Bending Bamboo Baseboard

[J. Francis]

I have a considerable amount of 1/2 inch by 6 inch high bamboo baseboard to bend so it may follow the contours of radius walls. The base is pre-finished on the face side, unfinished on the back side. It is constructed of strips glued together that are approximately 3/8 inch high and run continuous the full 8 foot length. Does anyone have advice on how this can be bent to an inside and or outside radius of approximately 6 feet?

I've read some articles on the properties of plasticizing wood through heat and have read the posts in this forum on heating and bending bamboo. I thought maybe on constructing an 8' hot plate to heat the bamboo.

[4windsbamboo]

Hello Francis,

I just read your post and would love to see how bending worked for you.

I work with bamboo as well, but haven't had much luck bending my brand of bamboo flooring (http://www.4windsbamboo.com). It seems the multiple layers change the composition too much.

How did your project turn out?

[J. Francis]

Thanks for asking about my bamboo bending experience. I had quite a lot of 6" bamboo base to bend. Many of the bends were at a 6' radius. I constructed a steam box and experimented on my kitchen range using a tea kettle and a steam box I fashioned out of 1"x8" poplar. I was able to form a lasting bend in the base at about a 24" radius. The actual clamping radius was closer to 18". There were two things that were problematic with the steaming and that was that the process took too long and that the bamboo had a tendency to fracture on the face side.
The base I was working with was pre-finished on one side. The side with the finish would fracture when doing a convex radius. The convex radius was easier to form than a concave radius. I think if the bamboo was unfinished the outcome would have been more successful.
I was relegated to kerfing all the base. Depending on the radius, the distance apart on the kerfs varied from 1/2" to 1". The 1/2" thick base was kerfed at about a 5/16" depth. Kerfing the base was the most satisfactory method for my project.
I have some photos of my "shade tree" bending apparatus, steamer and the final product, installed. When I figure out how to post photos I'll put them on the forum.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi J. Francis,
Much appreciate the update on your bamboo bending experience!
Yes we'd love to see your pics.

See info on ... Uploading Image attachments into Forum Posts (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1298)

Mark