Guys, I've looked through the how-tos and archives but couldn't find anything about flattening bamboo.
Can anyone shed some light on this subject?
I have found a clump of small diameter bamboo, about 3-3 1/2" in diameter and want to try some as backing.
I suspect heat is needed but in what form? Steam or dry heat?
You don't flatten the arch out of the boo, that happens when you glue it on the bow wood. If that is what you are asking.
A good clip on bamboo processing...
http://www.youtube.com/user/BowstickArchery#p/u/17/IbPJEeHLvIA
I don't have a clue about raw bamboo, Roy. I think that is what I was asking.
This bamboo is about 3/8" thick and would probably make very narrow backing. I thought flattening it would help make a wider backing material.
Stan
All you need is the boo to be about 1 1/2 wide when it's ready to be glued on a bow. I buy my boo and it comes 2 inches wide and about 3/8th thick. I run it across a jointer to flatten the back side of it till it's a little over 1 1/2 wide. Then I lay my bow pattern out on the flat side and cut that out with a bandsaw. Then I thin that down to 1/8th thick at the handle to 1/16th thick at the tips and glue her on the bow wood.
Hold on a second here Red. My bad:) I thought you were talking about the arch of the boo as it was laying on a table and arching end to end.
But to get the concave out of it, follow what I said above, sorry about that, Roy
Thanks, Brad. Looks like my 'boo isn't big enough for what I want.
Stan
Thanks, Roy. Like I said, I don't have a clue. This is a learning experience just like everything else has been so far. I trully appreciate the responses and input from everyone on TG.
Stan
The bamboo they cut backing slats out of is large diameter (6-7") and thick walled. Flattening the bamboo is a process of planing/sanding the inside wall until it is flat, not "unrolling" the tube so to speak.
Steve, I've seen pics of bamboo backing and the video suggested above was quite informative. I just thought there could be a way of using this.
At any rate I want to try something with it in an attempt to back a bow just to experiment a little.
Stan
Red, you want boo backing strips to be 1/8" at the crown at the handle. It can taper(thickness) to the tip or have even thickness. Cut a strip of your boo and sand the concave side down until you have a flat glue surface. Now see how wide the strip is. If it is say 3/4" wide you could make a bow that was 1" to 1 1/4" wide and trap the sides to match the boo backing. So theoretically your bow would be 3/4" on the back and 1 1/4" on the belly.