bamboo heads on 4-footed shafts

[Dustybaer]

since i didn't want to hijack belabear's thread, here are some pics of the progress:

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[Larebow]

nice heads! how sharp can one get bamboo?

[Dustybaer]

not sure, but definitely not as sharp as stone or glass.  what i'd like to do with the next set is temper the heads before i mount them and see what difference it makes.

[Pat B]

Anyone that works with bamboo backed bows knows that bamboo can get razor sharp.
   Marius, Those are nice heads and arrows.  The head would be good for small game and possibly deer sized game. Primitive folks, in the past and today use bamboo(or cane) heads sucessfully.   Pat

[Coo-wah-chobee]

  Marius-Bamboo can get razor sharp as Pat said. I've made knifes from it like some primitive folk' did and heads too. Taken small game and a deer with them. I heat tempered them first and then sharpened them with a file and finally rubbed the edge lightly with broken glass-if you dont think they get sharp, hope you never get cut with one-to the bone bro' !...nice arras.........bob

[Dustybaer]

thanks guys.  too bad bowhunting is illegal in germany.  i'd like to try these heads on some bunnies 

kowechobe, do you think it's better to temper first, then shape and then sharpen?  or would it work as well if i shaped them first, then tempered and then sharpened?

[Coo-wah-chobee]

  Marius--I tempered them first, but I think if you shape them-temper-sharpen , you will be ok............bob

[mullet]

  Like Bob and Pat said.Boo can get scary sharp.When I was younger we would split a piece and use one side to fillet fish.You can also make a nasty self defence weapon by cutting a 2' by 24" piece, wrapping a handle area with tape and then splitting the rest in quarters length wise.When hitting an object or person it spreads into 8 sharp cutting edges.These were used in the far east.

[Hillbilly]

Good lookin' arrows, Marius. I've seen documentaries of Papuan natives cutting each other's hair and slicing up pigs with bamboo knives, looked like they were razor sharp. Eddie, that sounds kinda ouchie lol.

[Dustybaer]

thanks guys.  now a question about tempering.  i was gonna bake them in my wives oven (unless you have a better suggestion, which i'm sure my wife would appreciate  ).  what kind of times and temperatures do you recommend?

[Pappy]

Dustybaer what do the weigh?
   Pappy

[Coo-wah-chobee]

  Marius--Dont know about oven-never did it-too risky with wife. Tempered mine with a mapp gas torch or propane-some used a campfire. I got them slowly to a very slightly burned color over a long time--VERY SLIGHTLY BURNED--just some surface ash that can be sanded off easily--made them hard as h###.............bob

[Dustybaer]

pappy, sorry i did not weigh them before i mounted them.  i'm making another one as we speak and i'll make sure i weigh it first.  since i make them using nothing but sandpaper, it takes me a while to finish one

thanks bob, that's why i was asking about alternatives.  i thought about my heat gun too, but i can't find the friggin' thing   maybe i should join the "big project" thread and clean up my basement.

edit: pappy, i just weighed the arrows and they are 27 to 28 grams (416 to 432 grains)

[DBernier]

Pappy/Dusty, in another thread I showed a cane arrow with a bamboo head I did. It was light, about 90 grains. To up the weight I inserted somw 1/32 dia solder into the hollow portion of the shaft behind the head. This brought the total weight of the 31 inch overall length arrow to 495 grains. You can vary this weight by the length of the solder pieces you put in the end of the shaft to compensate for cane dia, weight etc. I used CA on the edge of the head and sanded it to a fairly good edge. As indicated I think it only good for small game. I do think it would take a deer with a well placed shot in a vital organ.

Dick Bernier


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[Dustybaer]

dick, you know it's your fault that i ever started with bamboo heads.     i did some searches with google but could hardly find any images, so i decided to just try and make some myself.  but it all started with this very head you just showed.