# Bamboo?



## mdphilps (Jan 3, 2010)

I might be able to get my hands on about 20 cords of bamboo.  Anyone have any experience burning it?

Is it dirty to burn?

Any info would be helpful to me!!

Thanks,
Matt


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## Hakusan (Jan 3, 2010)

Bamboo is related to the grass family. I doubt it would have much heat value. It would also depend on the type of bamboo. The Japanese have giant bamboo and I have never heard of them burning it, although they do make charcoal out of it, that is used to purify water or maybe used in a hibachi.


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## EatenByLimestone (Jan 3, 2010)

I imagine that it would burn pretty fast.  20 cords of hollow straws probably isn't as great as it sounds.  But it is interesting since I've never heard of anybody burning it.  

Matt


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## Adios Pantalones (Jan 3, 2010)

Wish I could get ahold of that- I bet it makes a lot of ash per pound and burns super fast.


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## mjhfoster (Jan 3, 2010)

I haven't heard of anyone burning bamboo here.  I suppose you could burn it if it was suitably seasoned.  It would have to be at a much lower cost than the softest wood, though.  It's traditionally used for fencing.

Matt.


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## ohio woodburner (Jan 4, 2010)

Just think you would have twenty cords of kindling


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## mbcijim (Jan 4, 2010)

I had a tractor trailer load to dispose of.  In fact I think I offered it on here for free but no one took me up on it.

So I burned it.  In about 4 hours outside.  It burns REALLY fast.  

AND they are straws, but about every 6" vertically, you'll notice a ring on the outside of the bamboo.  Picture a wedding ring on a finger.  I'm sure if you Google a picture of it you will see what I am talking about.  That ring continues through the bamboo straw and creates little 6" tubes that are airtight.  So guess what happens to those tubes since they are airtight?  I believe the air expands (not 100% sure on the science, just the outcome) until the micro tube explodes, or pops.  So if you do burn it, be prepared to hear firecrackers going off continuously in your stove.  When I burned the entire load, I can only estimate the number of pops in the tens of thousands, or maybe even a few hundred thousand.  It was a constant noise.   Not many, but some pops would send burning material 30' or so too.  While I didn't see any explosions capable of breaking the glass on my stove, I would be concerned about it.  Lastly, I'd be surprised if I could put 10# of the stuff in my stove.  It is very light.  Weight is probably very closely rated with possible BTU output.  

IMO, maybe good for an OWB if you could feed it a couple times a day but useless for a wood stove.  The stuff I had was already bundled and could have been cut to length very, very easy.


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## Battenkiller (Jan 4, 2010)

Good bamboo (the stuff they make fly rods out of) is denser than just about any wood you will encounter (if you disregard the pithy inside surface).  Remove the pith and it will sink in water.   It is mostly power fibers and lignin.  I have several culms of fly rod grade 'boo stored in the floor joists right over my stove.  Once I can figure out how to post photos here, I'll take a close up of the end of one.

I'm sure it will burn hot and intensely, but you will only get as much heat from it as it weighs - just like any other wood.  Dense as it is, I can't imagine a cord is very heavy given that it is hollow, and I would be very careful burning lots of it all at once if you haven't cleaned your chimney recently.


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## Wood Duck (Jan 5, 2010)

I think bamboo will have a lot of BTUs per pound, but a lot of open space, so the BTU per cord will be low. Also, the hollow pieces of the bamboo may explode when it heats up in the fire. Down around New Orleans it is a Christmas Eve tradition to make bonfires to light the way for Santa Claus or the shepherds or the three wise men (I don't recall the version of the tradition that I was told). Anyway, they put bamboo on the bonfires for the purpose of creating loud, exciting bangs. That bamboo was green, but dry bamboo might explode also.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jan 5, 2010)

Batten- is that tonkin cane bamboo that you have?  It's common in bow-making.


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## Battenkiller (Jan 5, 2010)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> Batten- is that tonkin cane bamboo that you have?  It's common in bow-making.



Yes, Tonkin.  I'm a bow maker as well... _violin_ bows.  

We use a wood called pernambuco from the coast of Brazil. I'll bet nobody on this board could ID it, even if they were holding a board in their hands. It's extremely dense (SG = 1.2-1.2). I wonder how it'd burn? 

I think they used to make golf club shafts out of Tonkin cane, so it's pretty strong stuff.  In fact, that's how the great fly rod maker Everett Garrison got into cane rods, from starting out with golf clubs.

I don't think Tonkin cane would do much exploding once it's dry because it usually splits through the internodal regions.  Even if it didn't, the spacing between them is so long you'd have to really try to get an intact encapsulated section into a stove.  Even then, it would be a rare small diameter piece that would be solid all the way across the node, and then it wouldn't have the strength to hold back the pressure that it would take to explode those thick, tough walls.

In short, I wonder if the stuff folks are saying is exploding is real bamboo or if it is the bamboo-like stuff that grows wild around here.  The kids called it "popwood" because it sounds like popcorn (_big_ popcorn) when you burn it.


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## roddy (Jan 5, 2010)

bamboo is not soft.....we import some bamboo flooring for retail and while it is not as hard as say maple flooring,it is comparable to ash and pine flooring...should be better than burning many softwoods and softer hard wood species such as poplar,aspen and basswood
r


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## Battenkiller (Jan 5, 2010)

roddy said:
			
		

> bamboo is not soft.....we import some bamboo flooring for retail and while it is not as hard as say maple flooring,it is comparable to ash and pine flooring...should be better than burning many softwoods and softer hard wood species such as poplar,aspen and basswood
> r



The bamboo I have is even harder than maple.  It dulls your plane iron up real fast. The outside has some of the highest fiber density of any natural material known.  The fibers are really strong and are showing up all over in clothing these days.

It has lots of minerals in it (depending on were it is grown), so you can expect a lot of ash per BTU.  It grows extremely fast (C4 metabolism, just like corn) and very tall, so on an acre by acre comparison, it can produce as much biomass as corn but grows well in untillable soils, so it is being investigated for lots of purposes. I think it would be best used to make bricks or pellets, but if I had 20 cord of it...

BTW, just make sure it isn't fly rod grade Tonkin cane you are burning.  That stuff is worth $20-50 a stick.


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## mbcijim (Jan 5, 2010)

Dry bamboo still explodes.  While it does crack when dry, no where near all of the cylinders crack.


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## croghanite (Jan 12, 2010)

I have around two acres of giant bamboo and a half an acre of golden bamboo. I use it as kindling and it burns hot and fast. I wouldn't want 20 cords of it lying around....


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