Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Kegan on November 17, 2010, 11:54:57 am
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I'm working on about half a dozen selfbows and a few glassies (mostly to sell and make some scratch for Christmas shopping). Sorta ran into a wall though. I'm using maple for the glassies' limbs with good success, but am interested in trying some boo in there (mostly for my buddy Art who is liking lighter bows around 30#). I can't find anywhere to order from besides Frank's Cane and Rush though. I know bamboo varies alot between species or sub species, and several folks have used Frank's boo for laminated wood bows, but does it matter in glass bows? I mean. It's light. And rather elastic. And I use black glass so looks don't even really matter.
Anyone know if it does ????
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Kegan, go to a flooring store and buy some Bamboo Flooring. It's already flat.
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Kegan, go to a flooring store and buy some Bamboo Flooring. It's already flat.
The only flooring place around here only does oak, and Home Depot's flooring is MDF with a 1/64" bamboo veneer over it :(.
After seeing the mess at Home Depot I don't even trust the flooring Frank's sells.
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Kegan, it doesn't really make all that much difference what you put between the glass, the glass does all the work. The wood is just spacers. Steve
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Doesn't Knight have bamboo for backing bows? Maybe you could get a thick piece from them. ;) 8)
Wayne
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Thanks Steve :)
Wayne, how much does he charge for a strip of boo?
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Keagan, I don't know, but I think Eddie (Mullet) would be able to tell you, or get you in touch with them. They are on here, occasionally. From what I have seen, and heard, they do fantastic work, and have great products.
Wayne
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Kegan
I own a Carbon fiber backed boo bow. its light and shoots like a rocket.
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Kegan, it doesn't really make all that much difference what you put between the glass, the glass does all the work. The wood is just spacers. Steve
LOL.... Thanks for confirming what I have suspected for years Steve.... ;D ;D ;D
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Kegan, I have a boo strip that is 1/4" on the edge and 5/16" at the crown that you can have for the cost of shipping. This came from relatively large diameter boo so it is pretty flat. I got it for a backing strip and never used it. I may even have a piece of boo flooring too. I'll have to check.
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Pat, that's very kind of you! However, if the quality doesn't matter with glassies I'd rather use something cheap and easily replaced rather than a good wood bow backing. Same with DKnight's boo.
Which is why I wish I could find boo flooring around here that's solid boo, and not a sawdust liar :P
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You can order boo lams from Binghams.
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A boo core will make a lighter bow so it does make a little difference. Thats why some are using foam cores as well. I think you will find that the boo core bows of the same design to be a bit noisier than the maple as well.
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Thanks for all the help everyone, I appreciate the input :). Comparing all the prices I think I'll give Frank's a try. I'm sending an order out for glass and glue soon. Hopefully selling a couple glassies will cover the costs and leave a little left over for holiday shopping.
Again, thanks for all the help :)
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Boo is not all that light, I think about .70. Maple and red elm are both lighter. Boo is considered very stiff for it's weight but used as a core it just doesn't really make all that much difference. Lots of pro glass bow makers will talk more propaganda than facts. Boo does make a good core because it is durable but plenty of other woods can make just as good of core. Steve
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I would think a Cedar lam would be better.
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Hmmm... that very interesting! If that's the case I'll hold off on playing with a boo core until I have two bows to compare side by side, one with maple and one with bamboo.
The entire purpose of using a boo core would be to add someting special to the regular style of bow I've been building. A bamboo core, snakeskins, antler overlays, and a different strip fo wood in the riser. Nicer bow with a higher price tag. However if it winds up being that the maple I'm using is no worse, then everyone can save a few dollars.
Once again, thanks for all the help guys :)
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Boo is not all that light, I think about .70. Maple and red elm are both lighter. Boo is considered very stiff for it's weight but used as a core it just doesn't really make all that much difference. Lots of pro glass bow makers will talk more propaganda than facts. Boo does make a good core because it is durable but plenty of other woods can make just as good of core. Steve
Never really thought about it like that before but makes sense. I just assumed boo made a lighter bow because in the way I use it as a backing it does make a lighter bow.
