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bamboo sidewall material

Materials and Supplies · 14 posts
chrismpWed Apr 08, 2009 4:32 am

i'm planning on using bamboo sidewalls in my snowboard. problem is i have a hard time finding solid strips of bamboo that are big enough.

the standard bamboo strips (used for bow building mostly) are only 5mm thick (my core is 7mm max.). so the sidewalls would be only 5mm thick which is a tad narrow to bevel them.

vertically laminated bamboo boards are availabe in 10mm, but i'm afraid that the additional seam could delam.

so what kind of bamboo material are you guys using as sidewalls?

dbtahoeWed Apr 08, 2009 6:26 am

I think most people round these parts use bamboo flooring. I don't have a URL for you though.

chrismpWed Apr 08, 2009 7:15 am

well, thats what i was looking at. but the bamboo flooring i found is always some kind of laminate or only 5mm thick if it's not laminated.

knightsofniiWed Apr 08, 2009 10:13 am

that's cuz bamboo is hollow, and its wall thickness of any lengthy piece is not going to get much over 5mm of usable material. I've been searching for thicker stuff too. I'd love to know what people are using and where getting it from.

threeninethreeWed Apr 08, 2009 12:22 pm

try these I have not bought them yet though.

http://calibamboo.com/bambooplywood.html

http://calibamboo.com/bamboo-flooring-s ... tural.html

knightsofniiWed Apr 08, 2009 1:16 pm

I thought that the single ply, 1/4" would be a good choice, looks like more solid pieces. So I inquired if they have it in 3/4"

threeninethreeWed Apr 08, 2009 9:05 pm

As for 3/4" it is not solid vertical at Cali Bamboo.

Here is a link to 3/4" solid vertical single ply

http://www.plyboo.com/products/bamboo-p ... grain.html

chrismpThu Apr 09, 2009 1:31 am

here's a pic showing the sidewall of my völkl squad prime 08.

it looks like the sidewalls consist of horizontally laminated veneer (dunno which wood, i guess bamboo).

they seem to withstand the regular park abuse pretty well.

edit: i've talked to the owners of indigo skis and they told me that they have a patent on bamboo cores and sidewalls. so they wouldn't fill me in on the exact details (i.e. which bamboo they use and how it's treated), but they told me that they're having thicker strips of bamboo made in asia especially for their purposes.

knightsofniiThu Apr 09, 2009 3:36 am

patenting bamboo sidewalls is like patenting the snowboard, ie: "patent pending"

by the way my jewels are patented, if yours fall within the same dimensions and shape, you may be in violation, and i may have to come seize your wife and kids

pentagramThu Apr 09, 2009 3:52 am

Yes patents are an interesting thing, the beauty is though, that if you want to know what the material is or process, that you can publicy access the patent online through a search of patents held with the countrys patent office,and as long as you are not marketing the process or product you can copy it..or modify it enough(10 percent or so) and you can do what you want with the knowledge...fun and games.Haha knights your are funny fella!

chrismpThu Apr 09, 2009 5:18 am

i've already found their patent on the net (only in german though). didn't bother to read it.

i've talked to a guy who sells WPC = wood-plastic-composite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-plastic_composite) which is used as terrace flooring.

he'll send me some samples so i can test the bonding with epoxy and the toughness.

dbtahoeThu Apr 09, 2009 6:23 am

> knightsofnii wrote:patenting bamboo sidewalls is like patenting the snowboard, ie: "patent pending"

by the way my jewels are patented, if yours fall within the same dimensions and shape, you may be in violation, and i may have to come seize your wife and kids

Actually, didn't Burton shell out $8,000,000 to the guy the had the patent on the snowboard?

plywoodThu Apr 09, 2009 8:57 am

there`s a video of indigo building a board.... somewhere. they only use thin stripes of bamboo in their core, mixed with thicker stripes of other wood (maybe poplar). at least it was like this in the video i saw about 1 year ago. maybe 2-3mm thick bamboo, 15mm thick other wood, 2-3mm bamboo etc.

dbtahoeThu Apr 09, 2009 9:06 am

PM telehead. I know he has a online resource. He's made quite a few pair of solid bamboo core skis.