Bamboo Plywood

[ScaredyCat]

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The other day I happened upon a Frank Howarth video where he's doing his kitchen cabinets. He mentioned that he was using bamboo ply. I was intrigued, primarily because I though it might be a cheap product that I could butcher without too much concern although I was worried that it'd look crappy.
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I was wrong, on both counts.
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I sent off for some samples, little squares, they arrived today. Some of these are utterly gorgeous and I swear the Havana gives off a faint curry aroma.
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I do, however, see two problems with it straight away. The first is availability, there seem to be 2 UK suppliers of bamboo ply and the ordering process appears to be geared up for those ordering in very large quantities, there's certainly no retail outlet. One site lists prices, the other has a "request a quote" button. The second issue is price. The cheapest, quite frankly the ugliest, version available is around £150 + VAT per sheet and prices only go up from that ... £170 ... £180.. So much for a cheap option :lol: But I really do like the "Neapolitan" (should have called it Tiger), the Havana and the Chocolate.

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[sunnybob]

I know that as Blockboard, not ply.
But I havent seen bamboo facing before.

 

[MikeG.]

It'll wreck the edge on your tools, too. Bamboo is murder to work with. Apparently, from memory, it has a very high silica content, so sawing it is somewhat like sawing a mineral. Looks great, though.

 

[John Brown]

It'll wreck the edge on your tools, too. Bamboo is murder to work with. Apparently, from memory, it has a very high silica content, so sawing it is somewhat like sawing a mineral. Looks great, though.

I agree. I bought a couple of packs of bamboo flooring a few years back for about £1 each. Thought it would be good for jigs and such, as it seemed very stable. It blunts my bandsaw blades and smells bad when being cut as well. I ended up just using it for workshop shelves.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I know that as Blockboard, not ply.
But I havent seen bamboo facing before.

I knew it as laminboard - blockboard had wider "staves".

 

[sunnybob]

Never heard of laminboard, but I have a 40 year gap in my wood type knowledge (hammer)

 

[Geoff_S]

I've layed some bamboo flooring. Very, very tough and hardly marks.

 

[Kev]

Remember putting in bamboo worktops for a customer a few years ago. Cut outs for an under-slung butler sink were not fun !

 

[Sideways]

Many folk won't ever have seen one as they aren't common but the Walko portable workbenches from the Netherlands were originally supplied withbamboo "ply" or "blockboard" worktops just as you pictured.
They are durable and were promoted as resistant to moisture.
After buying the Peter Parfitt jig for making dog holes in your own workbench, I thought about making some alternative worktops for mine with a custom pattern of holes. I got exactly the same shock at the price and discovered that Walko now use much cheaper rubberwood for their worktops

 

[Rorschach]

Many folk won't ever have seen one as they aren't common but the Walko portable workbenches from the Netherlands were originally supplied withbamboo "ply" or "blockboard" worktops just as you pictured.
They are durable and were promoted as resistant to moisture.
After buying the Peter Parfitt jig for making dog holes in your own workbench, I thought about making some alternative worktops for mine with a custom pattern of holes. I got exactly the same shock at the price and discovered that Walko now use much cheaper rubberwood for their worktops

Current B&D workmates, even the cheap ones, come with bamboo "ply" tops.

 

[Sideways]

Awesome ! That's a huge step up from the chipboard used on one of my old workmates.

 

[ScaredyCat]

At least the fact that it appears to be terrible to work with makes me feel a little better about not being able to afford it :lol:

 

[rafezetter]

Awesome ! That's a huge step up from the chipboard used on one of my old workmates.

I got a stack of leftovers of bamboo flooring (close to two whole packs) and was planning to use it for just this purpose - Erik - if you read this, remember my offer for yours !

 

[Bodgers]

I know that as Blockboard, not ply.
But I havent seen bamboo facing before.

It is a different thing. I bought blockboard a couple of years back and the core blocks are softwood (with some small gaps) sandwiched between thin hardwood faces. Relatively inexpensive.

Bamboo ply is more of a premium product of bamboo laminations.