Bhutanese Bamboo Bow?

[kitetsu]

I am not completely out of hope just yet. Out of guidance, perhaps, as I still need to find more information on how to treat/find materials and build this particular bow, so my progress is more or less suspended for the time being. What I will be looking into, in the meantime, is for me to make an attempt into building a bundle bow. I've seen more information on bundle bows than what I have previously attempted, so I am not as in the dark.

Although some concrete tips for bundle bows would help, as I have some degree of difficulty finding them.

[Dustybaer]

far east archer, that was very valuable information about the bhutan bamboo.  there were attempts on one of the german archery forums to build these bows, but except for one, they all broke.  that's why i haven't attempted one yet.  now we know what to look for in bamboo.  thanks.

[willscarlet]

Over the last few days I have had the great privilege of shooting one of these fantastic bows. I have been after one since I saw the one Hilary Greenland of the SPTA bought back from the festival in Korea last year. So before she went this year I asked Hilary if she would try and get hold of one for me. Much to my surprise I had a call from Hillary the day after she had returned I was so exited I went strait around.

The bow as you Know is in two halves and it had been dismantled for transportation. The two halves of the bow are pinned together in the centre of the handle by a nail, once the limbs had been folded out you can see how they have been worked so that they fit together tightly. At each end of the over lap you could see the grooves where they had been bound together with wire (from what I can find out I think this would have been some kind of iron band originally). I have rewrapped the wire and Hilary has made a string for me, the cord one that came with it was to long and anyway Hilary wanted it because it was unusual. I have also wrapped the nodes with cotton tape I think they do this to help stop the fibres from lifting.

Once this was done it was time to play, what a brilliant quick little bow. This is my first post so I haven’t worked out if I can post pictures yet but I will try.
To me the bow feels like it is some where around the fifty pound mark at about 26/27 inches, I didn’t want to over draw it, but I will get more accurate measurements. One measurement we did get using a Bhutanese bamboo arrow was a speed of 194 feet per second although with my pine arrows it was averaging at about 175.

Hope this is of use.
And Hilary if you see this, thank you.

[willscarlet]

Pictures of my Bhutanese bow and the man who made it.

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[bobnewboy]

Hi Guys,

I made an approxmation of one of these previously.  See at:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,10187.msg145099.html#msg145099

I just used a standard bamboo pole, as availabke in the UK, and it worked fine, even thought the draw weight was a bit low.  It has survived many shoots, but still makes a crackling noise on first draw !!  I even loaned it to another archer for a shoot who enjoyed shooting it.  I think the style is a fantastic design, but making a really good one like Richard's depends upon getting hold of the best, most suitable bamboo.  Even so, try one, you might enjoy it like I did