Nowadays, bamboo is the way to go. After all, the flexibility, cost-effectiveness and widespread availability are potent factors that have given a massive spurt to furniture, fittings and floorings made of this material. Not to miss out the eco-friendliness and environmental improvement that bamboo provides, which is why bamboo veneer has become a very popular product in the market, at least in comparison to many of its counterparts like hardwood. The natural colour and ease with which modern day designs can be made of bamboo veneer is gaining momentum by the day.

So people are quite interested about knowing how this tall and round bamboo can be processed and the soft and thin veneer extracted from the same. Here’s taking a look at the manufacturing process of bamboo veneer to understand what it is all about.

Cutting of the trees

So once the bamboo gets harvested and the plantation is good enough, the bamboo needs to be cut into a proper length (around 2800mm) that facilitates optimum production of bamboo veneer.

Splitting into thin strips

Essentially, the bamboo trunks (those measuring around 2800mm) has to be split from its original form and made into very small and fine strips, for the round slices are rendered unfit for production.

Slicing into specific sizes

Splitting makes the bamboo strips very rough. They cannot be used in such form under any cost. So, the best way to use it would be a slicing up a bit to make it a little smooth (not much!).

Boiling bamboo strips

Why do you think boiling is important? Actually, boiling helps the bamboo plant to get rid of its excess sugars, starch and protein content, which attracts insects to a great extent. Once the plant is free from any pests or insects, it’s easy to extract veneer and thereby use the same.

Carbonization

Think of carbonized bamboo veneer and you will know what impact carbonizing can have, which makes it a must. For starters, carbonizing is a process wherein the bamboo strips are put inside the carbonizing tank for close to 4-6 hours and that too in 200 or 300 centigrade.

Drying the strips

Once the boiling phase is over, the moisture content in the bamboo is too high. Drying makes the moisture level come down. After that, the bamboo veneer’s quality becomes stable and no bending happens.

Slicing (again)

So the bamboo strips need to be sliced into very thin and smooth parts. Only after this is done, the plant will be ready for the next step.

Sorting out strips

Basically, bamboo is a very natural material so colour varies considerably. Most manufacturers know that the strips need to be sorted out carefully as per the colour for maintaining evenness. It might not be 100% even, but to the best of capacity.

Pressing strips together to get the block

Perhaps many aren’t aware of this, but pressing is ideal to extract bamboo veneer. In the process, the presser used is close to 800 tons and is a hot presser. This ensures that the bamboo block that comes out is of a better quality.

Soaking the block

Blocks of bamboo cannot be sliced into thin veneer directly. This is largely because of the hardness. It is for this reason that the block needs to be placed inside a nig water tank and for 24 hours.

Slicing the block into veneer

So once the bamboo block has been soaked in the water and the time is complete, the slicing process begins to extract veneer. Usually, the slicing is quiet fast. After that, the veneer that comes out becomes a small roll and not flat.

Drying bamboo veneer

Since the block has been soaked in water for almost a day, the moisture content is very high, Drying is a must and the veneer taken should be of less moisture. This will make the bamboo veneer flat, once dried.

Checking on quality

There can be slight defects on the veneer and requires fixing at the earliest.

Clipping veneer

The tolerance in length and width is common in production, but must be cut before packaging to suit the requirements of customers.

Packing

Once over, packing is done on the basis of customer orders.