Trick for thinning bamboo

[bigcountry]

Holy cow guys, I am at the end of my rope.  I have a small 4X36" craftsman belt sander.   I have a 60grit belt.  I have been working for over 2hours trying to flatten and taper some boo.  I could have grinded thru a hickory bow by now.  Litterly all the way thru it.

Is there a trick?  The belt is one I picked up at lowes.  Called "gator".  Its rough.  Should I look at a different belt?  I know the belt works.  I just smoothd down the sides of an IPE core.  Is my sander too small?

I am about ready to place an order for a hickory slat.

I am trying to make the piece 1/8" and taper to 1/16". 

[Pat B]

Do you have a band saw. You can thin it first on the band saw if you are careful then sand it smooth. It does smell good when you are grinding it!   You can also take it down with a hand plane. That's how I did my first.

[Shooter_G22]

i am thinking maybe you could try an eletric hand planner...  i picked up one at harbhor frieght tools for about 30 bucks... 

lets see if i can find a link for you....

[Badger]

The bamboo will plug up some brands of belts quicker than others. The handl planer you bought should do the job. Steve

[Justin Snyder]

You may have already done this, but if you haven't cut out the profile of the bow before you start thinning.  There just isn't any point in sanding all that scrap boo that will be cut off anyway.  Justin

[Shooter_G22]

i dont know how this tool will work on bamboo but i have used it on oak and pecan and it works just fine in fact better than fine it adjust for thickness removal but even with it set real thin it will remove wood with a breeze and thins it out fast soo be carful not to get carried away it really makes it simple to plane wood down to thiness with just a few passes and not allot of hard pressure or hard work...

here is a link on one model....
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32222

i have not used that one soo i dont know how that one works the one i have is on this link...  and it works great...  its priced a little higher but i picked mine up on sale in the store and i think i give 30 bucks for it...

here is the one i have...   i have never used on bamboo but im sure it will do the task at hand...
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91062

and here is a fancier model i know nothing about but im sure it will also do the job maybe alott of other fancy stuff too...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95838

hope this helps...

allot of people dont like the harbor frieght line of tools but i find them to work just fine for me and i have not had any problems with them at all in fact i have a 1" belt sander i got from them about 3 yrs ago i got it on sale fo maybe something like 19.99 or 24.99 cant remember but i use that thing sooo much from shaping hnad made knives to making self knocks to sharping trade points and blades and even occasional arrow and bow building or attemtping bow building and the thing is still working just fine not to mention an old cordless drill for houshouold stuff and a benchgrinder that has been left out in the rain on occasion and they are all still working...   not the best tools but sure do work good enough for the price and i recomend them...

[bigcountry]

You may have already done this, but if you haven't cut out the profile of the bow before you start thinning.  There just isn't any point in sanding all that scrap boo that will be cut off anyway.  Justin

True, I have cut out my core.  But this bamboo is/was over 1.5" wide and over 3/8" thick or more.  So thats a lot of material I don't have to be grindin.  I am trying to go slow and easy and not get impatient.

Do you guys think trying to go to 1/8" thick at the handle down to 1/16" is too much?  Maybe just take it down to 1/8" and call it a day?

Thanks for the tip justin.  

When you guys say hand plane.  You mean kinda you take off wood with?  I might try it.  But this stuff doesn't feel like it would come off like wood will.  Maybe a toothing plane?

[bigcountry]

We have a full harbor frieght near me.  If it works, it will be well worth the 30 dollars.

[Shooter_G22]

bigcountry,

   this electric planer will thin the wood real easy...   and it wil thin wood with a taper too...

the way i taper a plank...   is i clamp the plank down on a good work surface like a work bench or table and i clamp it at on end lets say for example a board bow right...  i woould clamp one end down and make sure its clamed good and secure and then start the planer at the other end only a few inches off the limb and plan towards the tip to where the planer runs off the unclamped end and then the next run i start the planer a few more inches awya from the tip and then run it towards the end again that way the second cut goes over the first cut and it starts to taper the cut and by the time you get towards the middle of the plank at around the handle area the handle is at the orignale thickness but over toward the tip it has been cut several times and ther for making a tapper does this make sense???  or did i confuse you???

[Far East Archer]

If you use such tool as describe above, be aware..
Bamboo has convex back, so, when put backside down to plane with this tool, the whole back does not make contact with ground.
In this case, the bamboo wants to flatten  itself and this can cause it to split when it starts to get thinner than 4 mm.

What I do, is I look at end of bamboo and check the crown. From the top of crown down, I measure how thick I want to finish it.
Lets say 3 mm, measure down 3 mm from the crown and then mark line horizontally. the line will not be able to extend full width because of crown. Mark down again from where it runs out and down to belly. Do this to both side. This mark width of your backing. Usually, around 3~4 mm think I can get 1 1/4~1 1/2" wide backing depending how convex it is.

Cut to width lines you have drawn, make sure it is very uniform width! Next, plane/remove material until you reach edge of crown. At this point, there should be an edge on whole length. You will have perfect thickness whole way even if the bamboo isn't straight.
However, this only works if entire backing will be made as one thickness whole way.

[Tom B]

ive used a jointer with good results best of luck tom

[bigcountry]

If you use such tool as describe above, be aware..
Bamboo has convex back, so, when put backside down to plane with this tool, the whole back does not make contact with ground.
In this case, the bamboo wants to flatten  itself and this can cause it to split when it starts to get thinner than 4 mm.

What I do, is I look at end of bamboo and check the crown. From the top of crown down, I measure how thick I want to finish it.
Lets say 3 mm, measure down 3 mm from the crown and then mark line horizontally. the line will not be able to extend full width because of crown. Mark down again from where it runs out and down to belly. Do this to both side. This mark width of your backing. Usually, around 3~4 mm think I can get 1 1/4~1 1/2" wide backing depending how convex it is.

Cut to width lines you have drawn, make sure it is very uniform width! Next, plane/remove material until you reach edge of crown. At this point, there should be an edge on whole length. You will have perfect thickness whole way even if the bamboo isn't straight.
However, this only works if entire backing will be made as one thickness whole way.

Hmm, I can see that happening.  The spliting that is.  So what your saying here is it will flatten out some?  And I can only hope it does not split?  Or are you saying, I can only go down to where it starts knife edging?

[Gordon]

I first rough cut the bamboo thickness with a bandsaw, then smooth with a hand plane, and finish with a belt sander.

[bigcountry]

Well, I went and picked up one of these electric planers.  I figured if I can cut real shallow cuts, I can do it.

I will let you all know how it works.

I talked to the guy who sold me the boo Richard Scaffold and he said he has the same bench sander, and takes him maybe 1/2 hour to barrel taper.  I bet its my belt.

[Eric Krewson]

If you have a bandsaw here is your first step. Using the rind as a guide, run your plank through your bandsaw, holding it at an angle so you only cut one side at a time. Cut as close to the rind as you can. Do both sides, this will leave a peak down the center you can easily grind off.



The bamboo in the picture is off small diameter local bamboo so I can only take a little off the sides. On the stuff you buy for bows you can cut all the way to the center because it is so flat.

Next advice, go on eBay and buy you some 36 grit belts. Ten minutes tops for thinning bamboo with a more aggressive belt.