fast flex bamboo between boo back and ipe belly?

[phillipw]

Hi guys I am fairly new to primitive archery but i am ready to start on my fourth bow i have tried hickory and bamboo backing and i really like the bamboo. However i quickly learned that leaving the bamboo too thick the bow will follow the string quite a lot. providing i take the boo down to the proper thickness would adding an 1/8" lam of fast flex bamboo between the back and belly cause the same problem? Iv'e read that this would make a lighter and faster limb. has anyone tried this? Thanks for your help, Phil

[comix]

hi phil,
tried it once but not with ipe but all bamboo. boo backing and two lams of boo. Didin't work out as I hoped... way to much stringfollow and with about 30# lighter than I hoped. Tillering the bow, almost all of the 3rd boo lam was gone.  Since I had no other materials at hand, I flattend the belly and added a new 3rd lam of hickory... about 5mm ... not a good idea again... I got compression lines near the fades...

ipe should work well I guess since it tolerates much more compression than hick or boo. Just make sure that you have enough belly material to tiller ;-)



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[Rich Saffold]

I have made tri lams with bamboo and ipe, and have made r/d styles with 50% bamboo which are reflexed. Just takes great belly wood and a little experience.

I'd try just using thin bamboo  about 1/8th", and ipe first. This itself can make a very fast bow.

Rich