5 piece bamboo Mongolian/horse bow

[Keith]

Where are you guys getting your large diameter bamboo?

Bamboo looks to be about 2 inch wide when prepared, is this about right?

[bassman211]

Yep 2 inches wide. I get 2 foot cut offs on Ebay. Don't know what kind it is ,but it works. Check ebay their are other places to buy it.

[superdav95]

Keith.  I got mine from a bamboo supplier in Toronto Ontario.  I buy it is 5” diameter poles hat are split into 1/4’s.  I usually go about 2” wide on my limbs depending on how heavy draw weight I’m aiming for.   The stuff I get is Mosso bamboo if it helps.   It comes fairly green so I let it dry for a bit and also do a heat treatment on it for a bit of reflex to add little compression to belly side which you can see in my posted pics.   Hope this helps

Dave

[bobnewboy]

Hi Dave,

These look like very good bows to build, so I will have a go at one myself.  I have some moso bamboo and some maple.  Do you have any handy dimensions that you could pass on for these bows?  I can see that you said each of the bamboo limbs were 25 inches long and a max of 2 inches wide, but how long overall were the handle and siyah pieces?

Keep up the good work.

Bob

[superdav95]

Hi Dave,

These look like very good bows to build, so I will have a go at one myself.  I have some moso bamboo and some maple.  Do you have any handy dimensions that you could pass on for these bows?  I can see that you said each of the bamboo limbs were 25 inches long and a max of 2 inches wide, but how long overall were the handle and siyah pieces?

Keep up the good work.

Bob

Thanks bob.  I’m out at the moment but will send you some measurements later today when I get home. 

Cheers. Dave

[superdav95]

Sorry bob. Got home late.  I’ll post a few pics showing the variations of angle I set different test bows.  The one in the photo that has the most reflex angle is the one I plan on belly laminating with Buffalo horn.  The others I’m keeping as they are.  The each shoot well.  The handle section is approx 8” long shaped to your preference.  I did some experimenting on handle shape and even put a shelf on one.  Works ok.  The one with no shelf just requires little more practice but shoots equally well.  The thickness of the siyahs is about 1/4” or slightly less and tapered a bit towards the tip.  The length of siyahs approx 8”.   The 40lbs bow has limbs that are 24” while the 50lbs bow has the 25” limbs.  The limbs on the 50lbs are slightly wider too at approx 2 1/8” while the other bow is 2”.   I took a pic of the profile of angle I set the siyahs at onto the limb.  I used Stanley or dewalt hot melt glue.  Not the craft stuff.  This stuff is higher heat and some of the testing I did to get to this glue was pretty conclusive as far as I’m concerned.  Regular hot melt glue didn’t have the holding power.  The yellow dewalt stuff is what I mostly use now as it holds really well. This combined with the lashing to hold down the siyahs and the handle lock it in.  Never had one come apart yet and have lots of arrows through them.  Hope this helps.  Here’s some pics to show some angles.  Good luck and have fun with it!  Btw I also heat treat these limbs with a slight reflex over a hot plate until golden brown to drive out the moisture.  I then bake them clamped to a form induced reflex for about an 1 or so at 250 degrees on convection mode.  I usually go till the steam stops coming out the ends of limbs. 

[bobnewboy]

Hi Dave,

Great looking bows, nice work!

Thanks very much for the information, I appreciate it.  Don’t worry too much about the timing of your replies as I’m in the UK 

I have roughed out the siyahs and handle pieces out of the hard maple. Fortunately the dimensions I used were decided upon looking at your original pictures, and they seem pretty close to what you have mentioned above, even the siyah angle.  I went with 26 inch limbs for slightly less stress on them (as I’m out of bow making practice!), and I don’t yet know how good the bamboo pieces that I have will be.  I have rigged up the bamboo pieces in the same way you did, with G-clamps, and used a heat gun to set them into a little reflex.  I don’t have any way of baking them in that shape as you mentioned, but they are currently still clamped up, resting on top of my wife’s glass fusing kiln as it runs through a cycle. The outside lid of the kiln gets pretty darn hot, but not enough to set anything on fire, plus its a good long heating and cooling cycle (18 hours), so hopefully that will drive off much/most of any moisture they still contain. 

My next step will be to glue up the limbs to the handle. I will be keeping my fingers crossed as this is the first bow I’ve made with siyahs, and hence so many glue joints. I will do the gluing for the siyahs when the limb/handle joints are set.  In that way I can play about with the siyah  alignment more easily, as there will be fewer variables in play.

I will post when Ive done the gluing and whipping of the joints…….

Thanks again, Bob.

[superdav95]

Great stuff bob.  Glad I could be of help. 

Cheers. 

Dave

[Selfbowman]

Nice looking bow!

[superdav95]

Thanks guys.  Very quick little bows.  For what they are really. 

Here’s a short video.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jCYubBAtTprLiHsq7

Cheers. 

Dave