Need help Making a first time all bamboo bow

[GmanGomez]

Hey Guys just call me Gab

I've been into traditional archery for over 4 years now but only recently started getting into making bows. I live in the Philippines so the only wood that's accessible to me is bamboo it's only 30PHP/ 30$ cents here for an 8ft workable plank but I have a major problem

Processing the bamboo into a workable plank is quite hard, all of them are bent ,even the straightest one I can get is still bent at some node along the boo

-Heating hasn't worked but I've used only a stove
-I tried planing the sides but my plane just rides along the curves

I've tried making staves out of 8 planks already, 8 is pretty thick and I am hoping this is the one that makes it to bow worthy level.

Here's a list of tools available to me
1) angle Grinder with sanding pads
2.) A rasp
3.) Jig Saw
4.) small planer
5.) Lots of sand paper
6.) Hand axe
7.) Machete

I am thinking of getting a Blow torch to try and get better heating on it

Here are pictures of the material I am working with
http://imgur.com/SwT4LJl
http://imgur.com/Ag82VBx

[Limbit]

Have you IDed your type of bamboo yet? I am living in Taiwan and there are many species of bamboo that are no good for bow making. Typically you want something grown at elevation where the weather is colder and the boo should be between 3-5 years old but NOT OLDER. Older bamboo looses tensil strength. What you have already done in the picture looks fine, but You won't be able to get much of a bow out of it due to the lack of thickness. The best idea would be to do what you have already done, then get  40 grit sand paper and a flat block of wood. Use this as a simple means to even the surface and rid it of any unevenness or dips. Don't think this is a quick task. Take your time. Once it is totally flat, do the same to another piece. Now you have two pieces you can laminate together with some strong epoxy. Before laminating, you can also roast the belly of the bamboo for a while with a heat gun or CAREFULLY with a torch or open flame. This should take well over 30 minutes per lamination and you should never burn the grain black while doing this. Just lightly brown it and allow the heat to travel completely through for an extended period of time. After heat treating, go about gluing them together. There are plenty of build alongs on this site to teach you how to do this. Immediately after binding and glueing, you can glue in recurves or make a deflex-reflex style bow using a form or blocks...again, you can find this in build alongs. After the glue has thoroughly dried, you can go about tillering like any other bow using your angle grinder at first, but I always switch over to sandpaper and razor blades as soon as the stave starts bending even a little. It is easy to take off too much boo in a laminated bow. The heat treating, if done correctly will make the bow a better shoot and help it avoid setting too much which is a major problem with bamboo...particularly in  climates like the Philippines. I'm sure you guys have lots of usable tropical hardwood there as well! I can pass you on a list of wood we use here in Taiwan that you most likely have in your area as well if you want. Good luck.

[Limbit]

One more thing, you need to be careful about selecting the bamboo. Bamboo may be everywhere, but a straight 180cm piece is not that common in most species of bamboo. If you want a straight piece, you need to be patient and do a lot of looking. That is just part of bow making. Look into "Moso bamboo". 

[jayman448]

If you look at bamboo flooring it is many laminated pieces of bamboo about one inch wide and made in a lego block fashion (not just a few laminayions but stacked like bricks. What i found using that is laminted bamboo will break. It will crack on the nodes. So what must be done in order to make a bow is back it with one single piece of bamboo that has its natural outsides. If you do that you can grind the laminations totally flat to make a board.

[mullet]

I have made a bamboo back and belly bow using natural boo and flooring. It turned out to be a very disappointing bow. The cast was very weak.

[Springbuck]

  I think I replied to you on another site, but I recommended cutting out the straightest sections of bamboo and splicing.  # straight feet may be easier to get than 5 straight feet.

  Also, if the bamboo won't plane, but the zigzags aren't severe, start with a wider plank and SAND the sides down on a long wooden board with sandpaper glued onto it.  The "grain" of the bamboo can zig-zag a bit, because the boo is crowned.

[crooketarrow]

  I've never thought about mading a all bamboo bow.