How does on properly dry/season bamboo? I harvested four canes up to
35-feet long and maybe 1-1/2 inch diameter from my neighbor's yard up the
road and dragged them home. I cut the bottom of each off at 16-feet length
and then stripped the leafy stems from the tops and lopped them off where
they got down to pencil-diameter. Now what? Right now I've got them
standing up vertically bound by bungee cords but they can't stay there
forever. Would it be preferable to bring them into my garage and rack them
on my old ladder hooks on the wall where they'd be out of the way? Any
downsides?

--
Noli sinere pessimi nequissimique te tristificare!

On 5/9/2022 2:53 PM, John McGaw wrote:
> How does on properly dry/season bamboo? I harvested four canes up to
> 35-feet long and maybe 1-1/2 inch diameter from my neighbor's yard up
> the road and dragged them home. I cut the bottom of each off at 16-feet
> length and then stripped the leafy stems from the tops and lopped them
> off where they got down to pencil-diameter. Now what? Right now I've got
> them standing up vertically bound by bungee cords but they can't stay
> there forever. Would it be preferable to bring them into my garage and
> rack them on my old ladder hooks on the wall where they'd be out of the
> way? Any downsides?
>

I think it probably depends on how close the ladder hooks are to one
another. How about building a "table" across the top of the ladder hooks
(with a 2-by-6 or 2-by-8) so the wood won't warp as much? To be quite
honest, I don't have any experience aging wood--at least not on purpose.
Surely, someone who really knows will reply/ Good luck with your
"project"!

There is an abundance of information from google/bing et alia.

Most of which suggests storing vertically while drying.

On 5/9/2022 3:42 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Most of which suggests storing vertically while drying.

I was afraid of that. Right now the bundle is standing up and leaning
against a 2nd story railing but somehow that just doesn't look safe. Guess
I could tie the top to the railing to keep it from toppling on somebody but
it doesn't look very good out there. Oh well, guess I'll go tie it and
think about it again tomorrow...

--
Noli sinere pessimi nequissimique te tristificare!

I suppose you want to keep the poles straight. Laying them down should be just as effective as tying them upright. When young, we use to cut cane poles for fishing. We simply laid them out and let them dry, nothing special. That seemed to work out just fine.

I suggest not allowing them to dry fast or they might split. The smaller tops will dry faster than the larger bottoms. Collect another batch of 4 and dry them in different scenarios. Not often does one have a chance to collect that large of bamboo.

There's a guy who has a good stand of bamboo near here, but his are 1.5" in diameter and maybe 20' tall. He has some that are dead, already dry among the stand. Might that be an option for you, if he has some similar?

Sonny

Le 09/05/2022 à 20:53, John McGaw a écrit :
> How does on properly dry/season bamboo? I harvested four canes up to
> 35-feet long and maybe 1-1/2 inch diameter from my neighbor's yard up
> the road and dragged them home. I cut the bottom of each off at 16-feet
> length and then stripped the leafy stems from the tops and lopped them
> off where they got down to pencil-diameter. Now what? Right now I've got
> them standing up vertically bound by bungee cords but they can't stay
> there forever. Would it be preferable to bring them into my garage and
> rack them on my old ladder hooks on the wall where they'd be out of the
> way? Any downsides?
>

See

https://www.guaduabamboo.com/blog/drying-bamboo-poles

On 5/10/2022 2:26 AM, ck wrote:
> Le 09/05/2022 à 20:53, John McGaw a écrit :
>> How does on properly dry/season bamboo? I harvested four canes up to
>> 35-feet long and maybe 1-1/2 inch diameter from my neighbor's yard up the
>> road and dragged them home. I cut the bottom of each off at 16-feet
>> length and then stripped the leafy stems from the tops and lopped them
>> off where they got down to pencil-diameter. Now what? Right now I've got
>> them standing up vertically bound by bungee cords but they can't stay
>> there forever. Would it be preferable to bring them into my garage and
>> rack them on my old ladder hooks on the wall where they'd be out of the
>> way? Any downsides?
>>
>
> See
>
> https://www.guaduabamboo.com/blog/drying-bamboo-poles

Thanks. I went out this morning and brought all of the stock into my garage
and racked them with pretty decent support over most of the length. I don't
need to have perfectly straight stock -- I doubt that I'll ever find a
project requiring perfect 16-foot sticks. At least in the garage they
should be free of insect problems and I can keep an eye on the drying
process. I guess I should really get out my wood moisture meter and make
some records to see how the process is going.

--
Noli sinere pessimi nequissimique te tristificare!

>John McGaw <Nobody@Nowh.ere> was heard to mutter:
>How does on properly dry/season bamboo? I harvested four canes up to
>35-feet long and maybe 1-1/2 inch diameter from my neighbor's yard up the
>road and dragged them home. I cut the bottom of each off at 16-feet length
>and then stripped the leafy stems from the tops and lopped them off where
>they got down to pencil-diameter. Now what? Right now I've got them
>standing up vertically bound by bungee cords but they can't stay there
>forever. Would it be preferable to bring them into my garage and rack them
>on my old ladder hooks on the wall where they'd be out of the way? Any
>downsides?

I harvested some bamboo a couple years ago and tried drying it in my
garage. I did them in 2 ft, 4 ft, and 6 ft lengths. I laid them on
coated metal racks I had hanging on the wall, keeping them separated
from each other and anything else except the racks. Unfortunately
almost all rotted (fungal?). Definitely trickier than drying other
woods. Good luck.
"Train your mind to test every thought, ideology, train of reasoning, and claim to truth."

On 5/15/2022 8:31 PM, Casper wrote:
>> John McGaw <Nobody@Nowh.ere> was heard to mutter:
>> How does on properly dry/season bamboo? I harvested four canes up to
>> 35-feet long and maybe 1-1/2 inch diameter from my neighbor's yard up the
>> road and dragged them home. I cut the bottom of each off at 16-feet length
>> and then stripped the leafy stems from the tops and lopped them off where
>> they got down to pencil-diameter. Now what? Right now I've got them
>> standing up vertically bound by bungee cords but they can't stay there
>> forever. Would it be preferable to bring them into my garage and rack them
>> on my old ladder hooks on the wall where they'd be out of the way? Any
>> downsides?
>
> I harvested some bamboo a couple years ago and tried drying it in my
> garage. I did them in 2 ft, 4 ft, and 6 ft lengths. I laid them on
> coated metal racks I had hanging on the wall, keeping them separated
> from each other and anything else except the racks. Unfortunately
> almost all rotted (fungal?). Definitely trickier than drying other
> woods. Good luck.
> "Train your mind to test every thought, ideology, train of reasoning, and claim to truth."

IIRC one of the suggestions was to stand them up and down. Bamboo
being rather damp is more likely to dry more quickly if gravity helps to
drain the pieces through the bottom ends.
And IIRC bamboo is more of a grass than common wood. Largest of the
grass family.