Finsih sanding the bamboo back on my bow

[dismount]

I've just finished my first BBO. Does anyone know how much sanding on the bamboo I can do safely without compromising the backing? It has alot of little scars up and down. MIght stain it so I was wondering if scratches will show bad.  Phil

[Timo]

Is the rind still on? If you want it clean then you will have to scrape it off first.The scars will not go away,they are there to stay,adds character I think. If they are just scratches, scrapeing the rind will remove most of them.

I just sand it like I would any wood bow. The nodes are the areas that need concerns. Don't get to rough with them.

[Hillbilly]

I have only made one bamboo-backed bow, so I'm no expert; but on it I just hit it with some fine sandpaper, enough to get the shiny rind off so I could dye it. This took out pretty much all of the nicks and scratches.

[Dano]

I'd do as Timo suggested, you do want to leave the nodes proud they are the weak spots.

[james parker]

i have a question fellers ,why do most of you sand or scrap the rind off your boo backing, i have tried this ,and had nothing but  trouble,with fibers lifting.i have left the rind  ,on all  of the last several years bows,ive had no problem with dying the boo either,,.so whats your input.........robustus

[Timo]

 Well James....I guess because I have never had very good boo? Most all the stuff I've ever had was full of scratches and gouge marks. Just wasn't a very good palate for finish work. I know  it doesn't  have to scraped off,I just always have.

[Jesse]

Same as Timo. I scrape it off for looks and use ultra fine sand paper. No splinters as long as you dont cut into the power fibers. I was told the rind offers no protection against splinters. On my last one I just sanded it enough to take stain and it seems fine like that as well. The safest bet might be to just scuff it up enough to take stain.

[sailordad]

i do it for asthetic reasons,even though the rind is a ntaural water barrier

[dismount]

Yes guys, the rind is still on, I do like the natural grooves in the boo but I think I might buff it up enough to accept some dye or leather dye to take the shine off in the woods. I've never killed a deer with a bow but this one is zippy!  JUst to throw this out, I heated the reflex in the core before applying the boo back, thought it might take some of the stress off the bow, also I had to heat the bow after glue uo cause it wouldn't track. everything held good shot 100 arras thro it today. Hope that didn't screw it up by prebending it!! Thanks guys  Phil

[Aosda]

Any pictures?

[sailordad]

why didnt you just glue in the reflex when you glued on the back?

[Far East Archer]

Hello Robustus

I like to know, how you get stain for your back if you leave rind on?
Do you use alcohol stain? I know, no other stain work if rind left on...I never use a alcohol stain before though....

Otherwise, I would leave rind on, I really dont like taking it off, but as some say, scars are unsightly so I usually scrape off....
Recently I have splinter rise on just finished bow, so I would really like to leave on if there is way to stain with rind on.

[dismount]

Sailor Dad, Well being a a little strange, as usual, I figgered what would I do if the bow had to be heated to bring the strings in line with handle? IF I heated it and the boo is the only thing holding the reflex in, the heat would pop off the backing. Well I had to heat it and it did great. It was chancy but I had to heat it to get the bow to shoot! I'll try to post pics tonight I gotta go to work this A.M. My wife is hollerin' at me to get dressed and go to work so I can keep her living in the lap of luxury.Phil

[james parker]

FEA,i wash my boo with acetone,and an old t-shirt,then i scotch brite the whole surface,( the green first and then the red) ,this leaves micro scratches in the rind but also buffs it to a nice luster,then i wash it down again with acetone and then apply my dye,im no expert or master bowyer,but in my opinion the shorter the bow the more likely  to encounter problems if the rind is comprimised.and sometimes i have noticed  it depends on the individual peice of boo....hope this helps.............robustus

[DanaM]

Here's a thought if you use a scraper to scrape the rind off don't you leave little nicks every time
you set the scraper down? I've never worked with boo but I've noticed this on wood and it seems
like it could be a problem on boo.