Bamboo Plywood
Bamboo Plywood is a panel of laminated bamboo strips or veneers bonded with adhesive under pressure, produced to ASTM D6874 and GB/T 26608 in natural and carbonised laminated stock (LAM-NAT, LAM-CARB), side-pressed board (SWB) and phenolic-bonded formwork panel (FORM-PF).
Reference datasheet — Bamboo Plywood is not in the instant-quote catalog. Upload your part and an engineer will quote it in this grade or suggest the closest stocked equivalent.
Values for the LAM-NAT condition
Bamboo Plywood tempers and conditions
Bamboo Plywood is supplied in 4 conditions, soft to hard. LAM-NAT is the default FabDigit quotes; the values on this page are for it.
Compare all 4 conditionsHide
| Condition · open for datasheet | Best for | Yield MPa | Tensile MPa | Elong. % | Hardness | Conductivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phenolic-bonded bamboo mat/curtain formwork plywood | Construction concrete-formwork panel: film-faced, phenolic-bonded, cheap and water-resistant for 6–10 pour cycles. | 80 | 1 | 0.2 W/m·K | ||
carbonized (steam heat-treated) laminated bamboo plywood | Pick for the amber/coffee colour and improved dimensional stability; accept ~10 % lower strength from the heat treatment. | 85 | 1 | 0.16 W/m·K | ||
LAM-NATDefault Natural (uncarbonized) laminated bamboo strip plywood | General-purpose furniture, worktop and panel grade: pale natural colour, best strength of the laminated grades. | 95 | 1.2 | 0.17 W/m·K | ||
Strand-woven / densified bamboo panel | Choose when maximum hardness, stiffness and wear resistance are needed (flooring, decking, tool handles, structural beams). | 150 | 1.4 | 0.25 W/m·K |
What is Bamboo Plywood?
Bamboo Plywood is a panel of laminated bamboo strips or veneers bonded with adhesive under pressure, produced to ASTM D6874 and GB/T 26608 in natural and carbonised laminated stock (LAM-NAT, LAM-CARB), side-pressed board (SWB) and phenolic-bonded formwork panel (FORM-PF). Engineers choose it for hardwood-like properties from a fast-renewable feedstock: 0.7 g/cm³ density, 95 MPa tensile strength, 1.2 % elongation, 10 GPa modulus and 0.17 W/m·K, with a machinability score of 85. Silica and cured resin wear cutting edges, moisture durability is moderate (score 40) with service to 70 °C, and flat panels cannot be post-formed. Dense hardwood plywood is the usual alternative. Bamboo Plywood has a density of 0.7 g/cm³ (0.0253 lb/in³), heavier than 53% of natural material grades. Bamboo Plywood has a tensile strength of 95 MPa (13.8 ksi), stronger than 78% of natural material grades. Elongation at break is 1.2% and the elastic modulus is 10 GPa (1.45 Msi).
What is Bamboo Plywood used for?
- flooring
- furniture
- skateboard decks
- cutting boards
- construction panels
Advantages
- Tough — resists crack growth — 2 MPa·√m (1.82 ksi·√in), better than 100% of natural material grades
- Conducts heat well — 0.17 W/m·K (0.0982 BTU/hr·ft·°F), better than 76% of natural material grades
Limitations
- High embodied carbon — 1.1 kg CO₂/kg, worse than 81% of natural material grades
- Limited service temperature — 70°C (158 °F), worse than 80% of natural material grades
Bamboo Plywood properties
Typical room-temperature values for Bamboo Plywood-LAM-NAT; bars are the position among natural material grades.
Physical2
Bamboo Plywood has a density of 0.7 g/cm³ (0.0253 lb/in³), heavier than 53% of natural material grades.
Mechanical9
Bamboo Plywood has a tensile strength of 95 MPa (13.8 ksi), stronger than 78% of natural material grades. Elongation at break is 1.2% and the elastic modulus is 10 GPa (1.45 Msi).
Thermal5
Bamboo Plywood is rated for continuous service to 70°C (158 °F). It conducts heat at 0.17 W/m·K (0.0982 BTU/hr·ft·°F), better than 76% of natural material grades. Thermal expansion is 4.5 µm/m·K (2.5 µin/in·°F).
Electrical1
Bamboo Plywood has an electrical resistivity of 1×10¹⁰ Ω·m.
Chemical & Environmental1
Corrosion resistance is fair (40/100), worse than 57% of natural material grades.
Sustainability4
Producing a kilogram of Bamboo Plywood takes about 20 MJ of energy and emits 1.1 kg of CO₂ — more than 83% of natural material grades. Typical recycled content is 2%.
Manufacturability2
Bamboo Plywood's machinability is excellent (85/100, better than 63% of natural material grades).
