Post #772540 by Prikli Pear on Mon, Jan 30, 2017 11:46 AM

Forgive me if there's an existing thread--I tried searching but nothing came up. With all the bamboo that goes into a home tiki space, does anyone here harvest their own? There's a feral grove of bamboo near where I work that's difficult to get to but has a good number of mature-sized clums (1.25-1.75" diameter) that I could harvest and cure for my own uses. Over the weekend I collected a couple as proof-of-concept effort and got four 8' pieces out of them. I seared them with a propane torch and rubbed in the resulting resin. Now, the culms are hanging from my garage ceiling where there's a dehumidifier running to encourage the curing process.

Has anyone else done this? Any advice or suggestions? Are most bamboo woods usable for light construction, or are only some types durable enough? I've no idea what type this is--max height seems less than 25' and some of the culms have a bluish bloom on them. The lower half of the culm is pretty clean, but the upper half has lots of branching. It's a running type, blocked into a triangular area on a steep hillside by parking lots and roads. I've no idea what I will do with it, but I expect I'll come up with something sooner or later!