Bamboo Self Bow

[KenH]

Anyone made one?  I'm not talking about bamboo-backed anything; or bows made from bamboo flooring.  Not a Bhutanese two-piece bow or a Chinese loose-laminate bow either (although that could be interesting made from a stack of bamboo backing strips).

I mean a shaped solid bamboo slat with perhaps tip overlays or wooden siyahs added.  

Or maybe recurves.  How would you shape the recurves?  Dry heat or steam?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[Pat B]

I've seen some made with a single strip of bamboo using the outside of the culm as the belly side of the bow.

[EwokArcher]

I didn't even think that was possible.
 I'll be interested to see what comes up here

[KenH]

PatB -- I've seen that too; in fact I have one mostly finished.  I'll get a couple "in progress" pix and post them.

[Buemaker]

Bamboo bows, looks like they are having a good time

[Pat B]

Now, that's bow building! How many of us use an adze in our bow building.

[Roy from Pa]

I've seen boo slats glued together back to back to make a bow, but that negates a selfbow. I can't see how a single piece of boo would make a decent weight bow. And somehow, I just can't see how the back of a boo culm should be the belly of the bow. But heck, go for it, Ken. Should be an interesting build..

[mikkekeswick]

Roy the fibers aren't cut through so they work fine. Uncut fibers of any orientation can be a bows back. Remember those flat sawn boards.....
As long as you don't leave the edges of the concave surface proud.
Steam or dry heat will work.
My boo supplier has some boo that is close to an inch thick.....plenty of weight there!

[Roy from Pa]

One inch thick boo? Dang I've never seen any that thick. I suppose that would make for a pretty snappy bow. Ken post pictures as you go along.

[Eric Krewson]

There  was  guy who came to the shoots around Birmingham with bamboo he cut locally. I have never seen anything like it, every bit of 3/4" thick. I never thought of it for selfbows.

[KenH]

Well, here are some in-progress pix of my bamboo selfbow.  Basic flatbow in the style of a Chinese bow from the Warring States era. 56" n-t-n, 1.75" at the fades, 1-1/2" wide handle 8" long. Tips are 1/2" wide.  Tip overlays are oak.  Internode thickness at fades ~5/16", internode thickness in outer limbs ~1/4",  Draw weight 31# @ 28" -- I like to shoot light bows...

The slat as it came was about 1/2" thick in the internodes, thicker of course at the nodes. They cost $6 each.  I found a place that sold them by the each instead of a bundle of 25 or 50...

       
Profile

     
Back -- the inside of the culm

     
Belly -- the outside of the culm

     
Tip detail

[takefive]

Wow, I bet it's light as a feather.  Did you do any heat treating to it?

[Roy from Pa]

Looks nice, Ken.

[KenH]

Thanx guys.  I'm just starting to heat treat the belly, in hopes of raising the draw weight a skosh.  The bow masses a staggering 9oz.!!  

I'm thinking of staining the back black and using a brown stain on the belly to give it more color.  I find liquid shoe polish works well with a variety of wood and my test strip of 'boo.

I'm thinking of ordering some more slats and trying a hot-water bend recurve.  My girlfriend has a 105F hot tub that I've used before for bending musical instrument sides.  The question is how long will it take to soak the tips to get them bending...  

Making a Hungarian style with siyahs should be relatively easy...

[die_dunkelheit]

Originally posted by KenH:
... My girlfriend has a 105F hot tub that I've used before for bending musical instrument sides...

That is hilarious.
Where did you find them by the each?

[KenH]

I buy individual slats for $6 each from Bamboo Supply Company, which has a location in Benecia, CA as well as here in Lakeland, FL.

[takefive]

9 oz. is crazy light.  The lightest one I ever made was just under 16 oz.  68" long, elm backed ERC.  Hey, yours is 3 oz. lighter than a can of Roy's favorite beverage.   :D