Experimental Tonkin Bow

[avcase]

Marc,
About how thick is the working part of the limb?  I find Tonkin cane has an excellent response to the heat treating process.  I look forward to your article!

-Alan

[rossfactor]

I notice you have little holmgard-ish ness going on with these tips.  I am interested to hear how this works with bamboo.

G

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks guys
Tim, I do tend to use a bit of the very dense tropical woods in the handle and maybe that makes a difference

Alan, the inner part of the limbs are about 7/16" thick

I've been narrowing the outer limbs of my recurves and RD bows like that for a few years now and as you can see it works quite well with Bamboo also

[jwillis]

Very nice bow Marc! Like I said on your photobucket page, it looks like you've nailed the optimum r/d profile! Jim

[BowEd]

Hi,I've made only self bows so far here but have a mentor that makes recurves too.Him and me were going to make a BBO but WOW I think I'd like a bamboo bow.I shot one once and was really impressed by the smoothness and speed of it.Super job Marc !!Your gonna enjoy hunting with that one.

[BowEd]

Looking forward to the article in PA.

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks you guys.

It will make a good hunting bow but then I may make something before then that will make me change my mind 

[BowEd]

Marc,
A mentor friend of mine who's made self bows but now makes fiberglass recurves has something he calls action bamboo.He says it's 1/8 inch strips of bamboo glued together on edge.It's like trying to bend a 2x4 on edge instead of flat.You ever heard of that?I'm going to check it out.I want a bamboo bow seriously but absolutley no glass in it.I told him of the speed you got from your bow and he was impressed.It rivaled his fiberglass recurves.

Ed

[PatM]

Is your mentor Gregg Coffey?
 What bowyers call "action boo" is still technically just Moso bamboo flooring that has been sawed into bow laminations. I don't believe any company yet makes these lams truly for bowmaking from the start.
 The maple or birch lam "actionwood" is actually made specifically for bows.
 Bamboo in this form seems to be spoken of highly but I wouldn't be surprised if some high grade Tonkin glued up specifically for this purpose using the same glue that would be used in a bow wouldn't be better quality.

[Marc St Louis]

I have some laminated Bamboo that was given to me several years ago.  The guy who gave it to me had acquired it from someone that told him it was heat-treated laminated Tonkin.  I had a good look at it and it was most certainly not Tonkin as the laminations were about 1/4" thick.  As Pat says it most likely laminated Moso.  Tonkin poles are too small in diameter and the wall thickness too thin for commercial use in making laminated planks

[BowEd]

Who is Greg Coffey?My friends name is Grant Poindexter and has made more bows than anyone I know.Nowadays he's making fiberglas bows but has made a lot of self bows.He's not a total traditionalist I know but I respect him immensly the same.

[BowEd]

I'll be the first to admit I don't know diddly about bamboo,but the qualities that I see it put into bows is super.Something more to look forward to learning in the bow making world the way I see it.