Question about Osage and bamboo?? And bow build

[willie]

.i think the boo over powered the Osage.

could well be if there was too much boo on the back.
As for osage having exceptional tension/back qualities, consider the extra care taken when removing the early growth from the back to insure only the best latewood serves as the back.
My guess is that if laminating osage to a more dense bellywood, you might  be pushing the limits of back strain/stress.

an osage bow with a less boo on the back might be the way to go. If you could take some pics of that bow you mentioned, showing the thickness of the boo on the back, maybe someone could offer an opinion about how much boo is the "right" amount of boo.

[Selfbowman]

You done one of these? I’m on this journey right now.

[Selfbowman]

I’ve got the bamboo ordered so I will start the selfbow.

[simk]

Arvin, I think bamboo maybe works. Horn sure would work. Horn is very soft compared to bamboo and takes stress from the back. If you need a pair....np.these are like 55cm 4mm. I can send you one, just for the fun of this thread 😀

[Pat B]

Arvin, are you planning on tempering the bamboo belly for your bow?  James Parker has been making bows with bamboo backs and bellies. He made Asiatic horn type bows with tempered bamboo bellies that shot fantastically. I watched James temper a bamboo strip with a rosebud propane torch and I thought he was gonna make charcoal out of it but that is how he got the compression strength from the bamboo he used.

[Selfbowman]

Pics of record bow thickness in the limbs.

[willie]

thank for the pics Arvin. lots of Bamboo on the back for sure,
but isnt a lot of the bamboo thickness serving as a core while the outer fibers are doing most of the work?
Kinda like having two lams with different properties?

after working with both the bamboo and osage, do you think the inner culm materiel of the bamboo (not near the surface) is much different in density from the osage used on the bottom half of the bow?

[Selfbowman]

Willie I’m going for a 1/4 “ growth ring on the back and about a 1/8” boo belly. Just a guess. Hopefully I’ll be close to fifty pounds. Here are pic s of the stave right now.  Should get bamboo in about a week.

[willie]

nice piece of osage there. will be curious what it works like once the boo arrives.
While it's easy enough to see compression damage on the belly of most woods or see set happening that is attributable to the belly,
seeing how the back contributes (or not) after being stressed too much is a different matter. Seeing if osage has superior properties in tension as well as compression will be interesting