Most makers are already familiar with bamboo. But bamboo as plywood? That's a different story. We have it produced especially for Lasersheets, and not without reason; it's a rare material we hardly encounter anywhere else. In this blog, we'll explain why we're so enthusiastic and why bamboo plywood is our preference over common side-pressed sheets.
From Grass to Sheet: A Remarkably Sustainable Material
Technically, bamboo is not wood, but a fast-growing grass species. It requires little water, quickly regrows from the root after harvesting, and therefore has a much lower environmental impact than most types of wood. Our bamboo plywood is entirely made from 100% FSC-certified bamboo, including the core layers. It is, therefore, a sustainable choice compared to traditional plywood.
Why Plywood and Not Side-Pressed?
Side-pressed bamboo sheets; you can see that the sheets are made up of long, compressed strips.
Side-pressed bamboo consists of long bamboo strips that are compressed together. The material has a beautiful, recognizable grain, but that is also its weak point: its strength lies primarily in the fiber direction. Perpendicular to the grain, the material breaks relatively easily. In practice, this means more product waste, and it also limits how narrow you can make your designs. Thin or complex shapes, such as a monstera leaf as a coaster, are simply too fragile in side-pressed bamboo.
Coasters laser-cut from bamboo plywood; these complex and narrow shapes would quickly break in side-pressed bamboo, whereas they are stable in plywood.
Bamboo plywood works differently. The sheet is constructed from thin layers of bamboo glued crosswise onto each other. This makes the sheet strong in both directions; it breaks less easily, and you can cut designs with complex and narrow shapes from it.
Fewer Thick Knots are Important for Laser Cutting
Side-pressed bamboo contains thick knots, often as thick as the sheet (5 mm). A laser beam struggles to pass through these, leading to burn marks, irregular cut edges, or sections that are not fully cut through.
Plywood is constructed from thin layers, so the knots are also much thinner. This makes the material homogeneous in structure, and the laser cuts through it more evenly. You can cut with lower power, resulting in a cleaner cut edge.
Furthermore, all our plywoods, including this bamboo, are specially glued for laser cutting. This means less soot on the cut edge from the adhesive. This also helps with the finishing.
The Thinnest Variant: Flexible Like Stiff Paper
Butterfly lamp cut from 0.5 mm bamboo plywood; this material flexes and doesn't break easily.
The 0.5 mm variant is particularly versatile. The material is so flexible that you can bend it without breaking, thanks to the cross-glued layers. You can use it as a veneer layer over another sheet, or for curved designs. We made a butterfly lamp with it: the wings are cut separately and create a play of light as they gently bend. The sturdy backplate is made of 5 mm bamboo plywood, a beautiful contrast with the same material. See the full lamp in our blog about the butterfly lamp.
Warm Appearance, Sturdy Core
The warm caramel color of our bamboo plywood sheets is not paint or coating. This color results from a caramelization process where the material is heated, bringing out the sugars in the bamboo. This process also improves the strength and stability of the sheet. The result is a material that looks both warm and sleek, suitable for decoration, as well as for furniture, casings, and interior construction.
In Summary: Why Bamboo as Plywood?
Bamboo plywood combines the beautiful appearance of bamboo with the structural advantages of a true plywood construction: strong in both directions, homogeneous in structure, less waste, cleaner cut edges, and sustainable origin. We therefore consider this material ideal for laser cutting.
It is rare, and we have it specially made for Lasersheets, in thicknesses from 0.5 mm to 5 mm, suitable for both CO₂ and diode lasers.
Curious? View the material here: Bamboo Plywood 0.5 mm – 5 mm
