Hi everyone,
I’m very new to the world of bow making, but it’s safe to say I’m completely hooked and loving the variety of different techniques, and making small improvements along the way. My first bow was made at a workshop, and developed a small crack on one of the limbs. I recognise now it was because the board I was given had some grain run-off, and I salvaged it using linen thread and a linen fabric backing. My next two bows were a pyramid board bow design, with leopard print linen backing on instruction from my youngest son! 40Lb @ 27 inches for me, and 15Lb at 22 inches for my son.
I’ve been using spotted gum boards, which is one of the best bow woods in Australia. Unfortunately, none of our wood suppliers have even heard of Osage!
Chinese Elm is a pest species here, but there are some trees growing near my place, and I have two saplings drying in the garage. As a white wood, I thought it might be interesting to try a bamboo backing this time. I’ve seen a few videos where the back is fairly flat, so the bamboo can be thinned, tillered and applied. My question is regarding sapling bows. I understand the aim is to not violate the 1st growth ring below the bark. However, this will make a very curved back after tillering.
Has anyone applied bamboo backing to a sapling bow? Does the curved back make it too difficult to apply the bamboo, or if the bamboo is thin enough, can it still wrap itself to the back? I could easily leave it bare, or use my usual linen technique - however I thought it might be interesting to try something different, especially on a wood variety that is prone to set.
Sorry for the long post! Hope that makes sense. Thanks for any tips.
