How is the boo from Franks been for you guys? It s MASO from Northern China. Their slats are 2" wide and 8' long. Will that leave me enough width after I flatten?

I've heard good and bad about Frank's. Actually more bad. I like to use Bamboo and Rattan Works.
  http://www.bambooandrattan.com  
They sell 2"X6' "flat" pieces that are hand selected for bows. The current price is $11.70 per. Either way you go, you need to talk to someone and let them know what you intend to use it for. Tell them you want some nice clean stuff and you'd like it wide between the nodes. They have always treated me right at BRW.

Bamboo and Rattan Works are out of the boo for bow backing until sometime in January....they'll put you on the list of people to call when the boo arrives.

Thanks guys! Might as well stock up for winter.

I've had excellent experience with Frank's but I live close enough that I choose my own.  They're pretty easy about letting the customer get what he wants, they just don't know what bowyers want.

If you're making bows out of osage or ipe, something super dense, get the 1 1/2, it'll be easier to flatten.  I've used the 1" plank for ipe bows, they're perfect for that.

Sal do you have troubl with the boo being too narrow once it is flattened when you start out with 1.5" wide slats?

Try calling Mike at Dryad Bows, he has Tonkin Boo.  He knows what good bow boo is and if it will work for a good bow.  Also, he is a sponsor here at Tradgang.  I have used his boo for numerous bows with excellent results.

Good point Sal. BRW has experience with bowyers. I would expect that if people worked with Frank's over the phone and really let them know what they were looking for, they'd get some better stuff. It's like any other natural material. You cull out plenty of bad stuff to get the good stuff.

When at Frank's I select the slats according to straightness, low crown, low nodes, distance of nodes, and clean rind, no scratches.

If you buy a bundle, you get whatever is in the bundle, if you buy 5 pieces online, you get whichever five are easiest to grab.

Every time I go, I tell them what I'm doing with the slats and explain which are good and bad for my purposes.  I don't think they care, most of their slat sales go to tiki bars and such.

1 1/2" is plenty wide for osage bows, ipe bows are even narrower.  If the bamboo is selected properly, it won't have much of a crown, the high crown stuff is what requires wide widths and more waste.

Just to clarify, most of the slats at Frank's will work for backings, but some will be better than others, like all natural materials.  I'm just able to stack the odds in my favor.  I'm also the unofficial "buyer" for some of my friends.

Dryad no longer carries boo I believe.

Got two bad 25 piece bundles of bamboo from Frank's. One bundle was waterlogged with heavy mold covering every piece, no more Frank's bamboo for me.

Hmmm.. good enough for me.. no to Franks. If I could hand pick them then I would probably use them.