I live in Hawaii and have access to several types of bamboo.  Can someone direct me to a source that explains the process to go from green bamboo to the nice flat backing we are all used to seeing?

Thanks, Ken

Look for the largest diameter. Saw 2" wide slats. Let'em air dry for a month or two then dry'em slow in a box at about 80 degrees for a month or to keep them from splitting. Once dry you can pour the heat to'em without cracking. You should get Torges's DVD to get'em flat and ready to glue. I could explain it here but he uses prettier words.

I use a belt sander with a 36 grit belt to flatten my bamboo, takes about 15 minutes.

Great, sounds simple enough.  Is there a minimum diameter suggested to harvest?  I would think larger is better, but I have acres of 1 1/2" diameter stuff and some larger (2"-4").

The bigger the better. You have to consider the crown(thickness at the center of the boo slat) and the bigger the diameter the lower the crown.   Pat

OK.  This could be fun.  Where can I get Torges's DVD?

Thanks for your input guys.

Never mind.  I found his DVD.

I split slats out, then plane the sides straight.  I have a jointer, but prefer to knock down the inner nodes with a draw-knife, then I put a cheap block plane I have upside down in a vise and pull the bamboo through it to do most of the thinning.  Then I go to the sander to smooth, level, and finish it.

 The little green stuff I have used, i just cut, split into 2" slats and dried it in a dry place, in the sun, off the ground.  I live in Utah, so drying things is easy.  ;-)

 I would cut the largest diameter available, unless it has problems like nodes every 3 inches or something.