Development of the bamboo tile-making machine

摘要

A machine was developed for processing Bambusa blumeana (kawayan) butts (the lower 1-2 m portion of the bamboo culm) into solid, flat, bamboo tiles that are durable for flooring, parquets, panels and various uses in the furniture and handicraft industries. The technical performance and economic viability of this bamboo tile-making machine were subsequently evaluated.rnThe machine can undertake five major operations with only one source of power: cross-cutting, removing knots, width sizing, thickness sizing and tile length cutting. It has a minimum work space requirement of 9 m~2. The machine can produce tiles 20-30 mm wide × 10 mm thick × 100 mm long in 25 seconds with a precision of 86-92%. The conversion output per butt is 69%. Only one operator is needed to operate the machine. The processing speed can be increased as the operator becomes more skilled.rnThe eventual commercialisation could benefit small-scale bamboo producers since the cost of fabricating the machine is only US$538. The rate of return is computed at 23.4% with a payback period of 255 days for split bamboo butts, and at 16.9% with a payback period of 337 days for processing whole bamboo butt.rnThe bamboo tile is an engineered construction material that is versatile, eco-friendly and can be adapted to individual specifications. In this regard, the tile-making machine and other bamboo technologies are the key to the promotion of bamboo as a valuable renewable resource.