Post #810542 by ECTiki on Tue, Aug 29, 2023 3:18 PM

Ceiling - check. Bar - check. Pool table - check…. On to the walls. I decided to line the walls with bamboo slats. I started next to Lego and worked my way around the walls clockwise. After some trial and error, I think mastered working with bamboo. Ok, well maybe I haven’t mastered it, at least I’m not apprehensive to work with bamboo slats anymore. Some things that I found helpful working with bamboo slats:

1. Since bamboo tends to narrow at one end remember to alternate tops and bottoms to keep your vertical line plumb.
2. Cut notches behind (non display side) knuckles or seams to eliminate the natural curve of the bamboo. This allows the bamboo to lay flat against a wall/ceiling surface.
3. Use painters tape on all cuts to eliminate bamboo splintering.
4. Drill small pilot holes for nails. Bamboo is hard AF and finish nails bend.
5. When possible, only put nails in seams (knuckles) at it helps to conceal finish nails.
6. Go back over the head of the finish nail with a small craft needle brush and flat black paint and your nails completely disappear.

Full round bamboo is different monster all together. I have watched craftsman in the tropics make precision lengthwise splits with machetes. I quickly learned that what they make look easy, isn’t. Absent some technique the cutting edge tends to migrate to one side making for uneven cuts. More on that later….