Anyone know what the weight difference of bamboo to carbon fiber would be? Would bamboo be strong enough?

I was just thinking, if you drilled out a 9" piece of bamboo and sanded the outside smooth, then add an aluminum/titanium/CF lid and bottom, I wonder what the weight would come out to, and if it would be strong enough?

Anyone out the familiar with bamboo in that way? Does it even grow to 9" diameter?

Not a good idea. Even the largest Timber Bamboos are seldom that large of a diameter. Worse yet , while green bamboo is flexible carvable etc . as it ages bamboo becomes very brittle and usually develops cracks over time . In addition the interculm space is rarely more than 12 to 18 inches. This is the reason why split bamboo fly rods are so expensive. The strength of the material and its flexibility is in the outermost layer . If you concentrate on that and build up a version of the material without the problems you have something wonderful. Otherwise you have the inherent issues. One final issue is that each piece of bamboo is unique and not uniform. Accordingly your lids or plugs for the top and bottom will be one of a kind. Don't get me wrong . If Chinese and Japanese hermits did OK by the material for rain-ware etc . it is a testimony to their inventiveness and poverty . But they were also hiking though groves of replacement material.

Edited by Meander on 04/05/2011 19:01:26 MDT.

Ok, thanks! Every once in a while I think I have this great idea, so I just need someone to bring me down to earth...

....it would attract panda bears!

The fibers in raw bamboo is also unidirectional, which creates a big vulnerability.

... NM

Edited by justaddfuel on 04/06/2011 12:41:32 MDT.