Thoughts on bamboo limbs/cores for lb

[bisket]

What are your thoughts on all bamboo limb longbows?  Meaning limb cores and veneers.  Likes and or dislikes?  Thanks in advance for any input
Mark

[curlis]

They look great and shoot even better.

[nineworlds9]

Some traditionalists dislike it and point out that it is a grass not a wood, but Howard Hill loved the stuff and so do many others...I'm sure they were on to something.  I do enjoy some pretty Tonkin cane under clear glass, especially if the bamboo has some nice honey color or pigment to it, though I will admit it's not my first choice, I still gravitate toward exotic veneers.  Various wood cores can be very smooth and offer an outstanding shot experience.  Boo is known to feel quick and snappy, I enjoy it.  I also enjoy maple, yew, or ash cores and feel that they can be almost as quick but offer a bit softer of a shot feel which is quite pleasant.  Mixed cores are also nice.  Yew and boo and maple and boo are excellent combos. Or boo and carbon with no glass.  

Boo is tried and true, aka GOOD STUFF, but certainly don't be afraid to try other things, yew is great, and I also love a good maple or ash core bow.

***I have edited a few of my comments because as someone further down pointed out, I may not have a 360 degree understanding of the dynamics at play just yet.  I have my personal observations, but numbers don't lie.  Time for some fact checking.

[MnFn]

I have a Pronghorn takedown with Tonkin bamboo limbs. Very nice looking bow and really nice subdued finish. It seems to have good performance with heavier arrows but that is just my perception,  not based on any scientific measurement.

 It took me awhile to get used to the bow , mainly because it is about 5 pounds over what I used to consider my max weight in a bow- 55#.  This one is about 60# at my draw length.  

Now after regularly shooting it this summer,  it doesn't feel much different than my  53 and 55 lb bows.  I can post pics later if you want to see them.

[legends1]

Your right, bamboo is a grass not a wood. Best natural carbon fiber. Been used by bowyers for years. I like the amber look under clear glass.

[Crittergetter]

My first glass bow that I built was all bamboo. Aboo cores and bamboo veneers with bocote riser and overlays. It is one of KennyM's designs. I am very pleased with it. Smooth and quiet. Seems pretty fast to me too. I posted pics in the bowyer bench under " first glass bow"

[Sam McMichael]

I like bamboo. I have 5 Hill bows, have had 2 Quillian Bamboo Longhunters, and currently have a Northern Mist Shelton, all with boo cores. I have a Kolomi with bamboo back and belly over a Persimmon core. Bamboo is smooth, powerful, and durable. In my opinion it is the best bow "wood" out there - yeah, I know it is actually a grass.

Only the Quillian bows are r/d design, but on these and the straight bows, the performance is equally good.

[ron w]

Bamboo is your friend.........  

[Jim Picarelli]

I have a Hill Wesley Special with bamboo cores and veneers under clear glass. Shoots and looks great
     

   

[Prairie Drifter]

My first Maddog was like that. Bow shoots great. I liked the idea of a bamboo bow because I build bamboo fly rods.

 

 

 

[Bob B.]

Mowhawk bows are exceptional ... mild R/D and boo cores-veneers just like you requested.  These bows are quiet, shoot very well - they have all you have inquired about.  Lastly, I can attest to their deer harvesting qualities.    

  http://www.mohawkbows.com/

Good Luck,

Bob.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by nineworlds9:
 It is very lightweight and will reduce the overall weight of a limb, which in turn aids increasing speed and recovery to some degree.  Wood cores will be heavier, mass-wise.  

I hate to burst your bubble bro...but the  Actionwood Bamboo commonly used in most bows today is actually heavier than maple in mass weight. i could give you a long list of core woods that are much lighter than bamboo.... But.... bamboo is harder and has more density than oak. It's actually pretty cool stuff. Easy to work with and very consistent.... But the stuff isn't light weight material at all.... get two pieces of the stuff identical in size and weigh them some time...

The main reason bamboo cores are so popular with archers and bowyers alike, is the consistency in density.  It provides a very smooth draw due to it's excellent tensile strength, and somewhat soft compression properties...... Bowyers love the stuff because of its longevity, consistency, and the smoothness it adds to your limbs draw cycle. The laminated action boo also adds good stability to the limbs...... Hands down the stuff is hard to beat for making everyone happy, but i think its over rated in some respects.  

Bamboo cores for long bows are great... But i'd take good old maple cores, or even actionwood over bamboo for recurve limbs which are much thinner any day.

[Kris]

I guess Kirkll sums it up pretty good.  I love boo cores but agree...I like maple as well.  Either one and you'll have yourself a fine bow core.

Kris

[nineworlds9]

Lol Kirk very interesting.  So I've got it all wrong eh?  I trust your know how and I'm no scientist I'm seriously just going by what I have felt in my hands and shot.  The bamboo bows or limbs always feel lighter to me.  Could it be that you have to use less GLASS????  Is that the difference I'm feeling?    Perhaps I have been noticing differences in riser wood weight vs. weight in limb core materials?!   I am curious to know the actual pounds/ cubic foot weight difference between the two materials.  That would be the hard data.  Minus glass, minus glue, as you say.  Are not cane/tempered bamboo and Actionboo two similar/yet different things?  The bows I am talking about that seem noticeably lighter in the hand vs. wood cores are cane boo and glass vs. maple or other wood and glass and of similar design/riser size/length etc.  The OP was specifically asking about longbows.  We're certainly not debating the merit or usefulness of Actionwood, especially not in recurves, you don't see bamboo as a standard core wood in most recurve limbs its usually an option.  Very interesting bowyering lesson here.  Thanks bro!!

