Making a Bamboo Fish Mouth Joint

by Stephane from Guadua Bamboo
(Costa Rica)

This video from the Technology Institute in Costa Rica shows a basic technique in bamboo construction: the bamboo fish mouth joint. Notice the backslash of the drill in the beginning of the video. Guadua bamboo is a thick walled timber specie, so be careful when you try this at home!

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Making a Bamboo Fish Mouth Joint

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Jan 23, 2011
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Bamboo Joints
by: Roberto

I think that building with round bamboo is only suitable for the very poor, or the very rich...it takes too long to do it right, not to mention the waste from constantly trying to make the bamboo joints acceptable to 'high end aesthetics', or it looks like crap... I use a stationary motor with a tapered grinding stone, when I have to do it, but the dust is noxious, and it still takes too long...

My solution has been to make the rough joint bearing points as close as possible, and to use wood plugs as you do, but to make the bamboo joint pleasing to the eye, I just use spray foam (I know, that's not too eco appropriate) which stabilizes and fills the gaps, then trim it with a sharp razor, and paint it to match. It comes out looking like your pictures, and stops bugs from attacking the end cuts, and takes a fraction of the time to do... I also use wine bottles foamed into the ends of bamboo poles for bearing on the ground, or connecting two bamboo poles into one longer one. Sometimes I put a few LEDs in the ends on the ground to make a cool way to keep from stubbing your toes in the dark...

Jan 23, 2011
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Improving Joining Techniques
by: Stephane

You hit the nail on the head Roberto. Much has to be done to improve the way round bamboo poles are joint together. I would love to see some pictures of your work. Feel free to share them in our forum.

Sep 05, 2011
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Rather Traditional Tools and Skills
by: Phil Welch

Typical reliance on modern speed tools rather than traditional tools, techniques and skills. This work requires a coping saw and appropriate rasps, not a bunch of hodge-podge reaming with hole saws on electric drills.

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