As the title says.. Can I use rew boo (ripped from a boo large diameter pole) as limb core in a glass lam bow (without veneers)?
If so, is there and difference in preparation?
Do I need to heat treat it first (if so, how)?
How does it performe vs. wood core (say, maple)?
Thanks

You sand the nodes off and taper the boo just like tapered lams
No heat treat needed
maybe a little stiffer than Hard rock Maple, but I think it's a little heaver .

Pictures would help

I thought bowyers use boo because it's lighter ther wood....

I'm just wondering what should I use for my next bow... Raw boo, boo from a flooring board or some hardwood.

Under the glass you do not need to heat treat. Glass does the work. Heat treating can be done in an oven either home made or a pizza oven if it is long enough. Need at least 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Another method is take the clum, split it in half or whole and use a propane torch and flame it. You will see the moisture come out the clum ends. This is a couple of ways I heat treat bamboo for flyrods.

Boo is lighter but it's strong and snappy. I would use raw dry boo over flooring. Doesn't need heat treatment, just needs to be dry. Like 12% or less moisture  content. I run raw boo planks through a drum sander to flatten and even thickness.

So raw boo will be better the hardwood?

And assuming I'll use boo, I'd like it to have darker brown colour. I believe it's achieved using heat. Currect? If not- how?

AH!  R-A-W  bamboo!!!  I was trying to figure out what you were talking about since there is nothing that I know of in the wold of bamboo called Rew!!!

You should never use green (grown this year) culms.  Always use culms that are 2-3 years old -- standing mature culms, not standing dead culms.

In the groves I cut from, I mark the year that culms sprout, once they reach full height later that year.  The don't grow an taller or larger in diameter after that first burst of growth.

Good info Roy and ken
I used 1 box of boo flooring and went to Hard rock Maple, Riff sawn.

With Boo flooring it depends on the orientation of the bamboo.  If it looks like flat sawn wood you don't want it: if it looks like quartersawn(lots of edges) that's the good stuff.

I got some pics today...
   
that`s the bamboo pole I got.. it`s nice and dry and has a thick wall...
   

Thats the end grain of the boo florring board I got... I can`t really tell what`s going on..
   

BTW, the boo flooring is pretty heavy...

Well, what do you guys think?

Use the pole. Was it kiln dried? If so there should be a tiny hole drilled at every node to let the moisture escape when drying.

QuoteOriginally posted by KenH:
With Boo flooring it depends on the orientation of the bamboo.  If it looks like flat sawn wood you don't want it: if it looks like quartersawn(lots of edges) that's the good stuff.

Yea ken vertical [[[[]]]]
Like that
 

The Boo flooring you have looks like stranded bamboo. I wouldn't use it for a bow. Vertical or horizontal will work good. If using horizontal you will need to cut out the factory glue lines, it is usually 3 plied glued together and can/will de-laminate. If the pole you have is dry it will work fine.

James

I guess I'll use the pole then.

Do I make the bow with the same stack as with wood?
And, I want to darken the boo's colour. What will happen if I use heat?

May I ask where that boo is from? I do not see the power fibers. Much thicker than the boo we use for fly rods. I wonder how tall that clum was when it was harvested.

I didn't harvest the boo myself. I bought it at a local lumber yard. The pole was 6 meters long and I used the magority of it for boo backed ipe bows (and it worked well). That's the last piece I have left from that pole. I guess it's kiln dried.
If it`s kiln dried it`s no good?

I don't think anyone would kiln dry bamboo -- if they did it would crack open from the difference in temps/pressure inside the sealed culms.

I always wondered what type of bamboo people use in the their glass bows. there is a place over here called Bamboo world that sells dried Boo and i have been thinking of making some cores out of it. thanks guys for starting this thread.