Like any bamboo, the way you make it is strip the wood flat and press them together. This table top is like 1,000 bamboo strips pressed together. However, there were some flaws - in several spots, the individual strips of bamboo were pulling apart, so it looks like the wood has small gaps or splits in it. Bamboo is particularly susceptible to moisture, so you don't want water getting in there. Overall the table is sealed up very well in multiple coats of clearcoat. But I may have to seal up the little gaps. Due to the defects I don't believe this is a great choice for a kitchen countertop, but would be a great choice for an art table or drafting table, work bench, desk, those kinds of things. It's a tad expensive. I see similar wood tops at Swedish furniture type stores for about half as much. They're not bamboo, but they're comparable. It's beautiful though, and heavy duty. If you keep it away from moisture I suspect it will last a very long time.