Processing raw bamboo into lams?

[longrifle]

Just wondering how you guys do it , where you get the bamboo from and how do you turn it into lams?

[beachbowhunter]

You make it from bamboo plywood. A good source is Northwest Bamboo. Look at the vertical riser treads.
You rip it to your lam width on the table saw then resaw into strips on your bandsaw, grind to thickness (and taper) on your drum sander...

[wood carver 2]

If you are talking about using unprocessed bamboo, it's fairly easy to make lams.
If you have large diameter poles, they can be split into 2 inch pieces then planed flat on a jointer. I used to do it this way until the garden center stopped stocking large poles.
Now I buy 1 3/4 inch X 6 foot slats online. I saw them to width and flatten them on the jointer. For core lams I take the jointed slats and run them  through the thickness planer.
One thing, I prefer to saw bamboo on the bandsaw. The tablesaw will work too, but it shoots sharp little slivers at you.
Dave.

[longrifle]

That's what I mean unprocessed bamboo,do you do any heat tempering to them?

[wood carver 2]

I only heat temper the belly lam.
Be careful planing bamboo slats on a jointer. I use two rubber soled push pads to keep my fingers away from the knives... and take light cuts! If you get into a hurry this stuff will bite you hard! For a bamboo backing, I'll plane a slat then I'll cut out the bow's profile. Then I'll take it back to the jointer and plane it to thickness and final taper. To get the taper mark the center of the slat, then divide each half into three. Plane one side to the first mark, then plane it again to the second mark. Do the same for the other end of the slat. Now plane it again end to end and it will be tapered from the center out to the ends. Go slow because the ends will be narrow and thin and are easily broken.
Dave.

[fujimo]

theres sound advice from a man who knows and build a lot from boo- cant bamboozle him!!
 please be careful around the jointer, ask a good friend of mine, Big Bert( quarter moon bows) from alberta, what happens if your focus slips when using the jointer!!
its one machine that scares me more than any other.
cheers
wayne

[wood carver 2]

If you think jointers are scary, you would love mine. It's older than the hills, built way before any thought was given to safety, and it has a boring mill on the outside and a tablesaw on the side I stand on to plane wood. I removed the saw table because it is too small to cut anything big, and gets in the way.
On the plus side, it's 10 inches wide and the boring mill makes short work of big door mortises.
Wayne, I also think it's the scariest machine in the shop. My Dad has no fingerprint on one thumb. Some dumb a$$ touched a board he was flattening years ago.
Dave.

[Mad Max]

Originally posted by wood carver 2:
I only heat temper the belly lam.
Be careful planing bamboo slats on a jointer. I use two rubber soled push pads to keep my fingers away from the knives... and take light cuts! If you get into a hurry this stuff will bite you hard! For a bamboo backing, I'll plane a slat then I'll cut out the bow's profile. Then I'll take it back to the jointer and plane it to thickness and final taper. To get the taper mark the center of the slat, then divide each half into three. Plane one side to the first mark, then plane it again to the second mark. Do the same for the other end of the slat. Now plane it again end to end and it will be tapered from the center out to the ends. Go slow because the ends will be narrow and thin and are easily broken.
Dave.

How much better is the bamboo slats than the flooring? you have edge grain with the flooring
do you have to flatting out the slats before sanding/plane?

[Mad Max]

Are bamboo slats better than Hard rock maple for Lam's????????????????/

[wood carver 2]

I used natural bamboo for cores in a couple of bows and I wasn't impressed by their speed. They were really smooth to draw though. Bamboo flooring and maple make faster bows in my limited experience.
Having said that, I have only made bamboo backed tri-lams, not glass bows.
I first cut the bamboo slats to width on the bandsaw, then I flatten them on the jointer. After that, I cut the back lam to profile and taper it on the jointer. I usually sand them only if they need a bit of refining once they are tapered.
Dave.