I love bows with high figure in the risers and limb veneers and I love looking at fine shotguns.Why is it that we rarely see risers or veneers with figured walnut.Cost?Probably not.Maybe availability? If anyone out there has a bow with some nice walnut on it please post a pic.Trying to decide on my riser woods.
It isn't availablility. There are several companies that specialize in great Claro and Bastogne walnut. You're right, though, they aren't cheap. Walnut's not especially dense, especially compared to tropical exotics, so perhaps that's an issue. I would think that stabilizing the wood would cure that problem, as it does with other "soft" hardwoods like koa.
Hope some bowyers chime in!
Contact JD at Whisperstik...he has built several bows with Walnut. I currently have one in the build process with him that will have a curly claro walnut riser. I will post several pictures when it is done.
I was in his workshop one day and he had just sprayed an all walnut Mojostik and it looked great...it wasn't dry so I couldn't fondle it to get a closer look but it was very nice.
I think one reason you don't see more walnut used in bows is there isn't much room to display its true beauty...a gunstock has a lot more room to fully display a highly figured piece of walnut.
Risers and limbs aren't very wide so you have to have very tight grained wood to get stunning results. Walnut that would be great to use would be walnut with a feathered crotch grain...this style of walnut is exhibition grade and is very expensive.
That being said JD does have some of the curly Claro walnut left over from the piece I got for him to use. Give him a call...I'm sure he would be happy to use some in a bow for you.
Josh
Hi,Izzy I have a RER recurve that has walnut in the riser. It's not really anything special, but my point is that its not real dense either. One of the reasons its good for gun stocks is because its not heavy. If you like some mass in your riser you might want to rethink walnut. I will admit highly figuered walnut is pretty.
Yep, Not heavy/hard enough. It makes a better limb core other then the dark color shows every tiny flaw in the glass......O.L.
Hmmmmmm.I knew there had to be a reason.It sure can be pretty though.
If you put your pheonlic stripe too close to the belly and cut through most of if while shaping the handle...then have the string slip out of a nock and dry fire it...walnut doesn't seem to hold up too well. Ask me how I know. This bow now has a bullet proof action wood riser...now.
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j87/SOS_321/Carnage.jpg)
I am fixing to build a riser of Claro and Mac ebony--but it will have an Ipe stripe. I think it will be fine. I would not try a walnut riser with no laminations in it.
I turn a lot of Walnut into bowls and vessels. It is probably the most popular wood that I turn. I can testify that it is a fairly soft wood.
One wood I have played around with that seems to be very dense is Bloodwood. You guys build bows with that?