bamboo?

[Crittergetter]

Hey fellow trads,, thinking about doing an all bamboo limb longbow. Never done a lam bow before so its all knew to me. need advice! Thinking bout doing 1 taper and 3 parallel under glass. Should I use action boo for the 2 cores and cane for back and belly? Open to any suggestions. want to end up around 50# at 26". Also, been hearing a lot about tonkin bamboo! like what I hear but what is your input?

[Eric Krewson]

Tonkin bamboo doesn't get any bigger than about 3" in diameter, too small for bows. Several dealers might say they have tonkin bamboo slats but it is probably something else.

Here is a video that shows the actual size of real tonkin bamboo.

 

[Roy from Pa]

That's not a fair poll with one question:) Did you vote for Obama?

[LittleBen]

bamboo? seems liek a very existential question, almost like asking ... why is there anything rather than nothing?

Unfair poll nothwithstanding, I would just use actionboo personally. I'm pretty sure canse laminations are more expensive than actionboo, and won't have the consistency. Personally I don't think it looks any better either. If you're using clear glass and you are concerned wat it will look like under glear glass, I'd probably consider using a nice veneer, depending on your budget.


Regarding 1 taper and 3 parallel, frankly it's completely arbitrary whether you use 1 taper and 3 parallel, 2 and 2, 3 and 1, or all 4 tapered. The only thing that matter is what the total taper is. The only thing more lams does in a bow is make it easier to glue up. Maybe they have soem extremely minor effects on draw weight, but that vast majority of the work is done by the glass.

How much taper to use? depends on the bow profile, what you want it to look like drawn, how wide/long the bow is etc.

[snapper1d]

I have done this before and made a beautiful bow.Two lams of action boo for core and had some boo backing strips I sanded down flat and used for lams under glass with a Dymondwood riser.A really nice bow but my brother wanted it soooo bad that I gave it to him.I have been wanting to make another one ever since but just have not gotten around to it.

[Crittergetter]

Thx for the input guys. Snapper, if you have any pics I would love to see them. And to answer Roy from PA, uhh NO!!!!  

[Roy from Pa]

And to answer Roy from PA, uhh NO!!!! [Smile]

Cool, I like ya already critter:)

[snapper1d]

You cant tell much about the bamboo lam under glass from the pic but you can see a couple nodes.That lam was from one of those backing strips and I ran it through the thickness sander till I had a good flat thin lam.About the thickest I could get was about .030.I had to dang near sand the whole thing away to get that.It started out as one of those 2" slats and was only about 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" wide when finished.

 

[Crittergetter]

Cool, thats the look im going for. I like seeing the nodes. ive talked with Kenny M and we're going to get started after the holidays.ive got to build my form first. Wish me luck!! Thx guys!