Bamboo thickness and nodes?

[Eric Krewson]

I have made 50+ bamboo backed bows and found the stiffness around the nodes is barely noticeable.

[John Malone]

Thanks Eric. I'm going to use the white oak first but will be using the bamboo on the second one.

[BMorv]

Pictures of the rind removal.  Takes only a few minutes with a sharp scraper.
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[BMorv]

Although I haven't had problems either way, I recently started taking less rind off, in hopes of not compromising the "power fibers".  Those are the fibers right under the rind, and are what makes bamboo such a great backing.  Those fibers supposedly have a much higher SG than the averaged SG reported for bamboo, like in the .8 or higher range, and have excellent bending and stiffness values.  
So treat them nicely, and they will treat you nicely.

[KenH]

I'm not a believer in removing the rind either.

[Pat B]

The slightest nick from that scraper can cause a splinter.Bamboo is pretty tough material but it is susceptible to minor damage.

[Roy from Pa]

X's 2 what Pat said.
But with the correct procedure, it's easy.
I haven't had boo fail in quite a few years. But I did switch to a boo called Madake. Before I used Moso, and had problems with it.