Bamboo, Ipe Hickory Build (Repair In Progress)

[Justin Snyder]

Justin- thanks!

Its heavy and all, but man does it make a fast bow. I wouldn't expect it with the weight, but it performs. In this situation though, i think your right!

It takes less wood (thickness and width) so the physical weight of the bow should be the same with a hickory bow as it would for a Ipe.

[Sanford]

Ok so, spent a long time yesterday trying to get this thing shooting, and I did, but ran into some problems.

I ended up getting to 28 inches at about 75 pounds, and the tiller was looking respectable, as you'll see i should have noticed a hinge in the top limb. The bottom is where i want it, but the top was definately off. Well i shot the bow a few times and checked the backing for damage, and sure enough had a little teeny lettle crack.

Right then and there should have patched that section and maybe treaded it to prevent any more damage, but know, i wanted to see if it would raise........it did, as you'll see in the pic.

So I raised a splinter from node to node on the limb, but it is ery very shallow, and i have faith that i can fix this. I want that part of the limb stiffer anyways, so i was to repair the length of the splinter, hopefully stiffening that part of the limb, giving a better tiller.

So I'v been reading about wyas to fix things like these, so i have some ideas. I was thinking about glueing the slinter down with Bow grip 100 that I have laying around. Then Sanding the back flat. After that i was thinking of a stip of white silk or poterntially clothe fiberglass, soaked in more epoxy or superglue, Then wraping the raised end with thread of some kind, and maybe a wrap at the other end. Not sure what kind of thread to use though. How does this sound? I've never repaired one of these so advice would be helpful.

Since the tiller is off, if i repaired it, and didn't thread it, would fixing the tiller be possible, then thread it after that, or do you think it will lift without the thread?

Ok wel thanks guys! I still am getting a bow out of this, don't worry!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[NTD]

Dang, Someone could really make some money starting a business selling homegrown bamboo.  Too much splintering boo lately for my tastes.  Or maybe someone could convince the chinese to send us some old growth instead of first year crap.   

[sailordad]

did you sand the nodes on the boo?

they look like they were sanded pretty flat,that may have caused a failure in the power fibers and causing it to splinter up at
the node like that

[Sanford]

SailorDad, Yeah I did, and that was pretty much why it happened I came to the conclusion. I didn't sand them completely flat but too much. I was hoping that I didn't get to carried away but it appears I did.

Which is why I think I'm going to repair it using (dun dun dunnnnnnn).........fiberglass......you traitor.....

I know this is a primitive site but hey, I'd rather have a bow that shoots then a piece of scrap wood! Besides, I've already used high tech glue and power tools galour, I'm not that primitive!

So my plan is (and please help me out if this sounds terrible to anyone, If it sounds feasible, let me know.) to glue down this splinter using some urac or bow grip, both of which i have in stock, and are both gap filling so should create a strong seal between the fibers. Then sand that all good after it's cured. Next I'm going to back the entire bow with some clothe fiberglass, using bow grip for the glue. Saturate that, it should become mostly see through, and then sand that up and put some finish over it, and from a distance, it should come out looking like its still bamboo.....ish

My reason for the whole backing is because my fear of basically what sailordad pointed out, that the nodes are too sanded down, and may fail elsewhere without backup, even if i fix the broken spot now.

So I feel confident that this will keep the bow together, with just the glued down splinter and the backing, If anyone begs to difffer let me know. I want this to work though because it will leave room for tillering.

i know its not very primitive but hey, you got to do what you got to do.

[Thwackaddict]

I'm no expert,jus my 2cents,if you get mid limb bending more it will take some stress off da limbs where that splinter lifted.If you sanded nodes not sure if it will hold up to 75# regardless.As for the f-word,If you get to much material on the back and over power the belly looks to me the belly will fail.If it was me and i'm good at fixin mistakes becuz I'm hard headed and Have to see!!I would rip that boo off and put another piece on if you got it.Thats jus me.Great lookin bow and cant wait to see the end results.

[Sanford]

Thats a possibility....

I was palning on dropping wieght after the fiber glass.

As far as new bamboo, stripping that off there may not be my specialty, anyone know the best way to do that? I don't think that will happen but we will see.

[Sanford]

HOOOOOkaaayyy every body....

Repair is happening as we speak. Will post some pictures when I get some time, results are pending.

I ended up epoxying the splinter down, and sanding it flush with the rest of the boo, then proceeded with a backing. Backing is drying. After that, i'm considering some hemp twin as a wrap on both ends, but we will see. Welll hopefully i can show everyone a working bow by the end of the weekend.

[Sanford]

Ok so epic fail. I think the bamboo was beyond repair. So I decided to strip the bamboo and reback it, I am still getting a bow out of this

[Sanford]

Well,

Sorry I have been so absent lately (for anyone who cares haha). After the bamboo cracked and my failed backing attempts and the bamboo was still not holding, I ended up Stripping the Bamboo of using a Belt sander and some really heavy grit paper. Really didn't take long at all, Just had to be careful when we go through the bamboo, so the ipe didn't get damaged.

I then ordered some bamboo that will hopefully work a little better this time around. Already gotta a good tiller going so hopefully it wont be too much difficulty getting it to where i want. No idea where the draw weight will end up. When it broke it was around 70-75, so hopefully I can get a 60-65 pound bow out of it.

Have been really busy lately with school about to start, gotta finish up my undergrad here at U of I, so I am not sure when this will be complete, could be a while. Bamboo hasn't arrived yet. I wrapped the bow in shrink wrap air tight to keep the wood semi protected. Hopefully it'll keep moisture out.

Well when this extremely long project turns out, I'll let you all know. Lets see if we can get this three years in the making.,..... I sure hope not... haha

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Sanford]

Good news! bamboo came in the mail! Now i jsut need a free weekend to finish this sucker, oh man this could be a while......

[Sanford]

Ok so just in case anyone came across this thread and wondered "Did this guy die? What was the fate of this poor soul? Who was Sanford and what did he see?" I'll inform you...

About a year after getting the new bamboo strip in I finally finished up my undergrad, which consumed all of my time. I landed a job straight out of college and was able to get a little bit of free time between starting the job and finishing college. So i was finally able to attempt to put the backing on in summer of 2011. Long story short, this did not go to well. Apparently, when I glued up the backing again, I wasn't able to get a good mesh between the bow and new backing. I think I used poor clamping, and the sanding off the original backing wasn't perfect. So, sadly, this bow's fate has finally met it's demise. Still have the bow, but don't trust the wood much, it has been exposed to elements for about 2 years now. My new job, new fiance, and moving 3 times in 3 years really put a halt on bow building. But I will take up the helm again when I can get a permanent place to work again....

Until then I'll be checking out everyone's good work!