last monday I carmelized the belly slat for my new bamboo-backed bamboo bow. It would be my first attempt at this, and I followed the dimensions of my hybrid of similar lenght.

yesterday evening I glued it up, today I got it from the form and played a little with planes and scrapers, to get rid of the rind, and check the gluelines. Things are looking great now!!

I'm really excited, but I don't have pics yet. Don't worry, I'll get them tomorrow. Don't be surprized if the bow's finished by then!!!

as a 'handle' I glued a 16" ipé powerlam of 1/2" thickness between the boo lams. looks nice, fades look great, but I may put some more wood on the back (the 'round' side of the powerlam), to give the handle more body. At a total stack of 3/4" it's still a bit skinny      

the bow, now standing at 64" tip-tip will be cut down to 62tip-to tip, in order to make it into a 60" ntn bow. I hope the tiller's okay, and I hope it survives!

pictures tomorrow,

Nick

Sounds great, I look forward to the pictures.


BE PATIENT!!!  

got her off the form and I'm very satisfied!! she draws smoothly to 40#@28", launches an arrow with authority and is a pleasure to look at, even though she isn't finished yet. Measuring only 60" ntn makes her a nice and handy bow. Just what I wanted!

fulldraw is a bit crappy, I'll get some better pics, including finished pictures. Already looking forward to the next bbb recurve!!
















Nick

Outstanding Nick. I think a shorter power lam would help for a 60" bow, looks pretty good tho.

She looks good Nick. I have thought of doing a similar bow but haven't yet. You might shorten the riser(power lam) length(on your next one) a bit to get a smoother bend at full draw.

Nice job on the bow. It would be cool to make an Asiatic horsebow design with all bamboo.

Real nice job Nick...

Hey Nick, that is truely a brilliant bow. I really like the way you used natural boo for the limbs. Did you heat temper the bamboo, or did you just work it straight from a bamboo pole? Do you think that would work for a R/D bow? Any comments from anybody? Peter

Thanks guys!!

the riser/powerlam will be shortened on the second one, and I hope to archieve a little more drawweight, and a bit fatter riser. the tiller could aswell be better, esp. on the lower limb.

Peter, I tempered the belly, and it's holding up great. Looks like it takes as much set as ipé, but it's much more elastic. For longer bows, I guess you want to induce quite a bit reflex (for a bow of 60-70" you'll be thinking about 4" of glued in reflex).

it would sure work well on an r/d bow. it's important to correctly pre-tiller the lams (backing and belly), and get clean fades at the powerlam/riser.

Start with the same dimensions of a similar bow, in length and net. reflex, and start to play with it. AS you can't tiller these bows (as you
ll remove the powerfibers then), but only narrow/round it,you want to have the lams bending correctly, and archieve the desired drawweight. The latter is only important for later bows, as it's plain guessing at the beginning. the crown of the bamboo may play tricks on your eyes, but the total stack on my 60" 40# bbb recurve is around 3/8". use some simple (riser) woods on your first one, and once you have  the tiller and drawweight of that certain type figured out, you'll be ready for nicer risers, beautyfull overlays, etc.

goodluck! boo-backed-boo is one awesome combi  

Nick

Dang you are just crazy fast building bows. That is an excellent bow. I would really like to see a more detailed build along. I can't imagine a bow you don't tiller.

I'll see if I can fix a buildalong once I've gained some more experience with bbb's.

some more pics;



 

 

Nick

this is a beautiful bow. it's elegant and almost understated.

I dig the way Nick holds his online seminars. How old is he?
 

tom, I'm 16  

Nick

That's what I mean Nick. So young but so talented already! You think like a woodworker/bowyer and you use the resources you have wisely.

yeah, he is a true craftsman. art and skill know no age-limit beyond the dedication it takes to pursue them.

thanks guys! you're too kind.

Nick

We're not to kind at all. You're really outstanding. The bows you craft... astonishing.