Common Calculations4
Values are nominal handbook figures for design screening. Certified mill or lot data ships with every FabDigit order on request.
Working with Bamboo Plywood
Is Bamboo Plywood easy to machine?
Cuts, routs and CNC-machines like dense hardwood — use carbide or PCD tooling and climb-cut/scoring to avoid glue-line chipping; silica and cured resin accelerate edge wear.
Can Bamboo Plywood be welded?
Not weldable; joined by PVA/PU/epoxy adhesives, dowels, dominos or mechanical fasteners with pre-drilled pilot holes.
Can Bamboo Plywood be formed, bent or molded?
Flat panels are not post-formable; curved parts are made by cold-bending thin plies or hot-pressing bamboo veneers over a mould during lay-up.
Bamboo Plywood chemical composition (wt %)
Limits by weight percent from the governing specification, written the way the spec states them — a single maximum for impurities, a range for alloying elements, and the base element as balance. Nominal is the typical mid-range value.
| Element | Spec limit (wt %) | Nominal |
|---|---|---|
| cellulosebamboo fibre main constituent | 40 – 50 | 45 |
| hemicellulose | 15 – 25 | 20 |
| lignin | 18 – 26 | 22 |
| extractives + ash (incl. SiO2)silica in outer skin is abrasive to tooling | 2 – 6 | 4 |
| adhesive (UF / MUF / phenolic resin)resin loading sets E0/E1/F**** emission class and water resistance | 6 – 14 | 9 |
| moistureequilibrium MC at indoor conditions | 6 – 12 | 9 |
What surface finishes work on Bamboo Plywood?
Sands to a fine surface; finish with oil, hardwax, water-based PU or UV lacquer — seal all edges and end grain to limit moisture uptake and swelling.
Equivalent designations
Standards and trade names that resolve to Bamboo Plywood in FabDigit's catalog. Equivalence is nominal — check the exact specification when certification matters.
- Similar grades
- D6874GB/T 26608
How much does Bamboo Plywood cost?
Bamboo Plywood is a standard-cost natural material ($$), cheaper than about 71% of the materials FabDigit quotes. Part price depends far more on geometry, tolerance and quantity than on the raw stock — upload a CAD file for a live quote.
Bamboo Plywood — frequently asked
What is Bamboo Plywood used for?
Bamboo Plywood is typically used for flooring, furniture, skateboard decks, cutting boards and construction panels. In short: fast-renewable hardwood substitute; high in-plane tensile strength; hard-wearing panel surface.
What is the tensile strength of Bamboo Plywood?
Bamboo Plywood has a typical tensile strength of 95 MPa (13.8 ksi) — stronger than 78% of natural material grades. Strength varies by condition: see the 4 listed tempers.
Is Bamboo Plywood easy to machine?
Yes — machinability is rated excellent (85/100, better than 63% of natural material grades). Cuts, routs and CNC-machines like dense hardwood — use carbide or PCD tooling and climb-cut/scoring to avoid glue-line chipping; silica and cured resin accelerate edge wear.
Can Bamboo Plywood be welded?
Not weldable; joined by PVA/PU/epoxy adhesives, dowels, dominos or mechanical fasteners with pre-drilled pilot holes.
What surface finishes work on Bamboo Plywood?
Sands to a fine surface; finish with oil, hardwax, water-based PU or UV lacquer — seal all edges and end grain to limit moisture uptake and swelling.
Can Bamboo Plywood be formed, bent or molded?
Flat panels are not post-formable; curved parts are made by cold-bending thin plies or hot-pressing bamboo veneers over a mould during lay-up.
What is the maximum service temperature of Bamboo Plywood?
Bamboo Plywood is rated for continuous use to about 70°C (158 °F). Strength falls off well before that limit — check the elevated-temperature data for load-bearing parts.
How much does Bamboo Plywood cost?
Bamboo Plywood is a standard-cost natural material ($$), cheaper than about 71% of the materials FabDigit quotes. Part price depends far more on geometry, tolerance and quantity than on the raw stock — upload a CAD file for a live quote.
Sources
- ASTM D6874 — Nondestructive Evaluation of Wood-Based Flexural Members — ASTM International (2021)
- ISO 22157 — Bamboo structures: Determination of physical and mechanical properties of bamboo culms — ISO (2019)
- Wood Handbook — Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-282) — USDA Forest Products Laboratory (2021)
- Laminated and strand-woven bamboo panel technical data — MOSO International / Dasso Group (2023)
Property data is compiled from published supplier and standards handbooks and normalised for comparison; hardness values on non-Brinell scales are converted approximately for charting only. Manufacturability limits are FabDigit quote-engine defaults and may be relaxed by engineering review. Nothing on this page is a certification — request mill certs, CoC or material test reports with your order.