Bamboo backed hickory

[kybownut]

Who makes a plain jane bamboo backed hickory longbow at a decent price

[ishoot4thrills]

I think you can get one from 3-Rivers. It may be one that you have to finish though....Or not. I'm not sure.

[Pat B]

IMO, hickory isn't a good belly wood for a boo backing. Hickory is very strong in tension but only moderately strong in compression. Bamboo is very strong in tension and can easily overpower the hickory belly causing excess set if not worse.
 I know folks have made boo backed hickory bows but for best results I'd go with ipe, osage or yew belly for a boo backing.

[kybownut]

Thanks

[Eric Krewson]

I have made three BBH bows, no problems so far and they performed much better than I thought they would. I made mine 1 1/4" wide with semi round bellies just like I make BBOs. All of these bows were rebuilds of really poorly built hickory bows with poor tillering and tons of string follow.

I narrowed these boat paddle bows, glued in a lot of reflex and narrowed the tips a good bit.

Bottom line, I opened my mouth about how poorly made these bows were within earshot of the owners and they asked me if I could fix them for them, which I did. Lots of work,I could have made two bows in the time it took me to fix each of these bows, for free. I will keep my mouth shut from now on.

[SELFBOW19953]

Try Rudderbows.

[Pat B]

Eric, that says a lot about your skill and the durability of hickory. I'm surprised but happy to hear it. It has always worried me that boo backed hickory bows were offered to mostly new bowyers because they are cheap and relatively easy to make. The first ones I ever saw came from a dealer that I considered unethical to say the least.
 Boo is such a "sexy" backing for bows that everyone has to have one. I love the looks and performance of boo backed bows but have been disappointed in the durability of the boo. I prefer hickory backings because they are way more durable, give good performance and are a lot easier to work with, almost fool proof for a beginner.

[kybownut]

I have one made by maddog but my friends son wanted to use it and as long as he's enjoying it I can't bring myself to ask for it back,thanks for all the suggestions

[Eric Krewson]

I make my bamboo backing almost knife edged, every bamboo blank I have seen for sale had what looked like unthinned bamboo on the back, very thick. One vendor at a large shoot was selling bamboo backed osage blanks for $150 that had at least 1/4" of bamboo thickness showing on the sides all the way to the tips.

Several people I knew got excited about possibly buying one of these blanks and making themselves a bamboo backed osage bow. I told them to steer clear of them as they were mass produced for quantity not quality.