bamboo backed bows....getting the ball rolling..

[Dogbyte]

hey guys, have a questions regarding getting started on building a bamboo backed bow.

ive watched Dean Torges DVD on building one a few times, also have his book on making osage selfbows.

i think building a bamboo backed bow would be more "doable" for me right now, considering all i have is a drawknife right now. i still gotta get a few files/rasps, a plane or two, hand sanders ect.... a few of the tools i will attempt to make by hand via Dean's instruction on his video.

aside from gathering the tools required to pull this off, gathering the resources is my current big question mark. i tried emailing a price guide from the link on Dean's website, i believe it was a bamboo flooring company, they also sold the rattan staves for kids bows..but ive yet to hear from them on prices...

does anyone know how much these bamboo staves cost? and also, would giant cane ever get large enough to fill the same purpose as bamboo? or are they still so different? i know length between nodes and wall thickness all plays a part, and i havent looked at a cross section of any cane with bow making in mind, but im just wondering. some down here (arkansas) gets pretty big, ~35ft tall and maybe 4-6 inches in diameter at the base, i dont know how thick the walls would end up being further up on the stalks where the nodes are far enough apart. the 2 inch wide 6ft staves on Dean's DVD look like they were once part of a pretty big bamboo stand.

also, for the upper/lower limbs and handle, i planned on using hickory, i have access to some but they are alive at the moment. how long would it take to dry out hickory planks suitable for my purposes? what about drying via hotbox? what would be a safe time frame to prevent splitting? or would simply buying hickory boards and working them from there be faster and more sensible for now?

thanks for any help and direction..

-dale

[clintopher]

THE most handy tool for building bows is a rasp.  Don't get a cheap one...get a Nicholson #49 or #50.  One has a finer cut but I can't think of which one without looking at the rasps.  After that is Dean Torges tool.  If I could only have one it'd be the rasp but the two together make an excellent combination.

I bought bamboo a while back but can't remember where I got it.  Was expensive to ship so a friend of mine and I went in on twenty something pieces to make it worthwhile.  Wingut used to sell some but don't know if he still does.  If he does that's where I'd get it...good stuff.

If you're going to use hickory I'd just get some that's already been dried, planed, and dimensioned.  Be picky with the boards...look for one with a nice straight grain pattern.  I've never built a hickory backed bamboo, but I'd never go through the trouble of felling a tree and prepping the wood to do it.

[bigcountry]

I didn't use a draw knife on a Bamboo backed bow.  I use a planer, a bandsaw, and bench sande, and rasps.  It would be an aweful lot of work scrapin a core down to tiller.

[razorsharptokill]

Wingnut no longer sells it. Try Twotracks here on the gang.

[macbow]

From what I've read Backing hickory with bamboo might be a tough combination to start with.
The bamboo will over power the hickory. Hickory is tough in tension and weaker in compression. Bamboo is even tougher in tension than hickory.

Ipe can be hard to find but it is great with a bamboo backing. another good combination is bamboo backed osage.

A vendor in Arkansas is Mike Yancey. He has everything you could need including lots of experience.

You could test the cane you have around. Get a dry piece about 1 to 2 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick maybe 5 to 6 foot long  bend it around something simulating bending a bow. If it returns to it's straight shape after flexing it might work.
Ron

[macbow]

Mike is the owner of Pine Hollow Longbows in Van Buren Arkansas. A sponsor here.
Ron

[Dogbyte]

thanks guys.... i guess im gonna have to buy my first batch of resources cause felling and drying some osage would take a little bit to get finished, hard part would be finding some osage though...

i'll have to look Mike up in Van Buren and see what he's got... hickory was an idea since i had easy access to a lot of it.. but if i can find some osage that would be better...

[knap_123]

i just cut some large cane and i hope it will work for some bows.  i'm new to boo backing myself

[knap_123]

iu have acess to a goodbit this size, will it work?

[Dogbyte]

dude i think it will work. i talked to Dean the other night, and he suspected that if the wood is thick enough, then someone should give it a try, thats all anyone can do anyway right? dry it in a hot box for a while, then let the sun hit it to give it that golden brown color.  

the wood near the bottom is the strongest, im told, but those nodes look good. after talking with him, my concern for node space was false. just as long as they arent too proud. ~8 inch spaces or so is still fine, maybe put the first node in the center of the handle, then work your way out from there?

those are some dang good lookin canes... i got access to a stand as well, i hope they are that fit.

[Dogbyte]

damn knap you got my hopes up now... i hope someone with some ambition can back a bow with this stuff, i'd sure be interested in how it all works out...

[loyd]

Dogbyte
i have some bamboo slats if you will pay shipping i will give you 2 of them. or come over to pick them up, how far is austin from willow springs mo.loyd

[Steve Kendrot]

I haven't had much luck with locally cut Bamboo. I think the stuff they sell as backing is coming from 4-6" diameter bamboo. Stuff I've been ablt to find isn't much more than 2-3" diameter and gets brittle and splits when it dries. I bought some bamboo from Dryad (Wingnut) last spring.