Preparing boo to back ipe.

[Morgan]

I bought some ipe boards about two years ago with the intention of making a boo backed ipe bow. I have 4 3/4”X5.5” boards and looking at the grain, I’m pretty sure I can get 4 bows out of the boards. I’ve been hesitant to start. I don’t like spending money and really don’t like wasting money. I have $60 in boards and will have at least that in bamboo and I would like to be successful on my attempts.. I thought about using an off split from a stave to back one, but that off split became a bow. So, if I buy unflattened boo planks, is it feasible to get the boo flat and even with hand tools? I own rasps, files, draw knives, and a hand held belt sander. The flattened planks are pretty close to double the price of the raw splits.

[PatM]

Sure. Many guys do this with no power tools.

[Morgan]

Having zero experience working with bamboo, what would be my best bet to properly flatten it with the least likelyhood of ruining it?
 I Also have been planning on buying a block plane for many things, would that be useful?
Those that make bamboo backed bows, Where do you guys get your boo planks? There are many archery sites that sell it, but I know there are other outlets and wondering if there is an economical alternative for acceptable quality planks?

[Stick Bender]

Morgan I just flattened the back of some bamboo I'm working on fortunately I have power tools but I could have easily done it with a hand saw and scraper , sanding blocks,hand plane,scrapper plane etc , Echo archery is the best I have found for bamboo Carson is a member here and a heck of a nice guy he will go out of his way to get you what you need, the bamboo is specially selected for node placement and quality , if I was in your boat I would put your belt sander up side down in a vice and use it as a stationary belt sander I used mostly the belt sander to flatten mine , just work it down slow on the belt sander checking often take out the high spots as you go ones you have it flat it's just a matter of even sanding to close to finale thickness and finale thickness by hand is how I did it ! That was the first one I ever did it will probably be easer then you think , just pay close attention to even thickness !

[Morgan]

Thank you. I think I’ll order a couple backs from him.

[leonwood]

I work with handtool mostly and have done about 30 bamboo backed bows. I split large bamboo poles with a hatchet, then I flatten the soft side of the bamboo with the drawknife, the last mm or so with a rasp and then some sanding on the beltsander to get it really flat. You will be surprised who fast this goes! I can have a piece ready for glue up in about 15 minutes. I tried it with my cheap belt sander one time and quit after 30 minutes and did the rest by hand.

[Pat B]

I took a class with Vinson Minor years ago learning to build boo backed bows(mine was osage belly). Vinson had us reduce the boo(from round 5" timber poles) with hand planes. A few hours later, after we had done that, he showed us in about 5 minutes how he did it on a belt sander. My point is, it can be done without power tools.
 In most cases the width of the boo after reducing it to 1/8" at the crown at the center(lengthwise) of the backing will be about 1 3/8" to 1 1/2" in my experience. I think that you could build a boo backed ipe bow from 1" to 1 1/2" wide and get almost any weight you wanted.

[mullet]

What hasn't been addressed so far and you might already know it is that Ipe is an oily wood. You will want to use a de-greaser to clean it first. I have used brake cleaner, oven cleaner and acetone. It takes several applications and sometimes you will have to do the back to get a finish to dry.

[KS51]

What leonwood posted is the same method I use for prepping boo.  I would suggest making sure your drawknife is super sharp and be very careful near the nodes.  Usually, I found that angling the draw knife about 30 degrees off perpendicular so you aren't square to the boo fibers makes control a bit easier and limits getting tearouts.

I also agree with what Mullet said about degreasing.  I use acetone and I also size both surfaces when gluing up with TB3.

Ken

[Morgan]

Thanks for the tips. Was wondering how tb glue would do on ipe.

[Pat B]

I've made hickory backed ipe with TBIII and it worked fine. Just be sure your glue surfaces are well matched.

[leonwood]

Most of the ipe/boo bows I made are glued with tbIII and I have never had a glueline fail. Degrease the ipe with acetone or alcohol and as Pat said, make sure the back and boo and ipe fit perfectly

[Del the cat]

A plane with a freshly sharpened plane will work down bamboo very quickly.
https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/bamboo-backing-build-along.html
Del

[dragonman]

Bamboo comes in poles not planks  !!!  

I reduce it down with a small axe to remove most of the inner fibres then a sharp block plane , doesnt take long..power tools are too aggressive for boo. much more chance of ruining it, unnecessary  and not so satisfying in the end...

[Morgan]

Bamboo comes in poles not planks  !!!  

I reduce it down with a small axe to remove most of the inner fibres then a sharp block plane , doesnt take long..power tools are too aggressive for boo. much more chance of ruining it, unnecessary  and not so satisfying in the end...

I am aware how it grows. The only wild bamboo here is rivercane. The commercially available boo splits are both referred to as splits, planks, strips, and slats. So when I buy it online, I suppose it won’t come in pole form.