When it comes to ordering a bow from today's modern bowyers, what are the best performing, most rugged, and durable wood choices to choose for both riser and limb cores/veneers?
The most recent issue of TBM has an article called "The Osage Hunting Bow" in which the author challenges the reader to find a better overall wood for bows than osage. Granted, he is mainly referring to self-made primitive bows from what I can gather. But I wonder, when ordering a bow from today's bowyers, with advanced finishing materials, etc, is there a big enough difference regarding durability, etc to choose one wood over another?
Pacific Yew backed with bamboo.Performance ,speed and grace.
Recurves , Zebrawood, hickory, hard maple.red elm
Longbows, Carbonized actionboo, maple, hickory.
red elm./ Different wood in different places. If I were to build a bow with same core and same veneers it would be zebrawood or maple or actionboo in the longbow.
Chanumpa,
Amen brother, Yew and Boo are a superb combo, possibly the sweetest combo one can get. that said, osage is realtough stuff, as is iron wood.
I am not sure the type of wood makes much difference in the durability of a bow. I would reckon the finish has as much to do with it as the wood does.
Bob.
Yew is hard to beat.
I have an Osage with a maple core.
Yew is fine bow wood but soft as white pine - NOT durable. Generally the heavier the wood the more durable. Osage is hard to beat but some exotic woods are tougher.
Osage is a good combo for a selfbow. Great in compression and awesome in tension. Compliments each other well. The downside is the early wood. So the layers is the weak spot. Not a great wood risers and such but works fine. Just for you to take advantage of its strength, you can't break the growth ring. Yew is king of the conifers but I don't know if it competes with others.
For overall toughness, you can't beat hophornbeam. This is the stuff they used to make wood gears out of in mills. Hickory also, about tough as it gets.
IPE, and some of the heavier than water woods are about as tough as it gets but also have thier drawbacks.
Osage is the heaviest, hardest, and strongest wood in North America. Great for solid wood self-bows. I don't know about it being the best performing wood in laminated bows though. It may just be too heavy for best performance, but it would depend on the thickness of the laminate.
I just know I love the stuff! It's absolutely beautiful!
I have always found laminated maple (action/diamond wood) very strong......
Hickory ans Hornbeam geart in tention but weak in compression and suck up moisture. Yew is solf,light and brittle exceptable to cold. Make a bow if backed.
You don't start with the back of your bow with the early wood. And yes there not talking about glass or backed bows, They mean selfbows.
And after 20 years of building selfbows. Dozzens of bows out of every wood I could fine.
O'sage would have to be the wood. You can do any and everything wrong while building your bow and it'll still make a bow and hold together.
Sorry but the finish has nothing to do with how good the wood is.
Looks to me like the query and the responses are mixing construction types.
First off, a bow that is all one material from back to belly, is a self bow. Not a self-made bow. It can be that too. And a laminated bow can be self-made, but it's not a self bow.
"both riser and limb cores/veneers?" Really no observable difference in performance of different woods in these uses--just a difference in weight. the fiberglass layers on a laminated bow store and release all the energy. That's why foam-core bows can work. No great strength to the foam, but not much is needed in the core.
Not making this up. It's in all the books that deal with the question and dozens of threads here and on other forums. It's not going to change, no matter how often it gets asked.
Self bows? That's another question.
Roy,
I appreciate your post. Thanks for education me. Have you ever made a bow out of lemon wood? A friend of mine had a slef bow made of this and it was slower but man he shot the daylights out of it.
Bob.
I firmly believe that with todays advancement in technology that 95%+ of the bow's performance is built into the design of the bow. Bow woods are just for looks, and don't matter in the performance aspect of it. A self bow on the other hand is a whole different story, and I'm unable to comment because I have no working knowledge of them, but boy that osage is one of the nicest woods I have ever seen.
I'm new to traditional shooting overall, let-alone self-bows. I suppose my original question/post reflects that. The feedback though has already been quite educational. When I said "finish" I suppose what I really meant is "laminated" and when I mentioned "self-made" what I meant was "self bow". Needless to say, in addition to the valuable opinions on the various woods, I've gotten an education in terminology as well! Thanks!
