Bamboo Flooring?

[The Gopher]

I was at Home Depot today and noticed a pile of solid bamboo flooring on sale. It was about 5/8" thick and three inches wide and i suppose 3 feet long. This got the wheels going and i was wondering if it would work to back a bow. i would have to plane it down and the bow would have to be 6 feet long max, but could this be a potential bow backing material? thanks, Dan.

[Dan Bonner]

What you were looking at was what bowyers refer to as Actionboo or bamboo actionwood. It is what practically all bamboo core laminations in glass or carbon bows are cut from. Comes in natural (whitish) and carmelized (brownish). I use it in every laminated bow I make. Some of the fibers are cut when they square it up so It may try to raise splinters after repeated shots. I think it will work though if you sand it smoothe on the outside first.

[soopernate]

If you buy it let me know what you want for a just a couple boards.  I will also pay shipping to Montana.  I want to try it but can't bring myself to buy a whole case.

[Jeremy]

If it was the VERTICAL laminated stuff not the horizontal, it's like Dan says.  I've used it for the belly of raw bamboo backed bows.  It's weaker in compression than red oak, so plan your design appropriately.  
I remember seeing someone make a kid's bow out of it without a backing and it working for that.  I'm not sure I'd trust it unbacked with a hunting weight bow though.  Give it a shot!  Or back it with rawhide, hickory, raw boo, I suppose even sinew if you want to put in the effort.