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THE WARMTH OF WOOD, THE RESISTANCE OF BAMBOO
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Classic bamboo processing phases and technology

CLASSIC BAMBOO PROCESSING PHASES AND TECHNOLOGY

sanding sandingmaster parquet bambooProcessing bamboo for generating strips to be used for flooring (flooring or a prefinished parquet ready for laying)

The process from the bamboo stem to the prefinished parquet involves between 20 and 30 processing phases; in brief these include:

  • sawing the bamboo stem which comes from the forest (just four to five year old plants, which are straight and round with a height of 15-20 metres, and which are 25-30 cm in diameter); this is then cut into logs (cables) of the same size; the logs are cut lengthways (the culms are split) so that it can result in smooth, single crescent shaped strips (see the illustration on the right); and long square strips are then produced once the structure bamboo boardsexterior nodes and green parts have been removed;
  • the part of the bamboo culm used to make flooring is the low section, which has thicker walls and is therefore more suitable for this type of plank; the central part of the cane is used instead to produced tempered bamboo parquets, and the top section is used for other products which do not require specific mechanical properties such as small bamboo objects or chopsticks;
  • by this stage, the strips which will retain their natural colour are immersed in an H2O2 solution at a temperature of 85-90° C for approximately four hours; the slats on the other hand will retain a carbonised colour given they are thermo treated by making them subject to two cycles of steam jet treatment; the first of which lasts for around two hours at a temperature of 140° C, while the second lasts for fifty minutes at a temperature of approximately 90° C; both of these processes are geared towards ridding the bamboo from all its manufacturing planks parquetnutrients, sugars and insects;
  • thereafter the strips are conditioned and acclimatised for approximately one week which allows them to reach the correct humidity level (below 10%);
  • the strips will still be allowed to rest for a few days so that they can continue to stabilise after they have been dried;
  • you can then choose from the best strips; the strips which have been processed are ready to be bonded together (using the Dutch Akzo Nobel adhesive – see safety data sheet – or the Finnish Dynea – see safety data sheet -) and they will then undergo hydraulic pressing for around ten minutes so that they can be shaped into either a horizontal or vertical axis (have another look at the illustration to the right);
  • the axles will continue to rest for at least one week, which will provide them with maximum stability for bamboo hornag machine profilingthis core; the heads are the cut off so that the boards are of the required length and so that the bottoms can be processed using the Weinig Profimat machine;
  • the axles can now be blasted using the Dutch Timesavers sandblaster;
  • the axles are then waterproofed at the bottom and at the sides by using German Treffert solution; this is a transitional phase which helps prevent any moisture from being absorbed on the sides of the axles and ensures that the flooring has a long service life;
  • the male-female interlocking on the four sides of the axles are set incredibly accurately at a rate of 330 m2 per hour using the German Hornag machine tool;

prefinsihed flooring finish line

  • surface treatment with the Swedish Bona finish – see safety data sheet – is the final processing stage using the Taiwanese Feng Chaou treatment system;
  • the prefinished bamboo strips are packaged and dispatched after one to two days. every stage of bamboo parquet production is interlinked by adjusting the relative humidity level of the wood in drying rooms owned by the Italian company Nardi, which allows them to reach the level of moisture required.