Bamboo?

[Brad White]

Anyone tried or thought about trying bamboo? Superlight, super strong, cheap.... Thoughts?

[wyatt]

I have not build a HWS with bamboo....but I have worked with it. I know its some pretty strong stuff, heavy too, though I think the weight is more from the amount of glue they use to join all those small pieces together. It machines fairly well, but it is stringy....if you get tear out from machining or planing it, you can pull the fiber it creates all the way to the end of the board, so that is something to keep in mind if it happens. Also, it is hard to sand, so its going to take some extra time because of it. On the harness scale of woods, Bamboo is harder than rock maple, and believe me, if you accidentally hit your leg on a piece of it, you know it. When it's cut thin, it bends well...that's just my impression from cut offs I had around. I know they have many different configurations for the layers of the plywood that it comes in....make sure to get the one that has all the layers running in the same direction or it will be almost impossible to bend.