bamboo flooring

[red hill]

I've read several posts stating that you can use laminated bamboo flooring for making bows. Awhile back I was looking at a box of the stuff at Home Depot and I've been mulling this over ever since.

Are there any build-alongs, or other posts that anyone can direct me to covering this procedure?

I've used planed raw bamboo as backing and like it. Now I'd like to try making a bow with more than just a backing lamination.

[rmorris]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=007206#000000  

Here is one I did a while back. Some people say it is safer to use a bandsaw opposed to the tablesaw (never had a problem with the tablesaw but I would agree a bandsaw is safer) and on anything besides bamboo a drum sander works better than a plainer.

[wood carver 2]

The only thing you have to watch for is voids or areas where the bamboo strips in the flooring might come apart as you saw. For me, the bandsaw or the table saw both work fine, but, having said that, the bandsaw is safer.
Dave.

[Dmaxshawn]

I knock the edges off first and cut to length.  Then I run em through the drum sander to square up.  Cut to the width I need.  Change blades And resaw 3/16 wide. One piece of flooring yields one bow this way.  

The other way is to resaw them with your taper sled and and then grind them down.

[red hill]

I have access to a table saw, and planer. I have a cheapo bandsaw (9" Ryobi) and a planer/jointer and a belt sander. I've even built a bow oven with incandescent bulbs as a heat source. Looks like I may hafta try making one of these bows. After the swap,of course.
Thanks, guys.

[rmorris]

Red, I am sure you would make a great bow with no major issues , I say go for it!

[GentlemanArcher]

I use lams made from flooring as well...stuff seemed to work great.  Like WC2 mentioned, look out for the voids in the layers of bamboo.  The floor boards I have are made of about 8 smaller strips, all laminated together.  In between some of those layers are voids.  They are easy enough to grind down though.  I used a band saw and spindle sander (set up as a lam grinder).

Good Luck...post pics

GA

[Millhimes]

red hill,thats vertical bamboo flooring right.my el cheapo only sells horizonal flooring and that won't work--Joe

[Troy D. Breeding]

Not meaning to hi-jack the thread, but it does go along with the use of Vertical Laminated Bamboo flooring in bows.

Anyone ever thought about cutting and making it into lams, then stacking and reglueing it to make a riser block?

I know it would be a rather blan looking riser unless accent stripes of contrasting colors were used.

Just a thought....

Troy

[D]

I've used the horizonal boards and they worked great.

[rmorris]

Troy, I have but the dang stuff will separate at the joints here in our non humid climate in just a few years. I don't know if I would trust the glue they use.

[Troy D. Breeding]

Ralph,

That was my biggest worry. If I understand it right the glue they use is a urathane based glue.

Troy

[Millhimes]

D-I bought a box of horizontal by mistake for a job i was doing (wrong color)so i tried grinding lams out of some..095 at the butt end with a .002 taper and if i flexed them they shattered. Mabey different kind?

[Troy D. Breeding]

I've used horizonal laminated bamboo (commonly called Lamboo) with no major problems.

Most of the time I only get a lam from the outter layers. The inter layer is mostly a void filled filler.

I have had problems with it shattering in the joints if ground very thin.

Troy

[Millhimes]

may have to try some more.Thanks troy--Joe