GUADUA BAMBOO VS MOSO help needed

[dragonman]

hi everyone , my bamboo supplier now only stocks S. American Guadua  bamboo and I'm used to chinese moso bamboo......was wondering if anyone out there has tried this variety and could report on its qualities??

many thanks

david

[burn em up chuck]

       from a book in my library called " bamboo for gardens by Meredith " they both are timber type bamboo. One (moso) is more cold tolerant than the the other. but that is because Guadua is tropical.
       both can grow to around 100 ft. tall and up to 8in. dia.
       that being said there is in my opinion no reason not try it. w/it growing so tall pick the ones w/longest
distance between nodes. maybe check on node prominence
       remember that most timber bamboos (maybe all bamboo) in tension is as strong as mild steal

                                                                                             chuck

[PatM]

If you look at Guadua pictures you can see that it is a much rougher bamboo. Based on that it doesn't really look like an ideal backing material. Many of those thicker walled types have cut off leaf scars.
 See if you can get pics of their typical stuff. It's certainly strong enough but many types of bamboo get abused pretty roughly before they get to the market.
 Here is a comparison of the two: http://www.guaduabamboo.com/guadua-vs-moso.html

[dragonman]

thanks Pat...that was a good link...on the basis of that info...it  says it is much softer than moso.and doesnt glue so well...dont think I'l get any

Dave

[PatM]

Softer but stronger in other ways. My problem with some of those stronger timber bamboo types is that they do seem more prone to dents or scratches that seem like they would compromise the integrity of a bamboo back.
 They do always seem to have more watermark damage or defects from insects or decay/handling that don't seem to have as much of an effect on the types that have that very hard outer layer.

[dragonman]

I have only ever seen the one type... the chinese moso....many companies here used to import it and it was relatively common and cheap....but  now it seems they dont import it much and its hard to get.  I dont think people know what to do with it??? It is true what you say though, the back of a bow doesnt want to be too soft and vunerable...and that type sounds like it has no real hard layer or proper power fibres

[PatM]

I think it's the increasing use of bamboo for flooring and other engineered wood or fiber applications. Moso is the predominant bamboo for flooring and fiber for clothing/cloth I think.

[Onebowonder]

I'd really like to see a bowyer's perspective on these two though.  I suspect the Guadua would make for a softer and more readily dented outer surface, ...but few of us walk on our bows or swing them at stone pinatas.  From what I read, the right glue should actually work better with the Guadua than with the Moso.  I think this calls for a side-by-side comparrison by a bamboo bowyer!

OneBow

[dragonman]

Thats right OneBow, I agree, the only way to know is to experiment....I was very tempted to buy some and do just that.  but life is short and there is so much to do before the inevitable day... I know moso works well and I dont really have the time....but I would love to here the results of anothers experiment..