Bamboo flat bow

[Afro]

G'day folks,
Here are some pics of my first proper bow build. Although, as kids, we made bows from tree branches and strung them with string and shot arrows made from whatever we could find.

We recently had a new Bamboo floor fitted to our living area and there were leftovers and I loooove leftovers

The stave is 53" long and 2" wide. 9/16" thick.

I glued a piece of Western Red Cedar to it for the riser/grip and roughly shaped on the bandsaw.

I have glued some Water Buffalo horn, to the tips, for the string nocks.


I was looking at buying a Drawknife, but the good ones were a bit dear, so I made one to suit me.

Blade is made from 5mm thick spring steel and handles are from Turkish Walnut. More leftovers

Cheers,
Tony

[Goatchaser]

looks good so far, bit hard to tell from the pictures, but was it vertically laminated bamboo flooring??

[Hamish]

Most of the unbacked flooring that I have tried starts to go at the severed nodes. It can last a while though. When you start to hear "ticks" when drawing it, then its time to stop bending.
Love the drawknife.
Hamish.

[greybeard]

Hi Tony, welcome to the Ozbow site.

The bow looks interesting but at 53" in length it will probably be restricted to a short draw. Irrespective of which type of bamboo flooring was used excessive string follow could be an issue.

A non rigid grip area will give you more working limb.

Good work on the draw knife, it looks better than my bought one.

Daryl.

[Mick Smith]

I think you're going to run into trouble due to the overall short length of the stave. It's going to put heaps of stress on those short limbs. I would have been more inclined to go for something with a minimum length of 66 inches up to around 72 inches.

If you only have shorter lengths of bamboo flooring, I would suggest that you try joining two lengths together to get the length.

It will be interesting to see how it goes and if the worst comes to the worst, it will have been a learning experience.

Thanks for putting the photos up. Please keep us informed of any developments.

[Afro]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I know it's on the short side, for me, but I do have grandkids and one of them might like a light bow to learn on.

I do have longer pieces, but was going to leave them for now.

What I want to do next is, build a selfbow from Brigalow wood and that is the reason for the draw knife.

[kerry]

Clinton Miller did build one using brigalow, its on page 5 on trad crafts i'd put the link up but my puter skills are non existent

[greybeard]

Clinton Miller did build one using brigalow, its on page 5 on trad crafts i'd put the link up but my puter skills are non existent

Hi Kerry, is this the link?

Daryl.

http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=12713

[Afro]

I just had a look at that Brigalow bow. Looks good.
I saw a really nice one, maybe on another site, when I was trolling for ideas.

I did a bit more on the Flatbow this arvo.
It needs a bit more thinning, in the middle of the upper limb. On the left of pic. I think the string length is going to be 51".


The string I have for tillering, is a much twisted, 54" spare.

What's the best glue for Bamboo?

[kerry]

Clinton Miller did build one using brigalow, its on page 5 on trad crafts i'd put the link up but my puter skills are non existent

Hi Kerry, is this the link?

Daryl.

http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=12713

yeah, that's it Daryl .i feel more at home driving cars with ignition points, bows that don't have wheels and camping it up still means a holiday in a tent

[Afro]

Well, Hamish and Mick guessed correctly and it failed at one of the nodes. I'll put backing on the next one, but it's on to better and longer things

[Mick Smith]

I was sorry to hear about the demise of your bamboo bow. From what I gather, bamboo flooring isn't the best material for making bows, although I've never actually tried it myself. Bamboo poles are a different matter. A section of bamboo pole, taken from a large diameter specimen, will give you a durable and an excellent backing for a bow. I believe the secret is to use as much of the tough outer parts of the pole and much less of the pithy sections that lie underneath. I once owned a very pretty little bow that Greybeard made for me. It was made from spotted gum with bamboo pole backing and it shot a very fast arrow for its draw weight. It has been a very durable bow too.

[GrahameA]

Morning All, Hi Mick.

... From what I gather, bamboo flooring isn't the best material for making bows, although I've never actually tried it myself. ...

My opinion and experience.

Bamboo Floorboards make great, cheap, easy to make bows. They have there limitations but often that is more due to the people making them rather than the material itself.

You can make usable bows in an hour or so with a band saw (it will take longer to make the string than it will take to make the bow) and if you want invest a bit more time in a couple of sessions then you make something a bit 'flashier'.

If you want to make a long Longbow you are restricted by the length of the floorboard - but that can be fixed.

Their biggest failing is that the material does take a 'set' - string follow - more than what I would prefer.

One of the great plus factors is you can take a Vertical or Horizontal board. Saw in to into strips, turn them 90 deg and glue them back together so you end up with a much more homogenous timber material. And if you move the nodes around you really do not have any week spots.

If you want a bit more punch then you can back it with a range of materials. Bamboo, Hard Rock Maple, American Ash are just some materials that work and build in a bit of reflex.

Sn851374-oz.jpg (30.42 KiB) Viewed 3445 times

And if you want a bit more of a challenge you can even use shredded/reconstituted/strand bamboo for the belly just to be different.

This may be a useful read http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=13810

[Afro]

Thank you GrahameA. That's useful information.

I have since bought a Woomera longbow blank and am playing with that now.

I'll post some pics and story on it soon.

Cheers.