New Trilam, failure is sometimes inevitable.

[John Malone]

Will it still work if its not 1.5 wide?  Those things are picky about width vs. thickness best I can tell.

[Roy from Pa]

I make my flares 1 1/4" wide and hold that 1 1/4" width out 6 more inches, then straight taper to 1/2" at tips.

So the widest part on my bow is 1 1/4".

[Forwardhandle]

John Echco archery sells all ready flattened bamboo backings for a reaseonable price never bought the pre flattened but the other boo I bought from them was awsome quality !

[BMorv]

Yeah Johnny, what kind of bamboo are you using and how are you preparing it? 
Most bamboo I've working with comes in 2" slats and you have no problem at 1.5" width. 

[John Malone]

Not sure of the type, but the two boo backed bows I made are still shooting great. Only thing is by the time its an 1/8th its an inch wide. If I try a lil harder I think I can squeeze 1 1/4.
Got two beautiful pieces awhile back, or so I thought. All the nodes were 12-13 inches apart, but the crown was so high I couldn't get much width from them. Gonna save them for experimental purposes, should work when I get some more Ipe.
Ill check out Echo.

[John Malone]

That's a good price for raw boo of good quality. Can you flatten that stuff with steam or do you have to sand it flat from the start?

[BMorv]

The stuff from echo is good.  I bought a couple slats from them. No you won’t be able to steam it.  Leave the flares on the boo a little thicker like .140” if you want to get more width. 

[Forwardhandle]

I do it on the jointer & belt sander and taper by hand but it could be done by hand too.

[Bowjunkie]

Anyone selling bamboo to bowyers, as a 'bowyer supplier', SHOULD sell pieces from large diameter poles so that it's flat enough to easily get decent bow width at 1/8" thick. It should also be reasonably far between the nodes. Personally, I've had good luck taking my chances on the big auction site buying bundles of 25 or 50. Do a search on there for "natural bamboo slats". Often shipping can be had for free and they end up costing $5 a piece. Usually most or all of them are good quality. There might be one or two with a scratch or bruise I don't trust(we can grind it for a core), or a couple that are close between the nodes, but the vast majority of them have been fine and as good as those I've gotten from bowyer suppliers. Heck, that's probably where they get em 

I've made bamboo backed osage bows 70# at 1 1/8" wide.

Nodes should be 12" apart as a bare minimum. I don't know if I've ever made a bow with nodes as close together as 12". I prefer a lot farther.

[John Malone]

Thanks guys.

[John Malone]

Ok, I ordered a couple raw pieces from echo. Need to order some sinew and a scale from Mike and ill be good for a week or so.
Also had the guy down the road make me a pair of b. walnut core lams the same as these and a pair of 1/4 inch Lemon wood billets for the belly and ill back it with boo also. I will have 75 bucks in that one so ill practice some more with Roy's free stuff.  Just kidding, I'm sure this one will work out nicely.

[Roy from Pa]

Ya mess up that Osage and I'll never talk to ya again...

LOL

 

[John Malone]

If it don't work I'm blaming it on the guy who designed it, which was not me. However, if it does work and I'm sure it will, it should also work out pretty good with lemon wood as a belly. I like that lemon wood, its just a lil pricey.