Mora and Hatchet vs. Bamboo, two of them lost

[jzmtl]

Would you have guessed both Mora and hatchet lost? 

I needed to sharpen some bamboo sticks (thumb thick) to hold up plants, so I went to get my Mora clipper. After literally two or three cuts (that barely went into bamboo stick), the knife started to glide instead of cut. I looked at the edge, all of it folded over, significant enough I can feel it over my leather work gloves. I then fetched my hatchet (granted a cheap one, but it's also sharpened to 45° edge), and started chopping the bamboo sticks on a piece of 4x4 as base. After maybe 5 chops, the edge on it rolled too! Mind you both of them went through green and dry wood without a hitch, some slight dulling but definitely did not have edge roll. Good thing the hatchet can still chop with dull edge and I managed to sharpen 5 of them.

I knew bamboo was harder than wood, but never thought they were that hard. I've heard these stories on how Chinese coastal villagers would sharpen dried bamboo sticks and boil them in oil as spear to repel Japanese raiders, and they would go through leather armor with ease, now I see it's definitely possible.

On a related note, I think I'm done with scandi grind. I've tried both stainless and carbon variety, they really only hold up to green wood and unknotted dry wood, anything else they dull way to fast to be useful. 

[Sazabi]

I may be completely wrong, but I could've sworn I'd read somewhere that bamboo can be stronger than steel, though I don't know if it was treated in some manner for construction purposes. *shrugs*

[nuphoria]

It's used for scaffolding and all manner of things - amazing stuff!

All those pandas can't be wrong

[BlueDot]

That bamboo is some tough stuff.  I read somewhere that it starts out soft, and after a year (or something) it gets harder.  The shoots from this spring are easy to bend, but you can tell the ones that are from last year.  I think the term is lignify.

Not sure what grind is on my skeletool, but it seems to sharpen bamboo OK...

[Swiss Man]

It's used for scaffolding and all manner of things - amazing stuff!

All those pandas can't be wrong

Saw that with my own eyes while stationed in Korea it was not uncommon to see a scaffold with several people built of bamboo.

I was thinking it is because they were primitive but I found out later it is because it is lite and indestructible.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

It makes an exceptionally good bicycle frame material too

[Zed]

It makes an exceptionally good bicycle frame material too

ive seen this somewhere mike 

[Zed]

It makes an exceptionally good bicycle frame material too

ive seen this somewhere mike 

just found this 
http://www.davintosh.com/2008/02/24/the-bamboo-bike/

[John]

Leatherman should use this wonderful material,it doesn't RUST!  






[edit]Oh I'd better put a couple of these in my post 

[Screwtape]

It's used for scaffolding and all manner of things - amazing stuff!

All those pandas can't be wrong

Saw that with my own eyes while stationed in Korea it was not uncommon to see a scaffold with several people built of bamboo.

I was thinking it is because they were primitive but I found out later it is because it is lite and indestructible.

I remember while in India I woke up in the morning to find a 6 story bamboo scafold over half of the hotel that wasn't there the night before 

[jzmtl]

Some interesting update.

On thanksgiving day I went hiking with my parents, climbing a ski hill. Soon after starting I went to make some hiking stick because we managed to be on a black trail and it's getting steep. The first two I made from dead tree branches, using my little buck 424 (size like a vic secretary with plastic handle), while the handle did struggle (flex) a bit cutting through some knots, the 420HC help up perfectly fine, no edge damage that I can see (i.e. reflection under sunlight).

Then I found a piece of bamboo stick that ski hill used to mark trails, which has some plastic shrink wrap on. I proceed to slit the plastic wrapping down lengthwise to peel it off, and cut some frayed fiber off the end.

INSTANT EDGE ROLL! I can now clearly see the reflection off edge, that's from maybe a quarter of the work done on the other two wood sticks.

I'm telling you, as far as knives are concerned, the damn thing is devil's grass, made to damage your knife edge...