This post is a follow on the Greene and Greene Dining Table  project thread.

In this thread I'll detail the construction of the table top, which I chose to do in Bamboo plywood.

- Why Bamboo?

   I've been increasingly unhappy in the selection of QS White Oak, which is the traditional preferred wood for my favorite type of furniture (Arts & Crafts style). Part of this is due to the area we now live in (about half way between L.A. and San Francisco), but also partly due to the fact that the white oak now available just isn't old growth anymore, and that the stuff grown for sustainability is younger and grown faster, and that shows up in the quality of the product.

As a borderline hippie/environmentalist (I live in a passive solar straw bale house that I built myself), I've always wondered if there wasn't an alternative material that could be used for woodworking that would produce nice looking results but be more sustainable.

Enter Bamboo Plywood. This material is harder than maple, and the time to maturity of the plant (Moso Bamboo) is just 5 years. I first saw this material in furniture at a local store which carries products from Greenington (www.bambooathomes.com). What is most important about it as a plywood is that the edge grain can be left exposed without the need for edge banding, and it still looks good (IMNSHO). It is heavy though. It weighs in at 110 lbs per sheet. Cost is a little more than QS White Oak. I paid $205/sheet for it, which brings it in at $6.41/bd ft. Another thing you need to consider is shipping costs if it is not available locally. None of the local stores here carry it. I contacted CaliBamboo (www.calibamboo.com) which is in San Diego and found that shipping on a single sheet would be $70. However, shipping per sheet on 15 sheets would bring it down to $15/sheet. So clearly there is benefit to buying in bulk. I was unable to get any of my local WW friends to go in on a purchase with me, so instead I contacted a local green building supply store (SLO green goods - www.slogreengoods.com). These guys are great and have been literally paving the way in providing sustainable alternatives for construction materials. They agreed to let me "piggyback" on their next order, and as a result I was able to get 4 sheets (three 3/4" and one 1/2" ) for just $60 in shipping costs.

I chose to use 3 ply "carbonized" bamboo, which means that it has been darkened during the laminating process by the natural sugars in the bamboo. This gives me a nice "medium" patina without having to stain it - an added benefit. I'm a typical woodworker - I HATE finishing!

I still have some questions/doubts in my mind about just how "green" this product is when you consider the total embodied energy. First, it is a labor intensive process to convert bamboo stocks into sheet goods (and this accounts for the relatively high price per BF). Pictures on the internet show that is done largely by hand. Also to be considered is the fuel in shipping the product from China to the U.S. However, there is at least one outfit in Oregon which is attempting to establish a bamboo plantation for making the plywood on the N.A. Continent.

Continued in next post….

Here is the final profile of the table top after jig sawing the rough outline and then finishing with a VERY LARGE pattern trimming bit on the router




With this done, it was time to fit the base to the table. I had made sure to have pencil lines marking the axis of the oval and centered on the top, and I used these to align the base in the center. There are holes already drilled in the base to accept 1/4" bolts, which attach to threaded inserts in the top.
I used a brad point bit inserted into the hole as a "punch" to locate where to drill the insert holes precisely. Putting the inserts in was easy on the birch plywood prototype, but on the Bamboo ply, I couldn't get them to thread in straight, and this is crucial to allowing the bolts to thread. So I ended up having to completely over drill the holes for the inserts and then epoxy them in place.

I rounded the edges using a 3/4" rounder bit set shallow to create a sort of "fingernail" cut (unfortunately, nobody seems to make fingernail bits large enough for this).



Now it was time to make the hot plate inserts on the top of the table. The inserts are 3 black granite tiles. The center is 10" x 10" and ones on either side are 8"x8". This not only allows the tiles to reduce in size as they move to the reduced width of the oval, but also mimics (since we live in a California Mission Themed house) the scene of the three crosses on Golgotha (or the last scene of Monty Python's Holy Grail, whichever you prefer).

To make the recess, I turned the Festool MFS system. After cutting the tiles to size, I closed the MFS down snug on the tiles, then added an addition 12 mm (6 mm on each side) to account for the difference between my bit (~19 mm)  and the guide bushing (30 mm OD). I marked the center of the width with a pencil and lined them up on my axis reference lines, then clamped the MFS to the top using the Festool clamps.








A little squaring with a chisel and the tiles fit nice and snug. I later had a local tile guy put a polished 45 deg bevel on the tiles. They sit in about 3/16" and rise 3/16" above the top to keep oversized hot dishes off the table top. I used a latex primer to seal the inlay areas before using mortar on the tiles. Then carefully double masked the remaining gap with blue tape (on the table and on the tile) and used black caulking, pulling the tape after a few minutes before the caulk had gotten to dry. That gave me perfect straight lines.








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Conclusion:

So will I use the Bamboo ply again? You bet I will. I like the way it worked, the "grain" of the woven outer plies looks nice, and the edge grain forms an interesting pattern. I saved a TON of time not having to glue up smaller width boards into larger pieces

Oh, almost forgot: "Sorry for the lousy picture quality". 

Love the piece.   I can't really get the Greene and Greene feel from it, but on its own merits it really rocks.  Love your house, too!

Thanks for the build pics especially.

I'm definitely gonna try bamboo ply!

Nice work!!!

JMB

I called my local wood supplier, who doesn't stock the bamboo plywood. $400 a sheet! Could be awhile before I get to play with this material at those prices....

Well, we call ourselves the central coast , LA calls us northern, SF calls us southern, and we just ignore them both.