Question about Osage and bamboo??

[Selfbowman]

Is Osage or bamboo stronger in compression? Has anyone tried putting bamboo on the belly of Osage selfbow?

[Pat B]

I know folks that make boo back and belly bows but never heard of boo belly Osage bow. Generally compression in Osage isn't a problem even with a boo backing. I'd like to hear what your thinking is.

[Selfbowman]

Pat I have a boo backed Osage that holds two flight broadhead records. The bow took some set though. Probably my tiller or lack of.i think the boo over powered the Osage. So my thought is reverse the materials and see what happens. Will the back fail? Just curiosity Getting me. I know it would be a tiller nightmare but I think I’m going to try it.

[Pat B]

Well, keep us posted. This will be interesting. 

[Burnsie]

Arvin - On *Bay there is a bow made by Vincent Minor. It is his Canebrake model.
The seller says it is bamboo and Osage - no glass.  Looking at the pictures it appears to have the boo on both back and belly.
Vincent quit making bows awhile ago, but I recall Trad folks speaking highly of them - the seller certainly does.
So it looks like boo on both sides is not a crazy idea.
It is item # 306818066922 on the site.

[Selfbowman]

I ve seen boo on the back and belly before. I’m just curious about tension between Osage and boo.

[Pat B]

I've known Vinson Minor for over 25 years. I took a boo back bow class from him in 2000 and have one of his boo backed and belly bows that he built in 2000. Vinson is a very talented guy with bows and flint knapping. He is James Parker's brother-in-law. Becca, James' wife is Vinson's sister.
 Years back Vinson went off the rails and has made himself a very bad reputation in the archery world.
 Arvin, ask James Parker about your idea. He will be at the Classic or I can give you his phone number. I wouldn't be surprised if James hasn't tried boo belly Osage backed bows.

[Eric Krewson]

Colene Simmons made a few bamboo back and belly bows complete with the nodes on top and bottom. I asked her how she tillered the bow I saw, she said she tillered it with heat bending, it wasn't a bad bow.

[Pat B]

I really miss Colene. She was such a fun person...but Arvin is talking about an Osage back with a boo belly.

[Bob Barnes]

There are a lot of people making bamboo back and belly bows.  Super Dave and Meadowlark Adventure Gear (YouTube) are two of them.  I've never seen anyone do what Arvin is suggesting.  It seems that bamboo backing would be stronger than Osage backing, but if the osage is a stave with a clean/clear single ring back, it might compare well.  It will be interesting to watch.   

[jameswoodmot]

Not sure it’s of much use but heritage longbows here in the U.K. are using bamboo back and bellies often with Ipe cores. The said the “engineered bamboo” outperforms just about anything else.

It’s a commercially available flooring that is heat treated as well as being glued up from strips.

I would wonder what the potential advantage to Osage as a backing could be? Maybe a better option would be a tri lam as a delicious Osage sandwich?

[Hamish]

Hey James, I checked out Heritage LB. Bows look good.

I did a bunch of experiments with caramelized bamboo flooring about 20 years ago.  They were all laid up flat with no reflex, (the days before I really appreciated Perry reflexing). I found the material performed well. It was really pleasant to shoot, like yew, but took a lot of set.

It obviously performs very well for Heritage, when reflexed. I think you could get better performance making your own, because the mass produced nature of the commercial boards aren't made up the very outer fibres where the strongest material is.  Carefully hand selected and prepared you could ensure maximum power fibres.
It would be a hell of a lot of work, but I have heard of some guys doing it.

[Selfbowman]

Guys have you ever seen bamboo with the nodes 30” apart? I’m supposed to talk to Jaap next week . He will probably tell me I am nuts. 🤠🤠but we all know that. I will see if he can prepare me 30” pieces with or without nodes and put a short 5” radius on one end for the fade ramps. I have some boo that would have one node in 30”. I don’t think I need to ramp the ends but about 3/4”. I’ll know more when I talk to Jaap.