Boo backed ERC?

[Woody roberts]

My sons neighbor in Florida had a bamboo grove he wanted cut down. Don’t know the variety. I have some on the way. It appears to be about 4” diameter.

I have some cedar staves in the barn rafters. I also have some hickory splits to back them with.
Does bamboo and cedar go together or should I use Ipe with the boo and hickory with the cedar?

[Kidder]

So I’ve built 4 cedar boo bows. One fretted, the other 3 have been fine. My advice to anyone thinking of the combo is to make sure you thin the boo a lot - razor edge on the edge of the boo or as close as you feel comfortable. Make the boo narrower than the belly (trap the back), and make sure you’ve got a good glue line. It can be a great combo but I don’t feel it’s a forgiving combo either.

[Woody roberts]

Got my boo. It’s about 3” thick. Can I assume I just saw a slab off on a table saw/ band saw? Then sand to final thickness.

[Kidder]

Got my boo. It’s about 3” thick. Can I assume I just saw a slab off on a table saw/ band saw? Then sand to final thickness.

3 inches is going to be pretty narrow and high crowned - I’ve only ever used boo from Echo Archery which from what I can tell is probably twice that in diameter. On ERC I personally would think that was ok just so long as you make the boo substantially narrower than the ERC and in that way ensure that the boo isn’t too thick and overpowers it. I’m not sure you could even make the boo too narrow, within reason, kind of like a cable backed bow. I’d probably just start by cutting it in quarters and see where that gets it.