where to get good quality bamboo?

[hunterboy]

where does everyone get their bamboo for backings?

[Sam Harper]

I get mine from Franks Supply:   http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo/bamboo-products.html#bambooplanks

[vanillabear?]

[Pat B]

Check out James Parker's website(huntworthyproductions) I believe he sells boo backings and heat treated boo for bellies.

[rainman]

Dryad bows

[razorsharptokill]

dryad no longer caries it. Mike Yancy does though.

[No-sage]

The best quality bamboo I've used is Madake.  I get it from Yumi Bows.

[hunterboy]

ok, thanks everybody, im going to be attempting my first bamboo backed bow, its going to be for someone else, and i want it to be as good as it can be!

[Eric Krewson]

I almost quit making bamboo backed bows after getting 2 different bundles of of 25 slats from, Frank's. I Every bow I made from bundle #1 had a bamboo failure. Being a slow learner I ordered another bundle. This bundle arrived water logged and every slat covered with a thick coating of mold, this bundle went to the burn pile. No more Frank's bamboo for me!

Got a piece from Yumi bows, must have been green because it cracked all down the back when I put it in my drying box for a few days before a glue-up.

I get my bamboo locally now, great stuff and I have never had a failure from it. Made about 30 bows from this bamboo so far.

[Bruce Prosser]

Kind of expensive but 3 rivers archery sells heat treated slats and also slats that need planed flat.

[Roy from Pa]

Bamboo and Rattan in New Jersey. Scroll to the bottom of the page. You have to call them, no internet orders. About $11.75 a piece. Good stuff. You can order as many as you want, ya don't have to buy a bale of them.

  http://www.bambooandrattan.com/catalog/bamboo.htm

[Sal]

Eric, what kind of bamboo is that?  Is there a way we can get some of it?

[Eric Krewson]

According to the old guy who owns the patch it is giant timber bamboo. He has had a stroke so I doubt if any will be available.

[4est trekker]

If James (Huntworthy) still sells it, I second that.  He's a great guy, wonderful bowyer, and a brilliant outdoorsman to boot.  Give him call (see his website).  That seems to be the best way to contact him quickly.

[Pat B]

I talked to James(Huntworthy) the other day and he said he no longer sells boo for backings.   David Knight(Primalneedarchery) does sell boo for backing and tempered boo for bellies.

[Bruce Martin]

Seems like a consistent source of good bamboo for backing is difficult to find. Do any of you that have ordered from Yumi have a contact via a website or other contact information?

Looks like Eric has found a great bamboo. I had a similar source with excellent power fibers but I think I dried it too quickly in a greenhouse and had failures across (90 degrees to the bow length) the nodes where it was brittle. Durn.

[Eric Krewson]

On the bamboo in the picture I knocked the internal nodes out with a hoe handle so it could get air movement through the trunk, let it dry a couple of months then cut it into slats on my bandsaw and thinned the belly on my jointer.

A few of the culms in the picture are too small in diameter to get my usual 1 1/2" slat out of so I will them up into one inch+ slats to use in kids bows.

[David Ricke]

The Rattan works. I have used about twenty backings. I never had the bamboo fail. I can't say that about the rest of the bow. Good Hunting   Knifemaker

[Sam Harper]

Originally posted by Eric Krewson:
[QB] I almost quit making bamboo backed bows after getting 2 different bundles of of 25 slats from, Frank's. I Every bow I made from bundle #1 had a bamboo failure. Being a slow learner I ordered another bundle. This bundle arrived water logged and every slat covered with a thick coating of mold, this bundle went to the burn pile. No more Frank's bamboo for me!

The same thing happened to me, only I was using Master Gardens.  That's why I switched to Franks.  So far so good.

[Ken Allen]

Here is a place that looks promising but i have not ordered any from them yet. They look good from the pictures but that could be deceiving. They do say that they treat the bamboo so no mold. If anyone has tried these before i would like your feedback.

http://www.tikishackimporter.com/bambooslats1.html