Just wondering if you guys that make the BB bows use a jointer to get the bamboo and the core wood flat.  I have some bamboo and some wood I would like to use use to make some BB bows and was wondering if a jointer was in fact the correct tool to purchase.

I have made about 50 selfbows, but after finishing my Dryad blank today I am getting the BB bug!

Thanks for the input.


Matt

Yes a jointer..

Got pics of your Dryad? I started mine yesterday.

it is currently hanging from the rafters letting the second coat of finish dry.......maybe tommorrow after another coat or two I can get it outside and get a good pic.

It ended up about 63# at 27"

Matt

The jointer will make fast work of bamboo and your fingers    , use push pads and keep your head in the game.

What Dano said. Always, Always be very careful with a jointer. My Bud lost the end off his finger when the piece he was cutting broke and his finger went into the blade because he was not using the push blocks. Only takes a fraction of a second and we will have to call you stubby..

I use a bandsaw and then a block plane.  I've used a jointer before, but a block plane is just as fast and safer.

I have several nice block planes........but I was worried about undulations over length scales of several feet being an issue.  Thoughts?

Matt

Go with the block planes!!
I was a very lucky man(ran my left hand thru a table saw this summer)got to keep all the digets but it was touch and go for a while.
If you do use the jointer,be carefull!!!!
Regards, Bert

I use a belt sander w/40 grit paper to take bamboo down.  

For the purposes of bbo building, it's a much more versatile tool.  You can hog the bamboo to thickness with it, shape handle swoops and power lams, clean up glue lines, and if you're brave enough you can tiller with it.  Get a variety of grits and experiment.  Just remember that wood removal can happen faster than desired if not careful.

I'm with clintopher. I reduce the bamboo to width and near thickness carefully with a bandsaw and finish it with a belt sander. A lot safer and more precise than a jointer in my opinion. Take care, Matt

I go with the belt sander too.  as for the veratility....use it for knifemaking, thickness and profile sanding, the disksander just used as a nock and point taper tool, not to mention a whole host of other stuff.

I fill the spaces between the nodes with  thin strips of closed cell foam to reduce the bowing of the boo as it gets thinner. Tape the foam to the workbench and lay the boo back onto it. You can tape it down or use double sided tape to secure it give you both hands free to use sander or block plane or power plane. Go slow and take care of your fingers, I worked twenty five years with my hands & grateful not to lose a digit!

Happy new year everyone its coming up soon!

I use a jointer for bamboo and belly  slats.If the bamboo has a high crown I finish reducing with a sander.I've been able to keep all my digits this way.I've chewed up two sets of push blocks in the last year with a jointer. Jointers are scary when the stock gets thin.You can do more with a sander than you can do with a jointer so...if I was only buying one tool it would be a sander.

An old post but I tried some thing that worked fairly well yesterday. Wish I'd have taken pics but I can re-create the set up if anyone wants to see it.

My way of thinning raw boo uses a table saw.  I set the boo on edge up next to the blade
(saw "OFF")to determine how much I'm going to take off. I lock down the fence, then I clamp a piece of lumber to the table to act as a guide for the node side of the boo. This keeps the concave side against the fence (middle section tends to bow away from fence and blade half way trough the cut).

Also, I clamped a 1" X 1/2" X 12" piece of pine on the blade side of the fence to act as a guide for the top edge of the boo.

I did a dry run with no blade to see if the entire piece of boo would smoothly pass through this set up. Some space has to be left as clearance or your boo will wedge to a stop during the cut. It worked pretty well for me, just thought I'd pass this on. PM me if you want to see pics and I'll get you some.

Note: It's good to have a helper on the other end of the cut to pull the boo through once it's cleared the fence and table. If you stop too long durning the cut it will start to burn your boo.

If you go to one of the video websites you'll see a guy doing it with a table saw. Just type in "bamboo backing"

I saw a video of a guy doing it free hand with a table saw.

I am in the final stages of tillering my first BBO. I used a friends jointer to flatten the bamboo and osage belly stock and it worked nicely. He also had a planer we used to get it a uniform thickness as the boards were a bit wavy. I bought a used joiner myself, but haven't gotten it sharp and tuned yet. However, I found a toothing plane to be wonderful for tapering the boo and osage slat. Its a great tool. I'm a novice so my technique is poor with a block plane. I found the block plane either grabbed too much or skipped along. Toothing plane took nice even shavings and removed wood fast... but not so fast you can't keep track of what you are doing.

Highland woodworking has the same toothing plane 3 rivers sells for about $40 cheaper...$89.

Also debated the bowyers edge, but after using a cabinet scraper to tiller my bow...I'll save the $50. I did order his new rasp though.