Bamboo purchase for bow building.

[hera]

2008/03/18 Taiwan .
It is very difficult to buy such as big Phyllostachys makioni hayata.
 

 


 


 

[hera]

 

 

 

[LEOPARD]

Cool pics Hera!    

[JCJ]

Neat photo's of a great raw material.

For folks living in the US you might want to visit the following two links for information about bamboo. The cane that these two suppliers import for split-cane fly rod builders (myself included) may be the ultimate in its ability to smoothly load (bend) and quickly unload. I would think it would be ideal for limb cores.  http://www.bamboobroker.com/
 http://www.tonkincane.com/

While you are at it, you may want to read this research about cane. The best qualities of a piece of bamboo lie right under it's outer enamel surface. How you process your cane for limb cores in terms of preserving the outer powerfibers of the material will have an effect on the materials contribution to the performance of your bow.
 http://www.powerfibers.com/Bamboo_under_the_Microscope.pdf

[Cody Roiter]

Hera, How many bows can you make with all that bamboo ? You look like you have fun making bows.
Cody

[hera]

Thanks JCJ.

I still very exciting, these BIG hayata are rare, very rare in market.
Hayata can grow to that big,problem is ,like hog raise farm,no one let it grow over 200kg.
Moso bamboo are far bigger then hayata,but according to aboriginal archery and my own experience,hayata is the first choice,second to none.
In India,there is a kind of bamboo name giant bamboo,dia up to 6~8".but their elastic efficiency just not good enough.
The pity is that I can not find any information about the power fiber compair with these two bamboo(hayata and tonkin cane).

Cody

I don't know.
   

[Focusource]

I like the annotated photographs.  You put some effort into organizing this information.    

[ChristopherO]

Hera,
You are answering some questions for me with this post.  A friend and I just ordered bamboo slats yesterday for bamboo backed bows.  Yet, I have been wondering what the diameter of the bamboo clum has to be to cut a plank out of for a bow.  I was guessing 3"-4" minimum.  
Is is worth our while to purchase the clums whole and then split it to propert width in the future or just keep buying the planks?  
Thanks

[hera]

Christopher

I think it depond on the clum wall thickness .

If you are ordered a green raw clum,5~10 % diameter reduce after air dry.

[LEOPARD]

Hera,

Have you ever made a bow completely out of bamboo and nothing else? I wonder how well this would work? It looks like you are in the right place to try something like that, having looked at all that bamboo!       :D   Thanks for sharing the pics with us!

Nigel