Bamboo and Glowing Balls in Nets- please help ideas

Hi Everyone,

We have (sadly) said goodbye to our vintage tiki bar in Portland and have relocated to sunny Santa Monica. Of course I am ready to dive right in and start decorating but I don't know where to find the supplies. I was hoping that the LA TC community could help. I also could use some ideas on how to put things together since I also left my super handy step-dad in Oregon, too.

For my first project I would like to camouflage out tiny patio's fence with bamboo poles. What are some good places to find a fair price on bamboo poles? I think that we will need 5 or 6 foot lengths.

Also wondered if anyone had suggestions on how to cut/shorten the bamboo (if we need to) and how to attach it the the fence. It will be the inside of the fence with the horizontal pieces of fence facing inwards.

The other part of the project is I would like to have some large plastic balls in nets that light up hanging from the ceiling of the patio. I could really use some ideas on how to create those. Also if anyone has suggestions on where to get the balls and nets in the Los Angeles are or online I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance!
Gem

Have you looked at bamboo & reed fencing to cover the fence? It's aready wired together and can be simply stapled to the posts of your fence with contruction staples. You can either get the small, thin reed fencing or larger diameter bamboo at most housing supply warehouses.

If you want it DIY you could pick up bamboo from Bamboo Ben or Oceanic Arts, giving you an excuse to visit them, or check your local gardening center or housing supply warehouse, you can cut it to length with a chop saw & split it with a machete (half round bamboo will double the coverage you get from the same amount of round bamboo).

For quickie DIY light up globes in netting you could take an unmirrored gazing ball or a round, white garden lamp cover, add a 40 watt colored light inside & put it into some of that string netting you can pick up at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

Santa Monica's a little far, but the place I got bamboo from for my bar was called Butler Box and Stake (sounds weird, but they got good stuff). They'll cut the pole into half-rounds for you, so they cover more area, like the Rt. Rev. Freelance has indicated. The number, if you're interested, is 714-554-0600. They're on 3514 Westminster Ave in Santa Ana. You can mapquest it to see how far. Might be a little farther than you're willing to drive, but the yellow pages are a good resource, I think I just looked under wood or building supplies or something like that. You might be able to find a good supplier that's closer. I know Oceanic Arts has the fencing type stuff that's already all wired together, at least they did the last time I was there.
Lots of garden shops and places like that also have glass floats in netting already. The pottery/garden shop right across PCH from the Royal Hawaiian had a nice big 12- 15 inch diameter float in netting for about $30. But you have to cut a hole in the float if you want to put a light bulb in it, which can be slightly dangerous. There's a thread in Creating Tiki that discusses this. Something like a gazing ball might be an okay idea, but if they're opaque, you wouldn't able to see any light through it.

Try http://www.frankssupply.com. Cuz they'll send anything in the post. They have a lot of bamboo poles, matting, tikis, lamps, etc...AND they're down the street from Bamboo Ben where you can pick up ready made stuff. (Really, since you are now in SoCal, you should make the trek down)
Home Depot/ Lowe's for the reed fencing. Occasionally, they have the bamboo fences in 1"-1 1/2" poles. (The nerd neighbor works at HD and always lets me know when its in-find yourself a HD nerd and hold onto him/her!)
Enjoy the dry!

as for the bamboo (you can use the search engine):

Cutting bamboo is best with fine toothed blades, like Benzart suggested - a hack saw does a very good job. You can also purchase (if you'll be cutting a lot of bamboo) specialty saws for the job here:
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/saws.html
These puppies make the job of cutting bamboo very easy and quick. Just plop it in a Mitre box and cut (or eyeball it too). Very fast cutting with minimal sanding needed (if any).
For cutting lenghtwise, I suggest splitting the bamboo. If there are no cracks in the bamboo it will split straight. I started by using a thin bike wrench to split it, and it worked fine forcing it down through the bamboo and it split relatively straight, but the proper tools work MUCH better. You can order the hatchets here:
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/splitters.html
and here (for a single split to cut it in halves):
http://www.hidatool.com/bamboopage/hatchets.html
I think this place sells the bamboo tools too, and are a little closer to your area, I think.
http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo.html
let this page load (it may take a while if you're on a dialup) and they're in the middle of the page.

No matter how you split and cut your bamboo (with power tools or hand tools) there will still be a minimal amount of sanding that you want to do. Bamboo splinters are extreamly painful. Good luck!

Franks cane and rush has plenty of bamboo/rattan and so does Oceanic arts. Now that you live in Santa Monica you MUST go to oceanic arts. Just do it. Now.
Like other people said - the fencing is at HOme DEPOT

As far as the glass floats are concerned, if you want glass I could make you one or two:

Pm or email me for prices/sizes

if you want diy plastic...HOme DEPOT again - buy the 10" plastic light covers paint it or leave it (in the lighting department), get some fish netting (OA, ebay, botique stores, joannes fabric, etc), wire a light and hang it up. If you don't want to paint it just buy a colored bulb.

I made fish float lamps from those gazing balls and Party City net. Those balls are half price often. Was an easy project once I found the right stuff to put inside the ball to haze it over.

Here is the TC thread.

Thank you, everyone for all the great suggestions! Sorry about my delay in posting my thanks. We finally go our internet today.

We did go to Oceanic Arts last weekend. (It is great to get to go there with out having to fly there!!) Bob was so super helpful. He showed us all around and was so amazingly generous with his knowledge, sources and time. It was a wonderful trip. When we get something going I will try to post some pictures.

Thanks Again!
Gem

I'm a little late to the post but you can also find some building materials right down the 405 from you at Benson's Imports (http://www.bensonsimport.com). You cannot beat Oceanic Arts for quality and the help they provide but Benson's has a lot of building material at fairly reasonable prices.

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[ Edited by: kingtiki 2006-03-27 13:54 ]

Thank you TikiKing!

We will have fun checking them out. It is great to find out about places that are close to us.

Very Best,
Gem