So, from what I'm gathering, the laminated bows put out by today's bowyers don't depend as much on toughness/durability of individual woods quite like self-bows do (makes good sense). Infact, it seems as though, all woods are on level playing fields when it comes to laminated bows...do I have that correct?
As far as I know, Desert Iron Wood is the heaviest wood in North America.
Osage - 56#s/cu.ft.
Desert Iron Wood - 66#'s/cu.ft. (3#'s > gaboon)
I would expect that its name alone suggests toughness.
gobblegrunte, there will be some who claim one wood or another is best for core wood. Then we get into the definition of "best." As far as strength or toughness are concerned, I let my foam core comment stand for itself.
According to a recent article in Traditional Bowhunter Magazine for the strongest wood.... the answer is Osage.
Osage, Hedge Apple, Boise D'Ark, and Bodark are some of the toughest bow woods a man can get.
I stand corrected that Desert Iron wood is not the heaviest wood in North America.
The heaviest wood in North America and also, the hardest type of wood in the world is Snakewood, which can be found in Florida
Snakewood- 81#'s/cuft
Desert Iron Wood - 66#'s/cuft
Osage - 56#s/cuft
QuoteOriginally posted by gobblegrunter:
Infact, it seems as though, all woods are on level playing fields when it comes to laminated bows...do I have that correct?
Yes and of course no.As an example, if you build a glass laminated bow with all red elm limbs(light weight wood) and an identical glass laminated bow with all osage limbs( a heavier wood) the preformance( speed) will be very close with the red elm maybe just a few fps faster. But the bow will have a very different feel at the shot, with the osage bow having more recoil or hand shock. In a well designed bow the difference is slight and personally if I liked how a certain wood looked I wouldn't let the slight difference stop me from using a certain wood. Also If you use a very heavy wood for the riser and very light wood for the limbs you will get a very well behaved bow and if you were to use a very light wood for the riser and heavy wood for the limbs it wouldn't be as nice a bow to shoot. These are general rules and there are always individual bows that are the exception. Bob
Osage is indeed tough, but given the knots I don't know if I would rank it above Purple Heart or Bubinga in terms of riser strength...and IMO all of the above are too heavy to make ideal limb cores.
I would say bubinga is my favorite riser wood, and I would say one of the very best. There are many other excellent riser woods of course, such as purple heart, cocobollo, wenge, maple, and others, but I think bubinga has these all beat with purple heart coming in just as nice performance wise and durability wise, although not as nice looking. For limbs I like edge grain red elm and/or edge grain maple the best. Bamboo is also nice as a limb core, but I don't think it is as strong as the elm or maple. For a laminated bow though, all of these are fine.
Additionally, I know it has been said many times that the limb core doesn't matter much in a laminated bow, and that may be true to SOME degree in a bow that doesn't have much limb core, like a recurve...but for a bow with 0.250" total depth back to belly or more, I just can NOT accept such reasoning...and here is why. Say you have a bow with a 0.250" total thickness back to belly and with 0.086" of glass (2 x 0.043"), that would leave 0.164" of wood core...which is about 1/6." Some bows, such as a 66" length longbow may have a total depth from back to belly of 0.350"...and with 0.100" of glass that would leave 1/4" (0.250") of wood core. Get a raw lamination that is 1/6" to 1/4" thick (not in a bow) and that is 20" length lamination (about the length of the limbs in many bows) and bend it...and you can feel its resistence. Sure, in a laminated bow the glass does most of the work...but if one looks at this raw lamination and how it bends one will see variation in how it flexes based upon its grain and content (knots and such). This is why I like edge grain red elm, edge grain maple, or bamboo...as all are very consistent from one end of a lamination to the other end of the lamination...and bend more evenly than say something like bocote with its knots and variation that is seen in flat grain. Sure, the glass will hide such variation to a large degree, but I can't get past knowing the variation in the core is there with some limb woods, and that bothers me even if it is slight. A very knowledgeable bowyers once told me it doesn't matter what a limb's core is made of, and while I don't want to disagree with him, I would say "physics is physics" and if the core has variation I believe that variation remains even if minimized by the glass.
