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bamboo sidewall material

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:32 am
by chrismp
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?

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:26 am
by dbtahoe
I think most people round these parts use bamboo flooring. I don't have a URL for you though.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:15 am
by chrismp
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.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:13 am
by knightsofnii
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.

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:22 pm
by threeninethree

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:16 pm
by knightsofnii
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"

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:05 pm
by threeninethree
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

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:31 am
by chrismp
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.

Image

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.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:36 am
by knightsofnii
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 ;)

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:52 am
by pentagram
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!

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:18 am
by chrismp
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.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:23 am
by dbtahoe
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?

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:57 am
by plywood
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.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:06 am
by dbtahoe
PM telehead. I know he has a online resource. He's made quite a few pair of solid bamboo core skis.