Bamboo bow

[Draven]

Howdy folks
I was looking at the Bamboo Bow Article at the BCUK main site and I was just wonderin... does a bamboo bow need to be "taught" to bend correctly like a normal bow, or will it bend enough naturally?

Ie, if you've just finished lashing the bamboo together and made the notches for the string, can you string & use it immediately?

Thanks

 

[C_Claycomb]

I hadn't ever bothered "teaching" a bamboo bow to bend. I short draw most bows just a bit before using, but I don't go through the involved process that some longbow makers advocate. On the flat bows I have made I have used a prolonged stringing period as part of the tillering process, it seems to allow the effects of uneven stresses to become more apparent.

I would be very careful about cutting nocks into a bamboo bundle bow. I would expect that doing so would dramatically weaken the point where you attach the string and cause the bow tips to break and split. If you try, do be careful!

 

[Draven]

thanks for the help
I'm not going to cut nocks into the bamboo, I was actually thinkin of making them out of antler... maybe not my first one though, I'll probably use the glue and string method first time 'round

 

[stovie]

Like Chris said, a couple of short pulls and the boo will behave itself. Let us know how it works out. Mine still shoot quite well after countless arrows. They're good fun and quick to make.

 

[Robbo]

The cutting of the different canes to the recommended lengths eg. 6ft, 5ft, 4ft, 3ft,

Creates an automatic tiller, unlike with a longbow where wood has to be removed in the right places to create a good tiller

With wood, the bow has to be taught to bend in that way and a bow thats not been excercised enough is in greater danger of becoming kindling

With a bundle bow each of the canes is strained individually but re-enforced by the others lashed to it.

(The above lengths are merely an example and some experimentation may be needed for you to arrive at lengths which suit you, though I've found cutting two of the canes at 5'6" and lashing them together so they replace both the 6ft cane and the 5ft cane with the thinner ends at the bow tips, evens up the mass at the bow tips and helps with tiller. Also remember that the canes will have one end thicker than the other and therefore stiffer so its worth alrtenating the thick ends in the bundle.)

Oh and they make excellent bows, All of the olympic recuve and compound shooters at my club were very impressed with how it shot.

Andy

 

[bent-stick]

I was discussing panda bows just the other day.

I made mine in the american survivalist tradition with duct tape. It doesn't stand up well. Stick to lashing.

 

[Draven]

Oh and they make excellent bows, All of the olympic recuve and compound shooters at my club were very impressed with how it shot.

Nice

Out of curiosity, should it be left strung or unstrung when not used? After the initial poundage drop will it keep its strength?

 

[C_Claycomb]

All natural material bows should be stored in the un-braced condition (unstrung). It should hold its poundage pretty well. The changes will come as the result of atmospheric conditions, and possibly if you have it strung for a long time. Unlike a self bow or laminated bow, if a bundle bow does lose a little more oomph than you would like, its no hardship to either make another using thicker canes, or maybe even add some more cane to the bundle.

 

[Robbo]

I was discussing panda bows just the other day.

I made mine in the american survivalist tradition with duct tape. It doesn't stand up well. Stick to lashing.

I used fibreglass re-enforced parcel tape still holding up now after 3 months of use and a few hundred arrows through it.

Its not very bushcrafty but its quick.

Andy

 

[Draven]

All natural material bows should be stored in the un-braced condition (unstrung). It should hold its poundage pretty well. The changes will come as the result of atmospheric conditions, and possibly if you have it strung for a long time. Unlike a self bow or laminated bow, if a bundle bow does lose a little more oomph than you would like, its no hardship to either make another using thicker canes, or maybe even add some more cane to the bundle.

Cheers mate, I'll keep it unstrung