Primitive Archer | All-Bamboo Bow

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The All-Bamboo Laminated Bow

After reading the article by Adam Karpowicz in the January 2000
issue of Primitive Archer about non-stacking, short bows of all
natural materials, I found myself wanting to build a heavily
reflexed-deflexed design of my own. My choice of materials was
bamboo.
Bamboo is a fascinating material. It has strength, flexibility, and
lightness, all in one. It is one of natures gifts to bow builders, and
has been used in bows for countless generations.
I am a teacher at a vocational school for model makers in Germany,
and recently I tested bamboo for tension strength. To my surprise, it
tested, for tension, about the same as construction steel, and
exceeded wood by about two and a half times.
The great strength is only in the outer layers of bamboo, though.
This layer, called power fibers by bamboo rod makers, is what
gives bamboo its incredible strength. To the would-be bow maker
who wishes to make a bow entirely out of bamboo, this presents a
problem: how to tiller an all-bamboo bow without violating the
integrity of the material. An ideal bamboo bow would leave both
the back and belly intact to take advantage of the power fibers, but
this is nearly impossible. Tillering requires removing material until
the bow bends in a perfect arc, and that material has to come from
somewhere.
While its probably impossible to reach this aim, you can minimize
the amount of material you must remove. I do this by pre-tillering
the bamboo strips for the bow before gluing them together.
Through the process of trial and error, I have found the thickness
and width that works best for me. The ratio of back to belly strips is
1:1. If you carefully regulate the width of the bow and the
thickness, a lot of the tillering is already done.
The procedure is as follows. First, I draw the unbraced side view
shape I want to achieve. I draw this line full scale on paper (butcher
paper works fine) and glue it onto a board, which serves as a form.
Then I take one full-length bamboo strip of the correct width and
thickness, bend it to the shape of the paper drawing, and secure it
firmly with rectangular pieces of wood bracing it in place every 3-4
inches. These rectangular pieces are held by wood screws. (see
photo) This will be the back of the bow.
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Primitive Archer | All-Bamboo Bow
For comfort, I like a formed grip on my bows, so I draw the side
view grip profile and work it out from a solid piece of hardwood. I
use mainly oak, but you can use any hardwood you please for a
contrast and a great looking bow handle.
After finishing the handle, and with the bows back being firmly in
place against the wooden blocks, the bow is ready for laminating.
You will need many, many clamps, at least one every inch, and you
cant have too many. You clamp the bows limbs against the
blocks, with a pad on the belly side to keep from damaging the
bamboo. Soft wood will do, but take care not to get glue on it, or to
wrap with plastic wrap to keep from sticking the pads and blocks to
the form! I use epoxy resin for this job.
After drying for at least four days, Im ready to begin tillering.
First with a long string to look at the braced profile. Because the
bow has about 4 inches of reflex, it will feel stronger in the early
draw that it really is. Be cautious here and dont take away too
much!
Due to the high tension strength of bamboo, the pressure on the
belly is the critical thing. So, contrary to the usual way of tillering a
bow, tillering on an all-wood laminated bamboo bow is done only
on the back!
Due to the reflex-deflex design of my bows, I find tillering very
hard to do. Remove the material judiciously, and remember you can
always take it off, but you cant put it back. If you make a mistake
and get a hinge, dont give up; some mistakes can be fixed. As you
can see from the picture, I had a weak spot on a limb, and had to
reinforce it with a cord wrapping. (See picture.)
But you dont have to use a complicated design. My first bows
were straight longbows, which are much easier to tiller, and have
recently evolved to the reflex-deflex style.
So far I have built five of these bows, and I am very satisfied with
the results. The force draw curve looks pretty good, and the cast
seems quite good.
The bowmaking scene here in Germany is very limited. I wish we
had a speed measuring bow tournament like I read about in
Primitive Archer magazine, the MoJam shoot. There is a lot of
interest in traditional archery, but most of the archers shoot
fiberglass bows. Its very difficult to find those who have the desire
and enthusiasm to build bows themselves.
I hope the drawings and photos are clear in this matter, and will
help you if you decide to build an all-bamboo laminated longbow.
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Primitive Archer | All-Bamboo Bow
If you have any questions or comments regarding this article, the
author can be reached at seitzholzapfel@aol.com.
More articles are available from
Primitive Archer magazine. To order
the issue this article appeared in (Vol 9,
Iss 3), or to order a subscription, visit
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Copyright 2002 Primitive Archer Magazine
All rights reserved.
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