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Working with Bamboo General discussion: All aspects about design, construction, tools and techniques.

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  #1  
Old 13th May 2001, 07:24 AM
dcnc
 
Posts: n/a
Making bamboo raft?

I have free access to a large bamboo grove and was thinking it would be a fun
weekend project to build a small raft (to hold 2 people plus overnight camping gear) with some of it. Any tips on harvesting, cutting, building?

Also I'm interested in the best design, how many layers are best, and is there a best method for integrating a little bamboo hut on top for shade?

What is the best and cheapest material to use for lashing the bamboo together for the raft?

Also, how long will a bamboo raft last?

Any help would be great, thanks!
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  #2  
Old 15th May 2001, 07:31 AM
kevinrl
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Australia - Queensland, Sunshine Coast
Posts: 19
This is not as simple as you may think.
Firstly you need to harvest the oldest culms, but those that are still alive, then they need to dry out for some time, maybe months.
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, then now is not really the best time for harvesting as the culms are full of sap in readiness to push those new shoots up out of the ground. Mid winter is the best time to harvest for timber.
But you may be able to find some dryer culms in the clump, but make sure that they are not split at all.
I tried to make a raft once with freshly harvested culms and the rotten thing just went to the bottom of the dam.
You don't say how large the culms are, length and diameter will play a major part in how many you will need to use.

On the rivers in China you will often see bamboo fishing rafts made of 6 to 10 culms, about 30 feet long and 6 inches diameter at the butt end. They even bend the thinner end up for the bow of the raft.
But if you are going to keep your feet dry you will need to build it several layers high.
The cheapest thing to lash them all together is the cheapest rope that you can find, doesn't have to be very thick, just use plenty of it.
You could build the little hut while you are waiting for the main floats to dry and then just plonk the hut on top when you know the raft will float.
Have fun.
Kevin
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  #3  
Old 15th May 2001, 09:37 AM
SueF
 
Posts: n/a
Oh, hmm. In fact, I had plannned to just cut a bunch of bamboo, grab a few hundred feet of cheap baling twine and go down to the lake over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Was going to camp by the lake and build the raft and try to float it.

Why would it sink if the hollow spaces in the bamboo are watertight? Or aren't they?

> You don't say how large the culms are, length and
> diameter will play a major part in how many you will need to use.

Not real big, I'd say maybe the biggest are 2" diamater. Is this too small?

> On the rivers in China you will often see bamboo fishing rafts made of 6 to
> 10 culms, about 30 feet long and 6 inches diameter at the butt end. They even
> bend the thinner end up for the bow of the raft.

That sounds like a neat project.

> But if you are going to keep your feet dry you will need to build it several layers high.

Yeah, I figure I'll just do three layers, then float it and see how much if it submerges with me on it.

Thanks!

Well I think I'll try it anyway, maybe you guys will have a good laugh and can say "told ya so" after I come back and tell you all the raft disaster story,
LOL.
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  #4  
Old 15th May 2001, 05:41 PM
CaroleMeckes
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: USA - Texas, Austin
Posts: 1,579
Kevin wrote:
I tried to make a raft once with freshly harvested culms and the rotten thing just went to the bottom of the dam.
---------------
Sue Wrote:
Why would it sink if the hollow spaces in the bamboo are watertight? Or aren't they?
--------------
Freshly harvested poles are heavy with fluids and that is why they would sink.

Carole
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  #5  
Old 15th May 2001, 08:53 PM
RobnKat
 
Posts: n/a
If what you really want is a quick and dirty (but fun!) boat ride, you might consider a green bamboo kayak or coracle covered with some sort of plastic or canvas tarp.
When I was a boy scout, I tied the ends of 5 poles together, put in spreaders, set it on the diagonal of an 11 foot waxed
canvas tarp, looped an old ski rope a number of times around the outside, and everyone enjoyed it all summer.
Built the whole thing myself in one day.
A green log raft the year before slid down a mudbank at its high profile "launching ceremony" and sank directly out of sight forever.

I am in Ohio, incidently, looking for flute grade root sections...
Robert
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  #6  
Old 15th May 2001, 09:59 PM
bambooda
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: USA - Hawaii, Kailua
Posts: 27
Hello Kevin,
Here in Hawaii where there isn't a lot of temperature difference between Summer and Winter.
The shooting season of the different varieties of bamboo tends to vary quite a bit and seems to respond to when the rains occur.
We have a short rainy season during the Winter and a longer rainy season in Spring/Early Summer which may vary quite a bit from year to year.
These factors, plus the windward exposure versus the leeward exposure and the elevation differences makes it very confusing when best to harvest.
Ideally, the best time is when the new shoots have shot and
are just leafing out and during a dry spell, but unless the groves are closely monitored a projected ideal harvest time is somewhat of a crap shoot.
Given that the bamboo is harvested during favorable conditions, there is another factor involved - the age of the culm. I found for optimum strength and bug resistance that the mature culms (i.e. P. aurea) of 5-7 years old are best. Young culms harvested under the same favorable conditions are not as strong, have a tendency to split when dried, and get attacked by borers with gusto.

Regards, Cal
Cal Hashimoto - www.bamboofinearts.com

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  #7  
Old 19th May 2001, 02:59 AM
Mark Meckes
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: USA - Texas, Austin
Posts: 2,383
Wish I could be there!
The only experience I have with rafts, is in the making of the likes of this Frog raft ...
See photo.

Some thoughts...

Type of bamboo makes a difference.

It would be interesting to compare the floatation capabilities of different types of bamboo

It is great fun to experiment making small models.

Try bundling smaller dia poles together...pontoon style.

For more permanent structures, synthetic rawhide (waxed polyester twine) is very strong, cheap, water-proof and very long lasting...but not biodegradeable.

Sisal twine in a large coil, is also cheap and is very biodegradeable.

Make a structure over styrofoam board, or use in combination with other floatation devices.

If your raft sinks, perhaps you might consider building a bamboo submarine..

Mark
Mark Meckes - www.bamboocraft.net

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  #8  
Old 21st May 2001, 03:04 AM
RobnKat
 
Posts: n/a
I just finished a model of a Welsh Coracle (small skin/fabric covered boat) out of slats from a garbage find - bamboo window blind.
The homepage of the Coracle Society, has several Asian watercraft of bamboo.
I would like to hear how the raft project goes.
Robert

(Edit: The link provided to the Coracle Society/Asian watercraft no longer works )
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  #9  
Old 21st May 2003, 12:08 PM
SueF
 
Posts: n/a
Thanks to everyone who responded.
It is good to know that I can't just cut a bunch of green bamboo this time of year (spring), lash them together and expect to have a buoyant raft.
However, I still plan to do the project, just will dry
the bamboo first.

What is the best way to dry out the culms for a few weeks/months without them splitting?
I can go out and cut them now, then store and dry them and perhaps start the raft in a few months.
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  #10  
Old 1st March 2009, 08:09 PM
neriphis
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: USA - LA, Baton Rouge
Posts: 1
will green undried bambo work for a raft to hold 4 or 5 people maybe just 3 it will be layered
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  #11  
Old 9th June 2009, 12:03 AM
sandman
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: USA - CA, Huntington Beach
Posts: 1
Tim Severin has written a very interesting book on building a bamboo raft in Vietnam and attempting to sail it across the North Pacific to North America with a crew to prove a historical point. (He does this in a number of books which follow historical or mythical voyages or journeys.) Very interesting book, expecially on the type of bamboo he used and how he obtained it and the Vietnamese boat builders who put it together.

Sandy
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