bamboo question

[Knoll]

Guess I need to buy a belt sander now. 

Never have enough tools.

[leonwood]

I once removed a cracked bamboo backing from an ipe belly with a heat gun (glued with smooth on), if you get one tip started put the heat between the layers and it will come off pretty easy.

Bit off topic maybe but thinning a full thickness slat of bamboo to paper thin sides takes me about ten minutes with a sharp drawknife. Just try it, it might surprise you how easy it is.

[Limbit]

People don't like the thought of tillering the power fibers, but yes, you can. It is straight grained, and holds together with or without a violation so long as you don't have rot. I wouldn't do it on a high poundage bow, but don't worry about it unless you are going past 50#. Some bamboo bows have the power fibers on the belly and the back is literally the inside of the stalk and is tillered on the back, not the belly. Point is, it is straight grained and will hold together unless you overdo it. If you want to get rid of the nodes, go for it. There are many examples of this online, but yes, it is not as sound. If you want a perfect bow with maximum performance and high poundage, of course don't dig into the power fibers. The power fibers give the bow stiffness and seem to enhance the performance for the oftentimes unusable belly wood it is working for.

[Stick Bender]

The jointer belt sander method worked for me to ,but it could all be done on the belt sander I like 36-50 grit belts leaves a nice surface for glue , on mine I get the edges knife like thin but easy to cut your self on !

[Eric Krewson]

Back in the old days before I had  a belt sander and jointer I thinned the bellies of bamboo slats with a block of wood and a piece of course sandpaper. If I remember right it took all day to do one slat  but I was young and full of vigor back then.

[Pat B]

My first was done with a block plane.

[upstatenybowyer]

Back in the old days before I had  a belt sander and jointer I thinned the bellies of bamboo slats with a block of wood and a piece of course sandpaper. If I remember right it took all day to do one slat  but I was young and full of vigor back then.

Now that's dedication! I get tired after 10 minutes of a block & sandpaper!

[Marc St Louis]

Width tapering Bamboo and core before glue-up is a good idea here, not to finished dimensions but close, as it allows you to better see what you will have once glued up. 

There is the other option of trapping the back but that may not help much

[bubby]

I use a hand held power planer, I plane it flat full width, then cut the front profile. Then plane it down real close and finish it with a belt sander almost to a knife edge