bamboo????

[butch]

howdo i prepare bamboo for backing. young plants or mature. dtrying technique. split it. ??   butch

[Pat B]

Butch, You want mature bamboo for backings. If you have a pole(round) I would split it in half to dry. Place it in full sunlight to get the nice tan color.   Pat

[butch]

thanks pat, but then what? i presume to crush the 1/2 round to flat. do i sand my bow rough or smooth for tb2. should the backing be 1 piece covering the back full length for a handle bow or do i leave the handle clean and can i mix the fibers like makeing a string.?? never been on this mountain before. not shure i know up from down. call 911.  butch is confused!!   

[Pat B]

Split the halfs in half and then reduce, from the belly side, until it is 1/8" at the crown at the handle. From there you  can taper to the limb tips. If you are using TB glue, you want flat gluing surfaces.   Pat

[snedeker]

I'll throw in a little more, since I remember being confused about this too. Pole diameter for good backing is 3" and up.  I cut out pieces with a saber saw.  Make it a little wider than your bow width.  I start out by clamping the strip to a work bench and thinning it down some with a big, very soarse rasp.  Using long, sweeiping, diagonal strokes to minimize snagging and splitting the boo.  Now, your sharp guys have a table belt sander to take it down, but I use a hand 3" belt sander.  I have taken to using 24 grit belts to save time, but you might want to stick with 40 grit.  Finish with finer.  I sand the whole thing down pretty thin, toward 1/8", then I mark a prelim taper to narrow the ends - maybe leave 3/4" wide for glue up.  Then thin downs the ends of the strip to a bit thinner than the center.

You'll want to use a form for glue up- can be pretty simple.  A 2x4 will do, with cleats put on the rest the handle on, adn props to lift the tips into reflex.  Helps to wrap tape around during clamp up - foot intervals.  Put a clamp every 3" or so, use bits of wood or something to pad top of boo.  After glue un and general bow shape-up, I hit the nodes with some 60 grit hand sand paper, just a bit.  Don't want to disturb those fibers too much cause they are the weak point of boo. 

Dave

[Rich Saffold]

Butch, one important thing to consider is that some green, or freshly cut bamboos will warp in crazy ways if split or quartered.. If I was in a hurry to use a certain pole, I'd bust out the node walls with a broom pole and put the bamboo in a place with good circulation..LIke outside on a sunny windy day..

Also planks of bamboo can be ordered from various vendors, and are cheap considering the time and effort involved in the process.

Rich-bamboo slayer

[MattE]

Make sure your bamboo is completely dry before spliting. If split green it will curl on you. I would cut green bamboo to a bit over desired length then knock out the node partitions then let dry. This will help to ward off cracks that generally occur.