[peteg240]

@guyv thanks for the local lead!

 

[RancorPDX]

Excited to hear how the bamboo ply works out, it could be a great option for DIY kits or in-house builds!

We are experimenting with a fresh-cut set of 1/2" Bamboo Ply cabinets in the shop over the past few weeks. We've assembled them and finished them with a polyurethane coat and they seem solid, if not quite as solid as our usual 1/2" Baltic Birch. We haven't hung them up yet.

 

[Shannon D]

Who here has used bamboo ply for their cabinets? I am going to use bamboo plywood from calibamboo and I was hoping to get some first hand experience. I am building a kitchen galley (42 inch wide), a separate fridge cabinet (20 inch wide), and some upper cabinets. I am not planning on using aluminum extrusion

So far I have only built cabinets with 3/4 inch ply but due to the high strength and density of bamboo I am wondering if I could get away with using 1/2 plywood for all the cabinets. Has anyone here had experience with this? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Really like the bamboo idea. Wish I had thought of that. I'm not sure I understand all the folks who build with 3/4" plywood. It is so heavy. My van subfloor is 1/2" birch plywood over a 2x2 pine grid and a 1/4" laminate finish flooring. Way more than strong enough. Likewise my cabinetry is all framed with pine 2x2 with 1/2" panels and 3/4" poplar framed face frames. Again more than strong enough and lighter.

 

[Thrush50]

Ken from OurKaravan has a beautiful, very well designed bamboo interior.

Back in 2019 (pre-COVID!!!) when we were optimistic that we would receive a 2020 van, I had placed an order for bamboo from Cali Bamboo. I worked with a salesman named Ryan, and he was excellent. After two years of Ford delays, he finally agreed to give us a FULL refund of our deposit, which was pretty astonishing. I definitely plan to source bamboo from him if we ever get a van. We're currently waiting on our 4th van order.

FWIW, the samples that I received from Cali Bamboo were a perfect match to the samples from Adventure Wagon.

We also worked with Ryan at Calibamboo, he's very good, and we love the material in our build, which started out with Adventure Wagon bamboo panels, also sourced from Calibamboo. The half-inch seems plenty rigid for our galley countertop after almost a year of use. The quarter-inch is OK for modest sized sliding doors and fixed panels but has to be firmly attached to prevent rattling noises. Truck freight for 3 sheets and 1000 miles was pretty reasonable and packaging was good.

 

[DaveInSeattle]

I used bamboo plywood for all of my cabinet door and drawer faces. It is almost twice as heavy as a Okume marine plywood, and I’m already overweight, so I limited my use to those locations. I have had some bowing of the half inch plyboo but seemingly confined to the area over the stove where there’s massive fluctuations in humidity and temperature within the space of an hour.

I stopped working on my blog when we hit the road, but you can see the bamboo final product in my van tour video.https://sunlightandtrees.com/#

edit: I just took some pictures, there’s actually very little warping. Here are a few pictures.

 

[comrade-g]

We did. The material just seems more flexible over longer spans. The cabinet doors are can be bowed much more easliy, for example.

Thank you AVC Rig...i appreciate all you guys share about Transit van builds on UTube and beyond.
Where do you source the Bamboo Plywood?

 

[styler]

View attachment 181983 View attachment 181982

Really like the aesthetics, but I can see the cabinet door on the work table has a little bow in the first pic🙄

 

[NeilHunt]

I used 1/2” Calimbamboo for bed (water tanks in the pedestal) and cabinets - it’s been great. I used 1/4 on 8020 framing for my kitchen cabinets - also good, but can vibrate a bit under certain road conditions - fixed with extra fasteners, not more than about 10-12” apart on the frame.

1/2” is nice to work with. 3/4 would seem like overkill.

 

[Dotar]

I build my cabinets in ¾ Plyboo. I used barrel nuts and connector bolts for joinery, so I can dismount and break it all down when I need to use the van as a hauler. This kind of joinery is very solid. I like to build cabinets in ½" when I can but the joinery is too finicky for me, unless using a frame of some type (wood or 8020). When building home cabinets I use Dominos and or pocket screws.

Take a look at the linked video. Lex Rooker has developed a jig for using barrel nuts/cross dowels with 1/2 inch birch ply. It has worked well for me.