bamboo

[red hill]

Guys, I've looked through the how-tos and archives but couldn't find anything about flattening bamboo.  
Can anyone shed some light on this subject?  
I have found a clump of small diameter bamboo, about 3-3 1/2" in diameter and want to try some as backing.
I suspect heat is needed but in what form? Steam or dry heat?

[Roy from Pa]

You don't flatten the arch out of the boo, that happens when you glue it on the bow wood. If that is what you are asking.

[Monkey Wrench]

A good clip on bamboo processing...

 http://www.youtube.com/user/BowstickArchery#p/u/17/IbPJEeHLvIA

[red hill]

I don't have a clue about raw bamboo, Roy.  I think that is what I was asking.
This bamboo is about 3/8" thick and would probably make very narrow backing. I thought flattening it would help make a wider backing material.
Stan

[Roy from Pa]

All you need is the boo to be about 1 1/2 wide when it's ready to be glued on a bow. I buy my boo and it comes 2 inches wide and about 3/8th thick. I run it across a jointer to flatten the back side of it till it's a little over 1 1/2 wide. Then I lay my bow pattern out on the flat side and cut that out with a bandsaw. Then I thin that down to 1/8th thick at the handle to 1/16th thick at the tips and glue her on the bow wood.  

Hold on a second here Red. My bad:) I thought you were talking about the arch of the boo as it was laying on a table and arching end to end.  

But to get the concave out of it, follow what I said above, sorry about that,  Roy

[red hill]

Thanks, Brad. Looks like my 'boo isn't big enough for what I want.
Stan

[red hill]

Thanks, Roy. Like I said, I don't have a clue. This is a learning experience just like everything else has been so far.  I trully appreciate the responses and input from everyone on TG.
Stan

[Steve Kendrot]

The bamboo they cut backing slats out of is large diameter (6-7") and thick walled. Flattening the bamboo is a process of planing/sanding the inside wall until it is flat, not "unrolling" the tube so to speak.

[red hill]

Steve, I've seen pics of bamboo backing and the video suggested above was quite informative. I just thought there could be a way of using this.
At any rate I want to try something with it in an attempt to back a bow just to experiment a little.
Stan

[Pat B]

Red, you want boo backing strips to be 1/8" at the crown at the handle. It can taper(thickness) to the tip or have even thickness.   Cut a strip of your boo and sand the concave side down until you have a flat glue surface. Now see how wide the strip is. If it is say 3/4" wide you could make a bow that was 1" to 1 1/4" wide and trap the sides to match the boo backing. So theoretically your bow would be 3/4" on the back and 1 1/4" on the belly.