Now, that said, I have made up a bow with bocote in it, but I will only use very thin (0.025" - 0.030") veniers when I use something like that in a limb...allowing me to leave the majority of the core for a more consistent wood.
Bamboo and Ipe make a nice bow. Osage gets my vote for a self bow.
everyone has their faves and yet most any typical bow wood genus will work just fine for limbs and riser. mine are ...
limbs - all bamboo or cane (not 'actionboo') cores and veneers
riser - any hardwood that looks purty
the *real* durability is in the finish, and fullerplast or any of the two part finishes will be stronger than the wood itself.
Yew is hard to beat and I have a few but YEW is very soft and softer than pine plus if it where a Yew selfbow you don't want to take it out in temps less than 20 degree's..
toughest and best woods are OSAGE all day long,, its fast, its tough and its reliable. there are osage selfbows that have cracks, knot holes and dings all over them that are 30+ years old and still shooting great,,,, if it was 1 wood it would be Osage without a doubt.
everythign has a bad side and the only thing I can think of with osage is its heavy and the selfbows can have bit of handshock,, modern fiberglassed design would never see this.
Obviously the glass takes all the punishment in the limbs, so durability is a non-issue for the limb wood choices. I have seen punky spalted maple hold together for years and years under glass with a good core and a good glue job. For riser woods, my opinion is that Honduras Rosewood is the hardest, most durable wood available. I base this opinion on how Honduras effects tooling. Some may know my gig, however, I use all the woods spoken of and more. LF
Flat grained Red Elm for a core wood.
QuoteOriginally posted by DesertDude:
I have always found laminated maple (action/diamond wood) very strong......
I agree, hard to beat! Maybe not as purdy as the exotics, but tough! Jason
Mike,
I agree with you that wood choice isn't that important in a glass bow. I have built glass bows with many different wood cores and don't see much difference in performance from the same design. I have a nice straight grain piece of pine for my next victim.
James...............
I was told by a very, very good bowyer, that if we could find a way to trap just air between the glass lams on the limbs we would have the same performance as any wood... Can you say carbon foam.... Life expectancy might come into play here.
This thread has become a full-out, college-caliber course! Thanks everyone!
Another question (probably a really stupid one)...when we talk about limb veneers, do most bowyers put clear glass over top of them (example: bocote veneers with clear glass), or is the glass only put overtop of the limb cores (i.e. clear, black, brown glass, etc.) themselves?
I guess the reason I ask is because I wonder...are you better off ordering a bow with black glass over the limbs rather than fancy wood veneers as far as toughness, durability, and longevity is concerned?
QuoteOriginally posted by gobblegrunter:
Another question (probably a really stupid one)...when we talk about limb veneers, do most bowyers put clear glass over top of them (example: bocote veneers with clear glass), or is the glass only put overtop of the limb cores (i.e. clear, black, brown glass, etc.) themselves?
I guess the reason I ask is because I wonder...are you better off ordering a bow with black glass over the limbs rather than fancy wood veneers as far as toughness, durability, and longevity is concerned?
ttt, hopin for help with this other stupid question :D ...
S-glass (ULZ) is superior to e-glass (ULS). Stats are available here... http://www.gordoncomposites.com/products.htm Unfortunately, S-glass isn't available in a good clear form. The natural that is available in s-glass is rather cloudy, so I use S-glass when I use black and e-glass when I use clear. Both are excellent, but s-glass does have a slight edge.
Carbon foam core certainly is already proven in performance, but it is also showing some concerns in terms of durability.
Also, when it comes to wood cores and durability, I would NOT confuse hardness with durability. Toughness = durability, but there are many hard woods that are dense as well...but more prone to crack due to their stiffness. Ebony is one such example. Yes, it is used often and used successfully, but it isn't near as durable as many other woods.
Also, I have shot some bows with osage in them that are certainly tough, but due to the limb mass it isn't my preference for a limb wood as I can feel more shock from it in some bow designs than other wood choices.
Again, these are just my opinions based upon my experiences.
QuoteOriginally posted by Protege Longbows:
S-glass (ULZ) is superior to e-glass (ULS). Stats are available here... http://www.gordoncomposites.com/products.htm Unfortunately, S-glass isn't available in a good clear form. The natural that is available in s-glass is rather cloudy, so I use S-glass when I use black and e-glass when I use clear. Both are excellent, but s-glass does have a slight edge.
