Heat treating bamboo for backing ?

[duke3192]

Eric, I said they season it 6mos. to two years, and the Japanese also use a process of heat and smoking to treat belly bamboo for up to six mos. Jap, also said it needs to be three to five years old, after 5 years it starts dying.

[Marc St Louis]

As I understand from some research I did a few years ago you will be hard pressed to find Tonkin bigger than 2 1/2" in diameter and backing a bow with Tonkin is indeed possible, just depends on how you want your limbs.  A 2 1/2" pole is big enough to back limbs up to 1 1/4" wide, I know cause I did it.  I don't think 1 1/2" poles are big enough though, unless you want an extraordinarily thick backing/extremely narrow bow.  Because Tonkin is a small diameter cane yet grows fairly tall you don't lose much in diameter over 6'

[dragonman]

Eric , to answer your question, ...japanese bowyers look for old standing poles out in the bamboo woods.....so it hardens best whilst standing....they say this is much harder to find than the younger bamboo......but I notice that  the longer I keep cut poles in my workshop the better they get too. You are lucky to be able to cut your own, I'm sure you know what your doing...big bamboo dont grow in the UK....it comes from china and there is such a demand for it, it is all cut young, once it reaches a good height..a lot of this stuff is quite soft....but does get better if you blast with heat in a heat box and keep it a few years

[Eric Krewson]

There is an old man across town that started bamboo in his back yard years ago, he says it is giant timber bamboo. The patch is about a third of an acre now and growing. Most of it is 3" stuff but interspersed in the patch are a few  5" and 6" trunks. The rind on this bamboo never turns tan, it says a light od green but has tan underneath the rind. Very good for bow backing, I have never had a failure with it.

[Webradbury]

Thanks to all that replied! I have some ipe and boo that will be glued together soon. Will

[dolgima]

http://www.powerfibers.com/BAMBOO_IN_THE_LABORATORY.pdf

[Pat B]

That ought to settle it!