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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: arachnid on March 31, 2017, 04:52:00 AM
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Good info Roy and ken
I used 1 box of boo flooring and went to Hard rock Maple, Riff sawn.
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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.
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I got some pics today...
(https://scontent.fhfa2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17554530_1291646257591762_5542955434786114390_n.jpg?oh=fd5ca880841d81e507d3123965861a08&oe=59922723)
that`s the bamboo pole I got.. it`s nice and dry and has a thick wall...
(https://scontent.fhfa2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17757534_1291646187591769_1318913086655930199_n.jpg?oh=8cd4a4b938d7a031974688faf96a4ff0&oe=599B5618)
Thats the end grain of the boo florring board I got... I can`t really tell what`s going on..
(https://scontent.fhfa2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/540049_1291646250925096_5171075169521979998_n.jpg?oh=7917ab77444cbc36b819796a34f86ada&oe=595EADC7)
BTW, the boo flooring is pretty heavy...
Well, what do you guys think?
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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.
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Originally 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
:)
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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
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.