bamboo flooring bow

[Lakota]

Just wondering if I could splice bamboo flooring milled down in the handle area and glue a handle over it. Will it hold under the stress, or should it run the whole length of the bow. I can only get 36 in lengths? Thanks for any suggestions.

thanks

Lakota

[tattoo dave]

Are you talking about just using it in the handle? Or using it as a core, or belly lam?  You could give it a try, and let us know how it goes. If it's just the handle area, I would say it should work just fine, especially on a non bending handle.

Tattoo Dave

[DarkSoul]

It will be great for a core lam in a tri-lam bow. It will probably be quite poor as a belly lam. But as a backing it is a big no no! Side pressed (don't use plain pressed) bamboo flooring is basically 'action boo' and is a good candidate as a core. It's pretty stiff. But since the fibers are cut, it is no good as a backing. You need raw bamboo poles for backings.

[Peacebow_Coos]

Used it for a belly before under a bamboo backing and it worked pretty well but it was only 35#, Mirkwood replica from LOTR 

[toomanyknots]

Mirkwood replica from LOTR 

Cool. Man, I wish they would of picked some folks from this community to make the bows in those movies,.. I always pictured the bows differently. My mom read me the hobbit and all 3 books when I was just a little kid, and I always pictured the elves bows as long white wood longbows, maybe slightly recurved. But always longbows. The recurves and reflex/deflex thing seemed so weird to me. I'd love to try a replica though! I got that on my bucket list, plus a yumi... if I only could find some mulberry lumber... 

[bubby]

Tmk you have a bandsaw, make your mulberry lumber

[Peacebow_Coos]

For sure Toomany.  I know there have been some bows made by folks here in films, Del's being the latest.  I think the Scorpion King's bow was made by somebody from this forum too. 

[Gordon]

I handled a hunting weight bow last week made by John Strunk that was bamboo backed with a belly made from bamboo flooring. Looked pretty good to me.

[mikekeswick]

Bamboo needs a good solid heat treating to be really good in compression....without it it's ok but definately not great. I guess if you went wider you would get so much set but still...

[Jax666]

Used it for a belly before under a bamboo backing and it worked pretty well but it was only 35#, Mirkwood replica from LOTR 

35 pounds is about what I am looking for either Boo on boo, or a backed board bow. My big problem is buying the backing boo through the mail isnearly as expensive as buying a complete bow. I wish I could find some locally.

[Springbuck]

Just wondering if I could splice bamboo flooring milled down in the handle area and glue a handle over it. Will it hold under the stress, or should it run the whole length of the bow. I can only get 36 in lengths? Thanks for any suggestions.

You can do this, just like with any other wood.  Sthe splicing should still be a V or slash splice and the standard advice for all board bows applies; you must work down your fade-outs correctly so the handle doesn't pop off.  Either that or a power lam under the backing.  And the backing is a must.

My first dozen bows easy were bamboo-backed bamboo flooring.  It is harder than most hardwoods like oak, and you can get high quality stuff that'll sink in water, but it doesn't act like wood.  It doesn't fret across in compression fractures like any wood I know on the belly.  It just kinda sits down.  It takes lot of set. And if it takes too much set, it just takes even more.

Norseman on stickbow.com used to glue it up in two Perry reflexed stages and make trilams that would take little set.  Glue backing on core in high reflex, then glue belly lam on with less reflex.  So if you have tools to make slats, do it.  If not, try a little setback in the handle.  Boofloo bows still use the same design principles.  Making them wide and long enough helps.

[Peacebow_Coos]

If you have large garden or grange stores you can check for big pole sized stuff with the nodes well spaced, I've heard of that route working but have yet to do it myself.  I imagine it would still be a fairly spend route, but you'd get the experience of making the back ins which is a great one to have, and I'm sure you'd get at least to, maybe three or four depending on the pole.  I do remember hearing on here that you want to make sure its a certain type of bamboo, but I seem to remember that was more for 40# and up stuff?  Moso I think, anybody?

[Marc St Louis]

I would be inclined to think that a backing of Hickory or Maple would work quite well over Bamboo flooring

[bubby]

Echo archery was having a great sale on boo, Carson is a member here too, see if its still dirt cheap

[GB]

X 2 on Echo's bamboo sale.  I bought 2 slats at $8 a piece two weeks ago.  Shipping was $6.  You can't beat that price.