QuoteOriginally posted by Bjorn:
Well it seems to me-as someone who knows nothing-that horizontal would not be worth a darn compared to vertical; can a bowyer please explain?

I've heard of some guys using flat grain under glass before for veneers, but the stuff is typically laminated in one inch strips. when it's laminated like that the flooring tends to cup a lot more than the vertical grain stuff does. the vertical grain has many more laminations and is much stiffer than flat grain.

here are some oars for my river boats i built out of the flat grain bamboo. i broke one of the blades on my first white water adventure too. they need fiberglass cloth over them.

I won't use the stuff in bows myself.






Hey Steve, let me know when you harvest the first batch of that "Toe-Jam-Boo"...      

Toe-Jamb00, What a hoot!!!
I don't call using stair material as being any different that using high quality flooring. I have and do use both equally. The amber boo is stiffer but I do not believe any better than natural. I also use both.
Vertical boo is homogenous. Next to foam and actionwood it is as consistant as core material can get.
Using any wood laminations. Elm, hickory. maple. ect can lead to fits in proper tillering compared to using any material that has a universal tension and compression gradient. I would reccomend all beginners to use actionboo or actionwood lams . I believe , especially with recurve limbs that you will immediately produce a much better bow and you will learn faster with less effort and ruined product.

God bless you all, Steve