looking to harvest some Phyllostachys_bambusoides

[Randy B]

I am a maker of longbows and I have used Phyllostachys_bambusoides and really like it. I am down here in Fort Myers at ECHO farms speaking at an agricultural conference on fish farming (that's my background) and have been trying to find someone that know of a area where I could harvest some culms to take back with me to MN. Someone at ECHO suggested this forum as a place that someone might be willing to share a location where I could harvest some tomorrow before heading up to to the great white north again.
I called Argo Bamboo and they are out of it for selling until he cuts more in Jan.

Thank you for any help.

Randy B
my cell is 320 894 5528 if you want to contact me offline. I'm hoping to drive north and from my understanding the better stuff would be in a bit cooler place.

[marcat]

Randy I can not help you with your quest but am interested in how you make long bows out of bamboo. If you do not mind describing you process.
Good luck on finding sources.
MarCat

[Randy B]

thanks Marcat. I've been making several styles. A simpler one is to back a piece of osage with the bamboo. This makes it a faster shooting bow. The madake is nice because the power fibers are so tight it makes a fast shooting bow and it doesn't seem to lift a splinter from the bamboo like I have seen some varieties do.

Another style I use bamboo for the backing and a flask tempered piece for the belly. There are then tapered laminations in the limbs and a tapered riser like you see on bows that use fiberglass. The bamboo is a quieter shooting bow than modern fiberglass and shoots very fast.

see if this works. Here is a picture of one of the style with the bamboo on both the backing and belly with three laminations and the riser.


if you want to go visit a master bowyer. Japp lives in Odgen, Ga. He is the owner of Yumi bows. I've visited him and he has wonderful knowledge of bamboos and bows. You can see some of his videos of his Japanese construction of bows using bamboo wedges and twine on youtube.

[Randy B]

Thanks for the reply.

I've been making several types of bamboo backed bows. A simpler one is to back (put on the side away from the archer) some thing like osage orange with bamboo. It makes a faster shooting bow than just the osage alone. I've made some with bamboo lemon wood, and bamboo backed ipe.

A style I like even better a friend, James Parker, taught me how to make where bamboo is used on both the back and the belly side with the belly bamboo heat tempered for more stiffness. I then use several lamination of wood and a tapered riser like you see on modern fiberglass bows. The bamboo bows are quieter and more appealing to me. They are also very fast shooting and accurate. I am using modern epoxies like smooth on for the gluing.

Here is one I made this last year. The laminations are yew, Burmese redwood and osage and the riser a burmese rosewood. I live most of the time in Chiang Mai, Thailand and get some nice recycled wood out of told teak houses that people tear down and resell the wood.

[Arkansas]

Nice work! I didn't know it was even possible. If Arkansas isn't too far out of your way, i can fix you up. You'd need to cut it yourself and walk carrying it about 200 - 300 yards. How much did you have in mind?

[needmore]

Maybe, I don't know, but worth a call to Lewis Bamboo in Oakman AL, just outside Birmingham I think. They grow it and sell poles but don't know what species they dry. You can find their contact info on the sources page of this site, use the state pulldown menu for AL.

[Randy B]

Thanks for the replies.

Arkansas: It looked like a ways out of my intended path to MN. I was going to visit a friend in Atlanta tonight. What city are you near? I see you have your own grove. I wouldn't want to take too much of your own stuff. If I found a nice wild growing grove I was thinking of renting a trailer and getting quite a few culms since I don't make it down here often.

I looked at Lewis Bamboo's site and I don't see Phyllostachys_bambusoides and for what they had of 4" x 8' it was pretty pricey. Argo was only asking $10 a 8'. But Lewis did have free shipping so maybe if a guy stopped in there they would be cheaper

[marcat]

A species you might try (if you can find a source) is Dendrocalamus strictus 'Iron Bamboo'. Known for being resistant to splitting.
MarCat

[Tracy]

I can't do it today, but if you're ever back down this way, give me a head's up and we can visit a large madake grove nearby to cut poles. Jaap has harvested from there before.

[Randy B]

Thanks Tracy

[Arkansas]

My Madake grove is 20 yrs old and located at the foot of Mount Magazine, about half ways between Little Rock and Fort Smith and just outside the tiny town of Havana.

It's on a wooded track about 30 miles from where i live and i get up there a couple of times a year. You'd be welcome to what you and i could carry in one trip back to the vehicles (free of charge). You might want a battery powered sawsall or something.

We've had a few days of freezing temps and a couple of inches of ice and snow. It's all melting now and the next few days are forecast to be decent temps. It will be considerably wet and muddy on the walk in (after the wet weather we've had). Wet as it is, we would walk around a slough, making the trip maybe closer to 500 - 600 yards.

I work everyday (from my home office) but can usually take a few hours off when needed (have been a little punny of late). You might find easier to get to boos in larger quantities closer to your path. There's lots of groves "out there" that don't get much publicity.

[Randy B]

Appreciate the offer Arkansas . I'm on my way to Atlanta to visit a friend and it looks to be too far out of my way to Mn tomorrow.

[Arkansas]

Okey Dokey - you never know you might find your way back one day. Lots of fish farms and rice farms East of Little Rock around Lonoke.

Have a good trip!