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Thread: Staining Bamboo plywood

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Seattle area , Duvall
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    2,103

    Staining Bamboo plywood

    Does it take stain very well? I want to go from a natural to a honey color, so it might just be lacquer toned to a honey color. I'm just not sure on absorption and if end grain will take stain easily or if its a challenge.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    LA & SC neither one is Cali
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    9,447
    My experience is no bamboo products I have had including the 2 sheets of ply I have used would stain or dye well. However, I have had pretty limited experience with it and just chose to use it natural. If I am not mistaken in the flooring industry it used to be only available in natural or carmelized (heat treated) due to poor staining but I have noticed that they have apparently fixed that issue but I have no idea how.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
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    11
    Hi Craig,

    I've been working with solid bamboo plywood for 7 years and I can confirm that it stains and dyes exceptionally well.

    First off, the bamboo grain is even, so no need to patch up knots first. This also makes for a uniform stain/dye.

    I've found that whatever dyes, stains & finishes work well with medium density hard woods, work equally well with solid bamboo plywood boards. As I'm in Cape Town, South Africa, I'm not sure I can recommend any specific products to you as you may not have them locally.

    One exception for finishing is that if you plan to use an oil based finish, I'd recommend you stay away from the strand woven bamboo boards unless you have a lot of time on your hands. The strand woven bamboo boards are extremely dense (think Brazilian Teak hard), so the oil takes forever to penetrate.

    The solid bamboo boards are fine with oils and you can treat pretty similar to how you'd handle Oak (minus the knots).

    Here are a few reference photos and articles for your info:

    More info on solid bamboo boards
    Post on finishes for bamboo boards and plywood
    Photos of solid bamboo and strand woven bamboo with different finishes, dyes and stains
    Printing on solid bamboo panels
    Different applications using bamboo boards, plywood and panels (CNC, Laser cutting, etc)

    Hope this helps.

    Regards

    Bradley

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Grottoes, VA.
    Posts
    905
    Who carries bamboo plywood?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Seattle area , Duvall
    Posts
    2,103
    Around here in seattle most hardwood suppliers do.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin W Johnson View Post
    Who carries bamboo plywood?
    Thanks for the info and references.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bradley Schmidt View Post
    Hi Craig,

    I've been working with solid bamboo plywood for 7 years and I can confirm that it stains and dyes exceptionally well.

    First off, the bamboo grain is even, so no need to patch up knots first. This also makes for a uniform stain/dye.

    I've found that whatever dyes, stains & finishes work well with medium density hard woods, work equally well with solid bamboo plywood boards. As I'm in Cape Town, South Africa, I'm not sure I can recommend any specific products to you as you may not have them locally.

    One exception for finishing is that if you plan to use an oil based finish, I'd recommend you stay away from the strand woven bamboo boards unless you have a lot of time on your hands. The strand woven bamboo boards are extremely dense (think Brazilian Teak hard), so the oil takes forever to penetrate.

    The solid bamboo boards are fine with oils and you can treat pretty similar to how you'd handle Oak (minus the knots).

    Here are a few reference photos and articles for your info:

    More info on solid bamboo boards
    Post on finishes for bamboo boards and plywood
    Photos of solid bamboo and strand woven bamboo with different finishes, dyes and stains
    Printing on solid bamboo panels
    Different applications using bamboo boards, plywood and panels (CNC, Laser cutting, etc)

    Hope this helps.

    Regards

    Bradley

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Katonah, NY
    Posts
    191
    I have never used bamboo ply, so my thoughts may not apply. That said, I use bamboo in the pole form for the backing of long bows. The culm gets split and the resulting slat in glued to other woods. When it is time to apply a finish and a stain, the outer waxy rind on the boo is scraped off (otherwise no satin will take) and I use a variety of leather dyes to stain with. Feibings is one brand and the other I use is RIT - although the RIT gets mixed with DNA instead of water (as per its instructions) so no grain gets raised. I would imagine that the boo ply you need to finish does not have the waxy rind to deal with. I have found that the blending of colors is easily accomplished as well, if that interests you.

    I have tried and tested a variety of regular wood satins as well. Minwax and Red Devil, among others. In my opinion, they do not serve the purpose well. Someday, when I run out of leather dye, I will try aniline dye stains to see if they work - my guess is they will work fine. Leather dyes are cheap and easy to come by so I have had no reason to look further.

    Good Luck.

    Russ

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    portland oregon
    Posts
    1,286
    why not just get it in the darker colors. there are several shades of plywood.
    Steve knight
    cnc routing

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