Laminated bamboo furniture is a modern invention but has already become popular in many countries. It is produced from molded bamboo components and to the uninitiated eye the furniture is unrecognizable as having been produced from bamboo. A huge range of furniture can be produced, such as table and chairs, bookshelves, beds, cabinets and recliners. The furniture is durable, practical and has a modern appearance and in recent years elegant designs have been produced in China and Japan.
The laminated bamboo furniture unit is a relatively large-scale venture requiring start-up capital and a number of experienced personnel. By innovating new designs and seeking out new markets the unit will be able to develop rapidly and there are significant opportunities to open up exporting markets for laminated bamboo furniture in more affluent countries. The unit can easily be established at the community level, ideally as a cooperative venture. In view of the scale of investment required it might be preferable to establish the unit with the assistance of state agencies or NGOs to ensure the venture is successful and the community is the true beneficiaries.
Drawing the profile
In Furniture construction, full-scale drawings are utilized to enable one to pick measurements off the drawings while actual construction is on. For this purpose, the design is drawn full scale.
Bending with Heat
Following the practice of the cane furniture manufacturers of the North East, blow lamps were used to apply focused heat on to the poles and force bend it on a Wooden Horse (Mould). Basically the mould or horse is made out of solid wood. While one beam is perpendicular to the ground, there are two support beams parallel to the ground. The artisan makes a notch in the perpendicular and after hitching the bamboo in the notch, applies direct heat through the blowlamp. The notch is basically locking the bamboo in place and manual pressure is applied towards gravity to bend the heated pole. From time to time, a wet cloth is run onto the heated area of the pole so that the bend cools and solidifies. The pole is taken off the horse regularly, and measured on a drawing /profile to check for accuracy.
Though tedious and labor intensive, the method is able to achieve almost 100% accuracy. There is loss of the surface thickness as the excessive heat scorches the bamboo and the scraping the black skin reduces the thickness of the pole. However if totally solid bamboo is used, the loss of surface has a negligible effect on the strength of the bamboo.
Preparing the raw material
The outermost skin is scraped off to bring out the smooth luster and even colour of the bamboo. In the process, the knots on the internodes are also flattened /evened out.
For straight sections, the scraping is done before sizing. For sections that are to be bent into profiles, the bending is carried out before.
After the correct profile is achieved, the bamboo is then scraped to remove the outermost skin and the burnt marks.
Knot removing and planning surface
Various methods can be applied for surface finishing of bamboo. For knot removal, planer can be used to scrape the knots. The Team also explored using rudimentary sanding machine, and found it to be extremely useful in scraping the outer surface of the bamboo. This method reduces the drudgery of manual hand shaving.
Joinery and Assembly techniques
Most of the joinery used in Bamboo furniture is same as those used for wooden furniture. Simple joints like tendon -mortise joints work in totally solid bamboo. Plugs are inserted at hollow ends.
The furniture is an assembled frame-by-frame using carpenter vice. Bamboo dowels are used diagonally to seal joints. Before inserting the joints, industrial adhesive is used to add strength to the joinery.
Laminated blank making
Prepared sections of bamboo wood are coated with glue and then placed together in jigs to form the sub-sections of the furniture. Straight sub-sections can be pressed together in a standard hot-pressing machine, but curved sections require specially shaped jigs and are pressed by tightening bolts holdings the jig-forming elements together. They are then placed in a heated chamber for curing.
Finishing the product
At final assembly, the product is sanded before applying the termite resistant coating and melamine. Finishing involves the following stages, all designed to produce a high quality, uniform surface finish: Bleaching, prestaining, staining and coloring, wash coating, filling sealing or wash coating, glazing, top coating, rubbing, polishing and cleaning. Addition of upholstery and other fitting completes the furniture.
Market-Size: The consumption of wood other than plywood for making furniture is estimated at 3.36 million cubic meters in 2005 and set to rise to 4.62 million cubic meters by 2010. Bamboo as a substitute for wood to make furniture is expected to grow up to US$224 million by 2010. A range of furniture for school, office, showroom and home is made from bamboo. Bent-laminate furniture from bamboo is currently under prototyping. Consistent supply of processed bamboo is the key to the growth and development of this industry .
Source: Mayank, M (2008) Techno Economic Feasibility Study for Setting up of Bamboo SMEs, NMBA, India
