Where do you get your Boo?

[Steve Kendrot]

Noticing a wide range of prices in Bamboo planks for backing bows. Archery supply places seem to run $15-20 while some of the bamboo stores on the web that don't necessarily specialize in bow are a bunch cheaper. What sources are reliable?

Anyone harvest their own? What diameter and wall thickness should I look for and how long does it take to season?

Steve

[Hillbilly Bowyer]

Steve,
Try this
 http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo_products.htm#bambooplanks

Order 25 at a time and you usually end up with 15-18 usable planks. The math works out to be a fairly good deal. If you wanna go halfs on a batch, I'm at the Northern tip of VA, near Winchester.

[Steve Kendrot]

Clay,

Thanks... I was wondering what the percentage of culls was. I may be interested in splitting an order with you. As much for an excuse to get up with someone experiences at making bows. I'm just getting into this. Winchester's probably less than 2 hours if I remember correctly. When would you be thinking of ordering some?

Steve

[Hillbilly Bowyer]

Steve,
Drop me an email.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Hey there guys. Dont mean to horn in on your thread, but have you guys checked into hardwood flooring suppliers yet. I met a guy not long ago that was using flooring planks and milling them down.....might be another option for you to check out

[Sneakypete]

I've gotten boo from various sources and always hve to spend a lot of time thinning the lams down to usable thickness -- which for me means sharp edges, rather than the 1/8" thickness they typiclly come in. At the Tradbow Expo in ID last week I noticed that Ron at the Woodshed has boo lams in various thicknesses, including a nice thin version ready to use. $15 each plus shipping, which is what I've paid at other places. Try [email protected].

[Shakes.602]

Mike "WingNut" Westvang

[Eric Krewson]

I bought several bundles of bamboo from Frank's. Beautiful stuff but I had failure problems with almost all of it. I would get a checkerboard pattern of small cracks on the back after break in and putting 500 to 1000 arrows out of a bow. I almost quit making BBOs because of this problem. I have had good luck with local bamboo and some I got from Wingnut, no failures so far.

[Swanny in MD]

"I would get a checkerboard pattern of small cracks on the back after break in and putting 500 to 1000 arrows out of a bow."

Is that all over, Eric?  Or just in mid limb?

I just got some Tonkin from Wingnut...looks harty, haven't tried anything but Moso so far.

[Roy from Pa]

I bought cheap boo last winter and had the boo split out on the back of 5 bows. Now I get my Boo where Dean Torges gets his, a place in NJ for $11.25 a piece for Moso. It is the best Boo I have ever seen and have not had any failures. You have to call them to order and it only takes a couple minutes. Tell them ya want it for bows, they know all about us guys:)   web page

[D. Johnston]

Eric, I am experiencing failure in the bamboo backings I bought from Franks as well. I asked Wingnut about it last summer at Comptons and he had a one word reply, "Moso." I showed him one of the bows with a failure and he commented that it looked like I had done everything right but the boo just failed. He said it had caused him quite a bit of frustration early in his experience with it. I also mentioned to Paul Norseman over on stickbow what Wingnut had said to me about the failure and he was very defensive about boo from Franks saying he had not had one failure in all the many bows he had built using moso. So there is a range of experience with moso out there and I am sure there are many different factors that contribute to any failure. With as much effort as I put into the making of a bow I want to minimize my heartbreak by getting the best materials I can lay my hands on.

Ken, What did you pay for the Tonkin you got from Wingnut? Any break for quantity? I am in the thick of my bow building season here in Minnesota. David

[James on laptop]

When you guys are talking about falures with the mosa are you talking about just checking or is it breaking?I know a lot of guys have been useing it for the last few years and this is the first time I have heard of it being so bad.Since I have about 20 pieces of it I want the scoop in details.  

[Swanny in MD]

I think it was $18 a piece shipped, Dave.

Couldn't tell you about the quantity discount...contact Mike.

Does Moso typically have a sort of fungus/mold growth on it?  Got some from Franks like that.  I wonder if that affects quality.

[Eric Krewson]

The cracking appeared about 6" out from the fades and was a couple of inches long.

I got one bundle from Frank's that was soaking wet and covered with mold. I suspect it was stored out in the weather.

[Hillbilly Bowyer]

Well obviously you folks know more on this subject than I do. With only one working reflex bow on my rack and several R/D bows at various stages of construction, I don't have any failure/survival data to report. I have experienced boo failure on two bows to date but figured it was something I was doing wrong. After the initial heartbreak, I just became more determined to start another one and get it right.

This is the first I've heard of this boo from Frank's failing on a large scale. I will say that I've ordered from a more expensive archery supply place and received planks I couldn't even use?

[wingnut]

I used the Moso from Frank's and some Mosa from the East Coast.  Both did not stand up to the high stress bows that we build.  After being intoduced to Tonkin, we were able to ask more of our bows and get a lot more in return.  After more then 400 bamboo backed bows, we use only Tonkin Bamboo.

BTW Dean has been using Tonkin for over a year.

Mike

[Swanny in MD]

One thing I forgot to mention that might be helpful - it appears there is enough meat in the Tonkin boo for the raw backing side and a nice belly lam say for a tri-lam bow.  So the cost per unit would go along way for what I like to do with it...even for accent laminations.  This bow doesn't have finish on it, but the raw boo is great to use:

 

[James Wrenn]

Most of the stuff I have read says that tonkin only grows to a diameter of about 2"s?I also read that most sold as tonkin was really just mosa being called tonkin? What is the scoop on this?

btw..If I have a piece of mosa in one hand and the tonkin in the other what differences will I see looking at it? thanks

[Swanny in MD]

Here's a pic of the surface and profile, James.

It's a bit brown and has spots in it that looks like someone took a torch and surfaced burned it.

You might be confusing tonkin cane with tonkin boo as far as diameter...this piece is thick and has grown in a diameter of at least 6" I suppose.

 

[wingnut]

That's right tonkin cane and tonkin bamboo are two different things.  Tonkin cane is about 2" in diameter and is used in fly rods.  Tonkin Bamboo is construction bamboo and grows up to 8" in diameter in 1/2" thick.  Other then appearance you will find that the power fiber in Tonkin goes much deeper then Moso and it will test out about 5 times stronger.

Mike