Bamboo - Good? or is there better?

Hello Flynn,
I too got curious about bamboo a while back. I bought a few 20 ft canes from an industrial bamboo importing firm. I haven't made anything fancy with the bamboo strips that I got made up from the canes, I just backed some maple staves with them. Having said that though, my 37lb bamboo-maple longbow can hit the target without a serious amount of elevation at 80yrds, which is much better than my other hickory-lemonwood longbows.

The only reason I would avoid it would be if you are a) not reasonably experienced with bow making already or b) afraid of finding bamboo splinters in your hands days after working it.

A lot of composite bow makers use bamboo as their core, especially in Korea and China.

Regards

Mike

Bamboo is good for bows; but you have to have the right sort. The correct type is a double-walled bamboo with a very large circumference (10cm or more) split vertically into four pieces which are then streightened by heating. The skin of the bamboo is on the belly side (on the back only for exceptionally heavy bows.) The nodes of the bamboo should be distributed evenly above and below the grip, and the grip itself should not be on a node. If you splice a wooden siyah into the limbs, an additional saw-cut three cm down from the bottom of the 'V' splice can help to prevent further splitting of the bamboo as the glue dries.

Okay, So what is a good wood to go with it; Maple? and would the bamboo be best on the belly or back?

Im not yet making my own bow (although i am having lessons) but i want as much info as possible.

Thanx

Stephen; Several times you have mentioned double-walled bamboo. What is that? -j-

jack farrell wrote:

Stephen; Several times you have mentioned double-walled bamboo. What is that? -j-

I want the answer too.My cores are made of huge bamboo,so I need to know whether it is "double-walled bamboo".

The best and maybe the only kind of bamboo that make bows are those bamboos of "毛竹"(Phyllostachys), translated directly from Chinese is "hair bamboo"...
So called "hair bamboo", there are two major species:
1. Moso Bamboo (孟宗竹, Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel ex.Hl. de Leh.
), which is very thick and big. Chinese horn bow cores are made from this.

2. Phyllostachys makinoi Hayata (桂竹), the most flexible and best quality bamboo, though it's thinner and smaller then the other. Japanese Yumi is made from this by laminating small strips together.

Other kinds of bamboo such as "Bambusa stenostachya Hackel" (莿竹), though very thick and big, yet can't be the material of bow making, it tend to be powderlized and break.

I do not mean to refute what anyone says about bamboo. I have heard about Moso being the best and from what I have seen that looks so.

But I have made bamboo backings out of many bamboos, Multiplex works well but the color is drab. Fish pole has great character and texture, highly eclectic. Fish pole root is even more eclectic. Black bamboo in its many forms is dear to my heart; true black, tortoise shell variation, sesami seed.

Tim Baker once made a good bow out of a bundle of bamboo arrow shafts of different lengths. Each of these bamboos would require some different techniques.

A single bamboo backing along with a marginal bow stave can make an excellent bow. For instance my brother and a friend still shoot bamboo backed juniper bows which I made for them 17 years ago. Jack

Thank you,Mr Zhang
I got what you said.Mine is "hair bamboo".It is called "楠竹" in my province.

i has a member form my forum hear about in china sichuan province has a bow call "bow core bow弓胎弓" , it made for a bow core or use it made a bow , it is many slice up of bamboo laminated , solking it in blader glue , and will be make a bamboo Wall, then the glue dry cut the size for a hornbow core or a bow, i am sure it is best than the double wall

any bowyer useing this method or attest it is right? or the double-walled is a name of bamboo??

i has try use the bamboo laminated make a bow, 4 layer bamboo add to a bow core belly by the sinew glue,when the drawing it is more strength but shooting less 10M ! the 4 layer wall bamboo is more hard than the bamboo core,

this is 4 year ago i made it , it destroy all my confidence and patience

The most comprehensive study oif bamboos for bow making has been done by Jaap Koppedreyer (kkoppedr(a)perth.net). You need to find him. He doesn't come on this discussion forum.


S

Greetings everyone. I have been trained by Jaap for several years now ,and we tend to use what the Yumi makers use in Japan.Madake and Hacheque (not certain about this spelling) are the 2 varieties that we use. That being said, we have noticed over the years, that harvesting bamboo of the same variety but from different groves can yield very different qualities in the culm. I always notice this when I am tempering the laminations for cores and belly plates, in how much heat they take before turning colour. More heat needed = better performance.I just made a bow using bamboo cut from last year, and from a new grove. It is very hard and the bow performs extremely well. It has a different colour and the fibres are closer to the surface I noticed when scraping it. Bamboo is like wine in the way that wine from different soils and climate has unique qualities. The soil type, fertility, moisture and sunlight quantity, the age of the grove etc. all play a role in determining the way the bamboo will perform in a bow. That is why we always harvest our own culms, looking for the right diameter, node placement, age of plant and so on. Buying from a dealer or wholesaler you never know what you'll get. That is why Jaap has now his own bamboo farm, so he can control the elements to produce consistant, reliable bamboo for bowmakers and arrowmakers. I always retain a % from each years harvest, so that when someone wants a special bow made, I can offer a bamboo bow from stock that is matured. Again like wine, bamboo stored properly, gets better with age. Just a few thoughts to share with my friends here. Sincerely, Steve Thomson

I think the important question is what are you trying to make from the bamboo?

Horn sinew composite bow cores?
bamboo backed hardwood bows?
selfbows?
bamboo backed bamboo belly bows?
Arrows?