Bamboo Panel Boards - International Network for Bamboo and Rattan

32BAMBOO PANEL BOARDSdeveloped for the face and back. The board has a density of 338 kg/m 3 , an MORof 10-l5 MPa and a compressive strength of 5.5 MPa. At present, it is being triedout in furniture and packaging, and also as insulation board in housing.Bamboo moulded productsMoulded wood products based on veneers, particles, fibers, etc., have beenin use for a long time. Moulding is economical only when solid wood is plasticizedor broken into fibers. In the case of bamboo, moulding does not require so muchenergy as wood and it is not necessary to break it into particles or fibers. It isenough if bamboo is split into strips or slivers and hot-pressed after impregnationof glue. Thus, bamboo is finding increasing acceptance for manufacturing mouldedshuttles in textile mills, which are generally made of high-class wood.In China, over 12 million weaving shuttles are required annually for which60 000 m 3 of wood are needed. The wood employed is oak or maple, which arein short supply. Moulded bamboo shuttles have been found to be highly suitableand over 100 000 are already in use. Bamboo shuttles have following advantagesover wood:" Availability of raw material is not restricted;" Production cost is less;" Wear and tear is less and hence, service life is twice as long; and" Friction is lower and hence, power consumption is reduced by 10%.The manufacturing process involves:...........Mechanical crushing of culms;Cooking of crushed culms;Separating strands from culms;Drying;Resin impregnation;Drying;Layer forming;Loading in mould hot-press;Hot-pressing;Machining; andPolishing.The physical and mechanical properties of the product are given in Table 15.The moulded picking stick is another product required in the textile industry.It is generally made of laminated wood veneer. Over 50 000 m 3 of high-qualitywood is used annually for this purpose. Bamboo is found to be a better materialfor picking sticks because of the following advantages: