Bamboos are a family of grass that have been loved for their fast-growing and many believed to be a sustainable solution for construction structure or support material, architectural element, support columns, flooring materials, fence, various utensils (salad/frying tongs, for example - another I'ble I just published) and they're even making T-shirts out of bamboo fiber.
They come in many different species and sub-species which gives us plenty of options in size, pattern and color. (See pic in next step)
The only downside to bamboo is that they are also loved by a certain termites that lives in these area too..
I'm pretty sure that those termites also think of bamboo as a sustainable food source! :)
And boy, those termites are very hungry around here..
Anyways, there are several alternatives to prevent them from being eaten, I found a local place where they treat the bamboos with FreeMite, which is claimed to be organic, non-toxic and long lasting (http://www.freemite.com/).
Enough intro on Bamboo, now here is what I made with some big bamboos (14cm diameter): Lamp shades for our new home.
We have wall-lights and also hanging lights in every room. I needed shades for all of the wall-lights (4 of 'em) and two of the hanging lights in the kitchen and above the dining table.
All 6 shades were made in less than 5 lazy hours and for less than US$ 6.
- Even it's a simple project, if you want to try this at home, it's at your own risk. Use safety equipment and think safe.
- Take extra caution to the fresh cut bamboo edges, they can be literally razor-sharp!!
- This project and the house in the pictures is in a place where there's no real code for building nor construction (Yes!!!). You are responsible for your own projects and the regulations (if any) that must be followed.
- For imperial measurement users, sorry guys, I'm metric... But accuracy is not a necessity in this project, you're allowed to be artistic here...
- English is not my first language. Any suggesting, correction, and critics for the language and the project will be very welcome.
- Making stuff might be addictive, you've been warned!
Check what the Green School in Bali did with Bamboo:
For more, go to: http://www.greenschool.org/gallery/ (scroll down to "Architectural Gallery")
Step 1: Tools and materials.. and some pics from the bamboo shop..
- Bamboo of choice.. Better be big to fit the light, fittings, and excess cables inside. I got a yellow bamboo with 14cm diameter.
I needed 6 lampshades, each about 22cm long. I found one that's about 135cm which is perfect for this project, cost: ~US$ 5.
These are organically treated to prevent termites parties, non toxic and long lasting.
(see pictures for the types and sizes of bamboo they have in the store, as well as some products made from bamboos! Totally awesome!!)
- Wire to hang them. 10 - 15 cm per lamp. I used stainless wire that I have laying around. Bamboos are not heavy, so I'm not worried for wire strength.
- Small nails or hook-screws. 2 per lamp.
- Concrete nails to hang them. 1 or 2 per lamp. I used two for easy straightening.
- Optional: Varnish or any finishing you'd want. I used a local brand varnish that brings out the yellow of the bamboo, but I found it to be too shiny and unnatural. I'm thinking to sand them back to their natural color, contra-finishing is hip...
- Handsaw - to cut them to size
- Knive or chisel. (sorry, no picture)
- Hammer - uhm.. to hammer..
- Pliers - for wire cutting and twisting
- Optional : brush to paint the varnish, and drill (or more sophisticated tool) to make a "modified" shade
- You might need some ladder for higher mountings. I didn't.