Plug the end of the bamboo and let it sit for a day. Then, using a coping saw, or a Forstner bit, or a file, or whatever works for you, cut out a curved, semi-circular shape from the now-solid bamboo end that matches the piece you want to join it to. Then you join them by putting in a long screw that runs through the hollow piece of bamboo and into the center of the wooden plug.
2.) Take one of your bamboo pieces and cut out the matching curve from it before making a plug. Then plug that end, but leave the plug sticking out maybe an inch or more. Now take your second piece of bamboo, and drill a hole in it which is the diameter of the plug. Insert the plug into the hole and then drive a screw in from the other side, or drill across the two pieces so that the you can "cross-pin" the joint with a nail. You could also put a little glue on the protruding plug before joining.

When making these joints, it helps to put a couple of wraps of masking tape around the piece of bamboo that you are cutting to prevent splintering of the outside surface of the bamboo. Obviously you can adopt these techniques to joining different diameters of bamboo.

[kudzu9]

If you want to join two pieces of bamboo at a 45 degree angle, you use a variation on the plug technique. you cut the two pieces of bamboo at a 45 degree angle, then make a plug for each one. Once you've got the plugs crafted -- and before you glue them into the bamboo ends -- you align, cut, and join them at a 45 degree angle. Then you simply spread adhesive on this joined pair of plugs and slide the mitered bamboo ends onto the plugs. You can use a little duct tape to hold it all together while everything sets up. Alternatively, if you don't mind seeing the fastener, you can just make a plug for each of the two pieces and glue them in before any cutting. Then miter the solid ends and connect them with a little glue and a nail or long screw

[Mark Meckes]

Kudzu, thanks for the step by step!
My biggest challange ie getting everything squared!
Well if everything gets really out of wack, then it either begins to look like it's how it was meant to be ... or is a complete disaster.

~ Mark