How do i preserve new bamboo

[bamboogirl]

how do i treat bamboo in order to preserve/use it for other projects?

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Chele,
Methods and reasons for treating or preserving bamboo are many, just like with treating wood, and of course there's variations.

This book provides a excellent overview:

"Bamboo Preservation Compendium" (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=886) by Dr. Walter Liese and Dr. Satish Kumar

Numerous treatments have been addressed here and elsewhere, but much more specifics and further research is needed.

To put it mildly, this is a very complex topic.

I will add the chapter contents of the above book, (when I find where I put it), as it outlines the scope of this topic.

Mark

[bamboogirl]

mark this is chele from tn (whom you met last year at the SEC meeting)
i have bamboo poles i want to save.after they dry out for two months after cutting ,can i use a propane torch to light burn of the outer coating then apply a stain ? as im not a factory with all kinds of eqt i just want to save the bamboo.....what do you and others use to save there small art work in bamboo?

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Chele, good to hear from you!
Got a home with an acre (+) grove and it's like living inside a bamboo factory, ... the way it keeps pumping out more culms then we need, year after year.
We do find good use for every piece and return to the grove what we don't need, in the form of composting mulch.

One thing that can use up a lot of bamboo is fences and garden features.
For these I just let them age naturally and replace as needed.

The majority of our bamboo begins by being air dried outside.
There are sunny places and shady places, each drying at different rates and producing a different finish.
Always short on storage space we have various covered places around the house and yard to dry and store bamboo.

Though Texas can get hot and dry to the extreme, I think it gives one more leeway or control of the drying, then say, in regions with warmth and extended high humidity, where molds and mildew can easily affect the appearance, and quality of the drying bamboo.

> can i use a propane torch to light burn of the outer coating then apply a stain ?

hmmm dunno

When the bamboo is heated, the outer coating liquifies. When it cools it hardens.

What would be the effect of wiping on a solvent-based stain while it is still hot and slick?

Danger: Propane gas torch + flameable solvent = Fire
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Mark

[bamboogirl]

my thoughts are to burn off the outer coating and finish it by sanding.....then later add a finish to it so where is the danger?

[Mark Meckes]

This piece of Moso was heat treated, with a propane torch,and then one part was sanded (the upside down figure), first using a 1 " wide table top belt sander. Unfinished.

After heating > http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/522/thumbs/104072265BSclptUpnDn.JPG (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=992) http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/522/thumbs/104072263BSclptUpnDn.JPG (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=991) < Before Heating

[DeathlyLotus213]

How do you keep(preserve) the natural green colour of the Bamboo using simple methods.

[soccerdude]

I pretty sure there is no way to preserve the green in bamboo.

[DeathlyLotus213]

how long before it starts losing its colour and what is the quickest method of preserving it in the final colour...

[CaroleMeckes]

soccerdude is correct - there is no way that I know of to keep the green color on a bamboo pole forever. It is just natural for the pole to dry and change color.

How long it will take depends on the conditions that it is dried in. Hot sun will dry the pole faster, a shady spot will take longer. It is good to rotate the culms as they dry, especially if one side of the culm gets more sunshine than the other side. That way it will dry more evenly.

Drying poles indoors is another option and it may take longer to change color indoors - but then again it could depend on the air conditioning or the heating of the house in the winter that effects how long it takes for the color to change.

Generally, I'd give it 4-6 months to change.

Sometimes you just have to accept the course that nature takes.

Carole

[glenita]

Bamboo is easily attacked by insects and fungi due to presence of starch and sugar in abundance. Prophylactic treatment of either bamboo or bamboo mats is very essential to enhance their life during storage.
There are two types of prophylactic treatments viz.,
(1) Traditional or Non-Chemical Treatment
(2) Chemical Treatment.

Typical traditional methods include: smoking and white washing.

Smoking:
Smoking is carried out in chambers. Heat which destroy starch in bamboo thus making them immune to insect attack and also blackens.

White washing
Bamboo are often painted with slaked lime, which reduces moisture absorption

Chemical treatment is more effective than traditional treatments. Typical chemical treatment methods uses water soluble preservatives like Gamma BHC 0.5%, Formalin 0.5% , Phenol+ 1 Copper sulphate (1: 2), sodium penta chlorophenate 0.5% and Borax 1.5%. The chemicals are dissolved in water. Bamboos are either sprayed with the solution or dipped in the solution for 10 minutes.
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Glenita

[dincbee]

'Chemical treatment is more effective than traditional treatments. Typical chemical treatment methods uses water soluble preservatives like Gamma BHC 0.5%, Formalin 0.5% , Phenol+ 1 Copper sulphate (1: 2), sodium penta chlorophenate 0.5% and Borax 1.5%. The chemicals are dissolved in water. Bamboos are either sprayed with the solution or dipped in the solution for 10 minutes. '
Hi Glenita, I am a new bamboo enthusiast, pls tell me the ratios pf these chemical to be mixed with water. Are all the chemicals required. . Tq