As it stands I will bring up again that my favorite bows have almost always been a wood or mixed core.  I love boo+carbon or maple/ash/yew + boo.

[Mike Mecredy]

I like the way it looks, especially when you back an osage orange board longbow with it.  but when it comes to glass laminated bows, you have to use thicker lams of bamboo to achieve the same weight as a bow utilizing wood laminations. It looks cool and it's smooth drawing, but the added mass in the limbs take some of the appeal away.  Plus, sanding that stuff gives me some major respiratory irritation, and yes, I use a particulate filter, respiratory protection.  But what lingers on hours later gets me.

[nineworlds9]

I'm ever curious, and on a quest for right knowledge.  I did some searching and was able to find several sites listing "average dry weight per cubic foot".  Does this have any relevance to this application???  Kirk help?!

Bamboo      25 (!!! ???)  (cane I'm assuming NOT Actionboo)
Cedar          34
Red elm       38
Black locust 48
Ash              53
Oak              56
Ebony           75

Btw, Mike points out something I find interesting- having to use thicker pieces of bamboo to achieve a desired draw weight...hmmm

Anyway, I'm not trying to start a debate, just really curious as to how all this stuff comes into play boo, wood, glass, etc.  I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to details and technical facts.  I read about this crap for hours LOL.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yup.... actually you do have it wrong Bro... But that's ok. i'd rather help get you going in the right direction than get the wrong info circulating.


If we were talking raw cane bamboo it's possible some types of bamboo may in fact have less mass weight than many core woods used in modern glass bows. There are many different types of bamboo.  The best type of bamboo found today and it's used in flooring and stair ways parts is called  "Mosso" bamboo and it's laminated.

I do not use raw bamboo, and very few glass bowyers use it either. It is used by self bowyers and all wood bows for backing typically. As said earlier. it has excellent tensile strength, but rarely used on the belly of the bow because of the poor compression properties..... That's why you hear the terms "BBO"  & "BBI"  Bamboo backed with Osage belly or Bamboo backed Ipe belly or hickory bellys. These have better compression properties and hold up longer..
 
Tonkin Bamboo is a very high grade species known
for its superior strength and resilience and highly coveted by fly rod builders. Unfortunately Tonkin Bamboo is not a species that grows large enough to use as a commercial product to build flooring or stair parts out of. Most of the the bamboo used as core woods in a bow comes from manufactured flooring or planks laid up for stair tread material using "Mosso" bamboo.... If there is any manufacture in the world using Tonkin bamboo to make laminated flooring i'd be very surprised.

Here you go... here is a picture of the two types typically used in bows. one is natural color, and the other is carbonized.

     

 The rich caramel color comes from tempering the wood with heat at the time they manufacture this stuff. both of these are vertical grain lay ups.  This is the best for core wood strength and stability, but some guys will buy flat grain material for use as veneers under glass, but typically use anther stronger core under the veneers.....

I agree with Mike at Mad dog bows about the need to use thicker laminations with action boo than maple to achieve the same draw weight bow, and that extra mass weight can slow things down a bit.... But...... used on long bows with long draw lengths its very nice stuff. Due to the great tensile strength & relatively low compression rate properties it will draw further without stacking up so tight. I highly recommend the stuff for guys with 30-32" draw lengths.


Now after all this is said and you know the stuff we use.... i have to say this too. All bamboo flooring is not created equally..... A lot of bowyers i know have purchased great deals on bamboo flooring from lumber liquidators and other flooring outfits only to find the stuff was coming apart on them and the stuff had weird density issues......

Most the bowyers that use a lot of bamboo have a good high quality  Mosso Bamboo material from a manufacturer they trust. Some guys use larger planks to yeild more laminations, and some like myself prefer flooring material. I think it's more expensive for me to mill lams out of flooring material but i get good consistency in flooring.

Sorry i got so long winded here. But there is a lot more too this than meets the eye... hope this helps....

[nineworlds9]

Cool info Kirk!!  This type of info, to me at least, though I doubt I'm alone, is a joy to see posted on occasion on the general forum, as I am sure many who hang out here may not check out the Bowyer's sub-forum very often and I think it is nice for all the hunters to gain an understanding of what it takes to build their weapons of choice.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Good deal brutha... i didn't want to contradict you on the subject, but sometimes detailed info trumps perception..... I'm quite certain the glue used in laminating this vertical gran bamboo adds to the mass weight.

I've played with laminating rock hard maple into action wood for recurves.... Wow!  You want to talk about some cool core wood.... The old boys that used to say the "cores don't matter on a glass bow" are full of horse feathers...LOL


btw.... here is the technical data sheet on the bamboo i use.

 http://www.higuerahardwoods.com/blog-post-csi-specification-for-solid-bamboo-flooring

[96ssportsp]

Very interesting stuff. I just had a bow built for me by Ted Fry @ Raptor Archery. I have one of those 32 in draw lengths. Bow is 64 inches with bamboo core, yew limbs & I-beam riser with black walnut. Wish I knew how to post pics, bottom line, it is "Very smooth " to. 32, & 63 lbs @  32. It zips a 700 gr arrow. I couldn't be happier with materials chosen. Scott.