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I use to make special glass lam bows for people. As most have mentioned, you can put any wood combo under glass. Most people like the exotic, grainy woods that you could never use on an all organic bow. Ive used all kinds of combos. If you are stuck on boo, any boo will give the same performance. I have cronied many different combos and saw a very slight difference in the different combos. Some of my fastest glass bows have been with action boo. The fastest wood combos have been cherry and maple. But like I said, Ive seen little difference in similar bows with different wood combos. And since you want to make cash off these bows, I would suggest using clear glass and putting pretty grained wood under it.
And if memory serves me, Howard Hill used boo cores for all his bows.
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Thanks Kent, and everyone. You all saved me a lot of time and head ahces :)
I'll stick with this maple then. So far the performance is exceptional in these hybrids. The local lumber dealer is a great guy to work with anyhow.
One question though Kent, how durable/rugged have you found cherry limbs to be?
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Kegan, if you don't already have have it, and plan to continue building glass bows, I can not recommend Mr. Harrison's book, "Traditional Bowyer, more unnecessary fun" enough.
In it he teaches how to make boo lams, and much much more. Tons of good information, truly the textbook on FRP bows, and I think on sale at 3Rivers now.
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Hmmm... I'll definately have to look into it. Haven't found that much on building them besides a couple sites and a little practice. Thanks Lombard :)
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Thanks Kent, and everyone. You all saved me a lot of time and head ahces :)
I'll stick with this maple then. So far the performance is exceptional in these hybrids. The local lumber dealer is a great guy to work with anyhow.
One question though Kent, how durable/rugged have you found cherry limbs to be?
Under glass, you do not have to worry about it. Ive used curly and birds eye maple (with many violations) under glass. That bow is still as fast as the day I made it. The guy who bought it has hunted with it for the last 8 years. As for my experience with cherry. I have a love hate thing with it. Underglass, no problem. Without glass, it drives me crazy. Makes a fast sweet shooting bow, but for some reason, it is hard to get a bow out of it (mind you Im speaking of an organic bow). I have had some all wood lam bows, made with cherry with perfect grain, with the tiller going excellent, and have them fail for no apparent reason.
One thing I want to make sure I am clear on, you are backing and bellying these bows with glass (glass sandwich) ? If you are just backing them in glass, you need to have a good belly wood, but you can get away with a lam of any wood for looks under the glass.. If it is a glass sandwich, you dont have to worry at all. The curly/birds eye bow I mentioned, stays strung all the time. The guy does not like to restring the bow.
I actually started with glass bows and worked into organic bows. Glass lam bows are easy to produce once you get the form build and an oven made. I have not made one in years, since the market went bad, not many people buying bows. And for some reason, everyone who was buying bows, wanted fast glass lam bows. Go figure.
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Kegan, another good book is "Traditional Bowyers of America, by Dan Bertalan. It has 31 chapters , each chapter is a different bowyer. Most are glass lam bows but a few are selfbow builders. Lots of info about how each builds his bows with results of each bow's tests.
If you don't want to spend the $ I will lend you my copy!
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Kent, don't worry, they're "sandwhiches" :). Pretty good as of yet, in terms of performance, just need a little more practice, and make them look pretty. If cherry is a good wood for light limbs, I might have to give it a try at some point instead of bamboo. Cherry is one wood growing around here that we can actually mill into boards ourselves. Here are a few pictures of the design I'm using right now. Only difference is this one has a solid oak riser and a tiny shelf because it's so heavy.
Pat, I might have to take you up on that one later. I have plans for the materials coming soon, and a couple other projects to tend to, but after that I might want to get more involved with it. Glassies are a nice break from selfbows, seems everytime I take a drawknife to an all wood bow it's like getting back to something comfortable and familiar and makes it alot more fun :).