Ipe with boo or white oak backing?

[John Malone]

Hello Guys, so I acquired a piece of ipe that measures 1 7/16 wide 1 1/4 thick along with a bamboo and white oak backing strip. The boo is flattened and tapered the oak is 3/16. All are 72 inches long and I want to make another eastern woodland style d bow. About an inch wide to 7/8 tips or so 68 long. Which backing would work best with this design with an ipe belly.  
Also the bamboo has one node 2 inches from tip the other is 4 inches, ive never worked boo. I would like to get two bows from this but not sure if I can. Or does ipe halve to have a backing?
Thanks guys

[fujimo]

i have got two bows from ipe boards before.
by marking the one bow out right against the edge of the board, you can fit tow other halves in if they are opposed- then splice the billets together- one would have to be a stiff handled bow though

[John Malone]

Good idea Fujimo, but the ipe is only 1 7/16 wide. Its 1.25 thick.

[BMorv]

Ipe and bamboo are a match made in bow making heaven, IMO.  
I like to space my nodes evenly from the tips on both sides, and let the rest fall where they fall. So there will be for instance a node 6" from both tips.  Not sure if you can move yours to make it 3" from the tip on both limbs.  Others do it differently, but I find the nodes near the tips are the most difficult to deal with so I rather them be in the same spot on both limbs.
You should be able to get 2 bows out of the board.  As long as you have .5" thickness you can make a 50# bow.
I'm not sure that an eastern woodland style bow is the best design for ipe, but it can be done if that's your goal.  Good ipe is hard to beat as far as belly woods are concerned.  I'll just say that it's best quality is it's excellent strength, so you'll best utilize this quality by making a bow with thin narrow limbs, especially near the tips.

[Pat B]

John, if you can resaw the ipe thickness in half lengthwise you should have enough to build 2 bows so you can make one of each to compare them. You will probably have to add in a power lam to keep the handle area from bending but that's easy enough to do. Also don't make the bow much more than 1 3/8" wide or the ipe belly will come out too thin.

[fujimo]

as pat says- if the bow is 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 wide- you should still be able to get two bows out of the board as described- however- if pat feels you can rip it in half- and still have enough material for two bows- i would go with that.
i have always made my ipe bows starting with a board 3/4" thick.
but i would trust pat, and the power lam is a great idea.
or even consider a trilam, with a good core wood.

[fujimo]

maybe with the thin pieces you rip off the sides, build a couple of shafts- should get 4 out of it.
 i have made some ipe shafts , they are incredible!

[John Malone]

Thanks Guys. Got lucky and found this from a local bowyer I didn't know about. He is a retired fellow and only does glass lams now so he sold me this stuff dirt cheap. Its amazing what a junkie can come up with when he's hooked.

[BMorv]

Nice score....From red oak to ipe in a couple months.  You are addicted!
Do you have some pics?  Not all ipe is created equal.

[Roy from Pa]

John, word of caution. IPE is known to give some folks a bad reaction. Happened to me. Use protection.

[BMorv]

Yep, wear a respirator and gloves if possible.  Even if you aren't allergic, the splinters are nasty and will be prone to infection.

[John Malone]

Thanks guys, I gotcha its 1 1/4 wide 1 7/16 thick not the other way around.
Roy, ya sound like my grandpa, use protection. lol
BMorv, already got a splinter putting it in the truck and its sore. Ive got several resperators so im good on that. got to think bout it awhile as to what design, kinda busy shooting that EWB. I took that paint job off it was cool at first but it had to go.

[fujimo]

well- thats easy now- easy to rip that into two pieces  

[John Malone]

 
 
 
 

[Roy from Pa]

There ya go dude...

[BMorv]

That should work.  I’ve found the best ipe is the dark brown almost black ones, but those are normally hard to come by.  Make sure the bamboo is around 1/8” at its thickest and tapered to the tips or like Pat mentioned the ipe will be too thin.

[John Malone]

I was reading that somewhere about the darker ipe being better. The guy had the boo ready for glue up but I will check myself for sure.