Bending Bamboo for bowmaking

[jehangir]

How would I bend the ends of a bamboo strip in order to create recurves on the end, and bend the middle to make it reflex? What is the best / easiest to do this?

[Mark Meckes]

Hi jehangir,
Here's a section in the Bamboo Workshop Gallery on ... Bending and Shaping Bamboo (http://www.bamboocraft.net/workshop/showgallery.php?cat=508)
Not knowing about the subject of bow making, I'm presuming you would need to devise a jig to hold the bend in place to get an accurate set.

For reference, here's several other Thread related to this subject:

Bamboo Bows - History and Construction (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1161)

Drying Bamboo for Bow Making (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1465)

Bamboo arrow making for hunting (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1085)

~ Mark

[jehangir]

Hi

I forgot to mention that when I try simply bending the bamboo outwards (ie with the outer side becoming concave) the back simply snaps. How do I stop this happening?

[matnjo]

Jehangir:

I really do not feel you will be able to successfully take a section of bamboo that is in a concave or convex shape (depending on how you look at it) and induce reflex and/or deflex into the bamboo. There is one bowyer, O.L. Adcock, who has a bow that has a concave cross section. Although this bow has carbon woven fibers and is backed with fiberglass. You will be successful if you take that same piece of bamboo and plane inside wall of the bamboo flat and use it as a backing material. When you plane the bamboo strip it should look "dome" shaped.

You will want a strip of bamboo that is 1-1/2" wide and 1/8" thick at the peak and how ever long you want the bow to be (e.g. 68"). Use the bamboo as a backing on another piece of wood. If you can obtain a piece of vertical grain compressed bamboo flooring that would make a fine belly material. When using bamboo as a backing, you want a belly wood that will not be overpowered by the bamboo backing. Bamboo is very strong in compression. In fact, it has been referred to as nature's fiberglass.

You can find a host of information on a site www.stickbow.com do a search on the leatherwall for bamboo and you will find all the additional help and info you need. If I can assist you further, please let me know.

Matt