black walnut / bamboo baked???

[Shooter_G22]

hey folks,

   i was thinking of going over to the hardwood suplier wher i got a pecan board a while back and see if i can score a piece of black walnut to see if i can try it out for a bow...  would like to back it with some bamboo... i think it would be a killer combo and not something i see very often... would this work.. 

 and if soo what would be the best way to cut or rip the bard for a good bow staff...   please dont say chase a ring...  dont know how and dont feel like chasing anything... lol...   just want to get a descant bow form  good o'l even demension and have it shoot good...   not asking for much huh   well  is this posible or am i just being a nucklehead???


dont have any walnut yet and dont have any bamboo backing yet but thinking about buying a plain sawn board and having it ripped..   the board will be about 2" thick and about 6- 8" wide about 8-10 feet long...    was thinking of just getting the plain sawn board ripped 1" intervals to have maybe 5-7     1" x  2" X 10' long  baord bow blanks and then working them down from there with a good 1" thick handle area (to be able to glue one some more handle riser at later time) with 1 3/4" limbs tapered to a 1/2" - 5/8" tips in a pyramid bow design with bamboo back and a 62 -64" OAL...

i dont have any bamboo backing yet either but asking for some in the trade section or if anybody knows a good resource i wouldnt mind picking some up in a few weeks when i get a little cash from that income tax rebate

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and by the way i dont think i will be getting to this project anytime soon but i do need the advice soo i can start planing to do it...

thanks in advance...

   

[Hillbilly]

Walnut/bamboo is an uncommon combination, but there's been a few nice ones posted on here over the years, including one BOM winner. I would use quarter-sawn wood as long as it doesn't have knots running across the grain. You dont have to chase a ring or anything, just get a flat gluing surface. I would probably get the boo really thin and trap it, walnut isn't a really dense wood. 1 3/4" might be a bit wide for a bamboo-backed bow, too, unless you have some slats from some huge diameter boo so they don't have a lot of crown thickness at that width.

[james parker]

hey shooter walnut and boo are great together,ive made several,cant go too short though,keep that in mind and you will make a nice bow.i have some boo .send me your adress ,i will figure shipping,you pay it i will send you a pc free ready to glue on....robustus

[triton]

doesn't black walnut chrysal in the belly?

[Rich Saffold]

I second what Robustus said, and I like using the dark dense heartwood if you can get it, and make a long elb type bow..

Triton, if you get the belly to thin it can chrysal which is why I like this design, of course any belly wood shaved too thin with a bamboo backing can get crushed. Walnut for its mass can be good in compression. But like all species there's variation so proper selection is always prudent.

[Shooter_G22]

ok rich,

   would you say a 2" widest point on the limbs tappered to a 5/8" tip in a pyramid style flat bow a bad design for the walnut/boo bow  i was thinking something like that with a nonbending handle and kinda a short bow of about 62" OAL..    if that's a bad design then what would be some good demensions for the bow??   and what is an ELB...  not real sure what that means... i know, i know... i should no this by now right?  but can you be more specific....  soo i can get a good picture of an elb and know what people are talking about when i see elb..?

thanks...

[Rich Saffold]

Shooter,

Usually when we say elb style its a deep core long slender bow and the abbreviation "English Long Bow". It can have a flat belly or a rounded one. The point being this style can handle the compression load of the bamboo and get you the best energy return for the arrow. You can make other styles with walnut, but they are more critical in the tiller and ratio with the bamboo and so on. Priority one is success.

For 50#'s I'd make it 68-70" ntn, and 1 1/4" through the handle section tapering to 1/2" or smaller tips. I've made shorter ones, but I really think these longer bows are both easier and faster especially with walnut since it's not Ipe, and you want to use more of the wood to balance out the compression load of the bamboo..

If you make this bow 2" wide your ratio of bamboo to walnut is too high and this thin flat belly of walnut just won't have the wood to provide and power. Tillering would be very hard as well..Trust me on this one ...

Your welcome

Rich

[james parker]

any wood,can have succsess  or failure due to the amount of bamboo boo on the back,each species,and limb design  can and or will determine the amount ratio between the wood and boo.i have used boo as thick as.25" and as thin as .040 between the nodes.this same effect applys on some of my bamboo back /belly bows  when i change speceis.......try different formulas,push things to their limit ,you may learn you can take things beyond the norm.......happy bow building...................robustus

[Shooter_G22]

thanks for the encouragement,

   im not one to shy away from trying to do something jsut becuase its going to be a challange..   heck if i was like that then i would have giving in and started making 72" long bows by now...   truth is..   a 72" bow just feels un natural to me...    i have never pulled a compound bow either i have picked up a couple but never drawn it back those things just feel way too aquried to me and just yucky...    soo why am i like this i dont know...   maybe my roots have something to do with it or maybe an old warrior spirit with in who knows... but to me about a 62" bow is about as long as i would be willing to hump around with and that to me is actually pushing a limit...  and im not familair with the old primitive or native bows but i do know for it to feel good in my hands it just got to be a shorty...    dont know why that is ??


anyway,   if im going to try a walnut / boo then i'm going to definantly go with a shorty design   i know its going to be a hard project and i know every one tells me to start off long and get some bows under my belt befor going short but i just dont see myself making a long bow... or a real long bow...   i dont know why but if im going ot learn how to do this,  then i want to learn how to make a bow that im going to like and want to use and hunt and hike with...   

maybe being a little stubburn i know i know.....   but  hell i dont have a hard head for nothing and im going to keep scratching until i win or die...