Well, as a nifty mother fucker that loves nothing more than to create homemade pieces, I decided its getting about time for another build... Dreamed this idea up in my sleep, with a little help from google it because a full-fledged plan. I am planning on building a PERFECT bamboo bong. I hate to admit it but all of my other home-made pieces have been pretty sketchy, I have pics if anybody wants to see the others. I love the idea of making a all-natural home-made piece and I know bamboo is the ideal choice and I also know a place that has some 20 ft tall stalks of the stuff. At the base the diameter is probably about 5-8 inches, it is huge. Im thinking about asking permission to cut a stalk down just because it is right next to somebody's yard and along side a main road. I want it to be simi-stashable so no more than about a foot and a half, fully sealed, and ALL NATURAL, just like whats going in it I am planning on getting some small metal lengths, such as a small penny sized nail and putting it through the downstem and sawing the edges off to make a ice catcher. I had the idea of using a coconut from the grocery store as the bottom chamber but I dont think that I am going to. Anybody have any other ideas to add ? Im planning on doing the build tomorrow during the day and will def post up pics of the finished product. Also, should I seal the bamboo with some clear laquour or something ? I think that that would deff improve the length of life and aesthetical aspects of the piece. Let me know if you guys have any ideas ! This should be pretty sick !
bamboo has sections in it usually like every foot or so its as if its a completely different and sealed section. I'd make sure you have the tools to bore a nice hole in the down the tube to control airflow and connect these sections. You should cut below one and let that be the sealed bottom the coconut idea is fucking stupid I feel like it would go out/become nasty much faster than the bamboo. oh and when you make the hole to connect the sections, keep in mind that you are controlling the airflow of the tube, make it big enough to reduce drag but small enough to milk slow and create a dense hit. I hate nothing more than homemade pieces that cant milk up well.
my friend and i made a bong out of a coconut and bamboo. we made a bamboo downstem with a diffuser, bamboo slide, and bamboo tube. We used the coconut as the water chamber. It was really neat and actually worked. we sealed it with super glue and hot glue
I had this idea awhile back (both coconuts and bamboo) and I read that both can (and probably will) become moldy in not that long, which isn't good. You don't want to be inhaling mold into your lungs, do you? If you plan on using this for a couple weeks or something then tossing it, I say it's a great idea, but if you want something more permanent, natural is not the way to go. I remember reading that coconuts can be painstakingly scraped clean of any of the coconut's 'meat', and then they are safe from mold, but it can take a huge amount of time and difficulty to do that. Of course these are all things I've read, not seen, so perhaps another blade could shed some light based on their personal experience?
There is a lot of bamboo where I live, and i find it makes great pieces if done correctly. Firstly, the bamboo needs to be seriously dried out before it makes a permanent piece. I made a throwaway bamboo bong for Bonnaroo, and didn't bother to dry it because it takes a while to get nasty. Also, if you empty the water after every use, it lasts longer without drying. What I do is light up the grill, toss the bamboo i want on and let it sit for about 20 minutes on low, turning it regularly. You don't want to burn it, however, so make sure it has no contact with flame. You can also put wax on the inside, it's a great all natural sealant. As for the downstem, a thin thin piece of bamboo can work, but i prefer to just buy a replacement downstem and slider from my local head shop and use it. The placement has to be right, make it so the downstem nearly touches the bottom at about a 45 degree angle. This is the tricky part, making the downstem go at the angle you want it to. What i do is start with a small bit, working up and holding it at the right angle as i drill in circles until it fits. A nice little touch is putting in a couple screws (being careful not to crack the bamboo) to use as ice catchers. Hope this helps.