How to Cut Bamboo Poles in Half

Manufacturers use dried bamboo poles to create a wide variety of home and garden items including furniture, privacy screens, pergolas or plant stakes. Often the bamboo poles must be cut to size, but as many people quickly learn, bamboo splinters when it is cut improperly. To properly cut a bamboo pole in half, you must use a proper saw and a different cutting technique than is used for wood products.

Tape measure

Felt-tipped pen

Masking tape

Table saw

Fine-toothed blade

Safety glasses

Hacksaw (optional)

Lay the bamboo pole on the ground or on a sturdy work table. Place a tape measure at one end and stretch it all the way to the other end of the pole. Take note of the measurement and then divide it by 2, which is the center of the bamboo pole. Use the tape measure to find the half way mark and draw a line around the pole at that spot, using a felt-tipped pen.

Wrap a piece of masking tape around the pen line, which will prevent splintering of the outer bamboo wood.

Insert a fine-toothed saw blade into a table saw and put on safety glasses.

Turn the saw on and grasp the bamboo pole between your hands with the pen mark in the center of them. Make sure that your hands are well off to the sides, so you don't injure yourself on the saw.

Push the bamboo pole toward the saw blade until it barely cuts into the masking tape. Rotate the bamboo pole in your hands allowing the tip of the saw blade to create a shallow 1/4-inch deep score mark all the way around the tape.

Position the pole so that the saw blade is centered in the score line and push it toward the blade until the saw cuts the bamboo pole completely in half.

Remove the pole and turn off the saw before removing your safety glasses. Peel off the remaining masking tape from the bamboo pole.

If desired, you can also cut through bamboo poles using a manual hacksaw.