ForMatter/Materials/wood/Laminated Bamboo
mat_bamboo_laminated

Laminated Bamboo

grass — engineered laminate (treated as wood for design purposes) · engineered bamboo, bamboo plywood, moso bamboo lamina
mediumlast updated 2026-04-26
metallic 0.00
hue shift +0°

Strips of bamboo glued together into boards or sheets. Bamboo grows in years not decades, so the carbon and ethics ledger looks better than hardwood. Comes in pale natural or carbonized (heat-darkened) tones. Increasingly used for cutting boards, flooring, bicycle frames.

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) culms split, planed, dried, and glued with formaldehyde-reduced adhesives into vertical-grain or horizontal-grain laminates. Mechanical properties between hard maple and oak. Formaldehyde grade matters — older bamboo flooring carried E1/E2 emissions; current CARB Phase 2 / E0 grades address it.

mechanical

  • density_kg_m3700
  • modulus_of_elasticity_gpa11.2
  • modulus_of_rupture_mpa130
source: manufacturer datasheets (Plyboo, MOSO, Smith & Fong)

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg1.05
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • recyclabilitymoderate — biodegradable wood content; adhesive limits clean reuse
  • biodegradableTrue
  • certificationsFSC, CARB Phase 2, Cradle to Cradle (selected Plyboo lines)
  • localityprimarily China; some plantations in southeast Asia
visual
natural pale yellow or carbonized warm tan; edge shows characteristic node lines
tactile
smooth, slightly cooler than oak, distinctive linear texture
weight perception
moderate to heavy
acoustic
bright clear tap

PBR starter values

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere woodgrain finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material.

# finish:      woodgrain
albedo        #d8b878
metallic      0.00
roughness     0.60
ior           1.45
transmission  0.00
clearcoat     0.00
sheen         0.00
anisotropic   0.60
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#d8b878",
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.6,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.6
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Laminated Bamboo · finish: woodgrain
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_bamboo_laminated")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.6867, 0.4793, 0.1878, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.600
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.600
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Laminated Bamboo · finish: woodgrain
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_bamboo_laminated", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (216, 184, 120))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     0.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.600)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Laminated Bamboo \u00b7 finish: woodgrain",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.6867,
    "g": 0.4793,
    "b": 0.1878
  },
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.6,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.6,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_bamboo_laminated",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.6867,
          0.4793,
          0.1878,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 0.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.6
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Laminated Bamboo · finish: woodgrain
def Material "mat_bamboo_laminated" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_bamboo_laminated/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.6867, 0.4793, 0.1878)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 0.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.600
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
ProcessCNC Milling · Laser Cutting · Adhesive Bonding
Used inBicycle frame · Chair
Substitutes
Baltic Birch Plywood
White Oak (Quercus alba)

Citations