Carbon foam core certainly is already proven in performance, but it is also showing some concerns in terms of durability.
Also, when it comes to wood cores and durability, I would NOT confuse hardness with durability. Toughness = durability, but there are many hard woods that are dense as well...but more prone to crack due to their stiffness. Ebony is one such example. Yes, it is used often and used successfully, but it isn't near as durable as many other woods.
Also, I have shot some bows with osage in them that are certainly tough, but due to the limb mass it isn't my preference for a limb wood as I can feel more shock from it in some bow designs than other wood choices.
Again, these are just my opinions based upon my experiences.
Great! Thanks very much for the time put into your helpful response!
NO problem. You know...many people have said that the core doesn't matter, but there are several reasons that I can't accept that.
Not only the "flex" test mentioned above, but also let's discuss carbon. When a bowyer puts carbon in a bow (under the back side glass where its tension strength is allowed to perform), I have to use considerably less core to obtain the same poundage.
For example...if I had two bows one with carbon and one without, the carbon bow would have about 0.0030" less total core (the exact amount may vary depending upon pull weight, draw length, and bow length). Meaning, 0.030" of carbon replaces about 0.060" of wood or bamboo. Now, if one put the carbon in the center of the limb's core its contribution isn't as great. Why? Well...because of its very high tension strength, so it should be used on the tension side (I use it directly under the back glass to protect it).
My point is, when we select what materials go into a limb, I believe it is best to use materials with good tension strength on the back side and good compression strength on the belly. I feel the use of carbon proves this, even though it is a synthetic.
I agree with everything Lee has said. I especially agree that core does make a difference and I say that from extensively testing it. I also agree on his choices of core woods but add Zebra as my top choice.
Here is what I look for in core wood. A wood that is extremely light but very strong , stiff , holds together instead of splitting and evenly bends with no knots or weird grain runouts. The action woods accomplish this by their very nature but even then there are great variences. For instance Action Maple and Actionboo have very different charistics. Maple is much , Much tougher but on the pull and on the shot boo is much softer in feel. Thereforein many of my bow designs I incorporate both Using them in the stack where they are most beneficial to their character.
The thicker the core , as in longbows, the more difference it makes. But, it still makes a difference in recurves. There is a lot more to building a good bow than slapping two pieces of glass over whatever. The tension , compression , stiffness, torsional strength and durability qualities of the whatever makes a of difference.
God bless everyone and have a great New Year, Steve
Very interesting reading. Lee and Steve, what would your ideal limbs on a longbow be comprised of (Core, belly, back) for performance not looks? This is something I've been thinking a lot about and I'm glad I found this thread.
QuoteOriginally posted by Kenneth:
Very interesting reading. Lee and Steve, what would your ideal limbs on a longbow be comprised of (Core, belly, back) for performance not looks? This is something I've been thinking a lot about and I'm glad I found this thread.
Good question. :thumbsup:
Even though bubinga isn't the prettiest wood in the world, nearly all of my personal bows have risers made of it, as it is nearly bomb proof. It has EXCELLENT physical mass, excellent compressive Strength, excellent bending Strength, excellent stiffness, and excellent hardness. It is the perfect riser wood. Check out the specs here on bubinga (scroll down after you click on the link). http://workshopcompanion.com/KnowHow/Design/Nature_of_Wood/3_Wood_Strength/3_Wood_Strength.htm
The only thing that is comparable is hickory, and bubinga even has that beat. Also notice in that particular chart there is one wood that beats bubinga in hardness...but as I mentioned earlier if you look at the other scores you will see hardness does NOT mean strength, as that "hard" wood doesn't have near the strength that bubinga has. Many hard woods do indeed crack.
For what its worth, when Gary Sentman set the world record back in 1976, HH archery and company built a bow of bamboo and it broke. They made another of maple, it too broke. The bow that was the world record bow was actually made of 5 lams of straight grain hickory. That one held together. That stuff is tough, but it has a lot more mass than most people would want in a bow's limb (of course that didn't matter for a world record bow). I only mention it as a testament of what those numbers in the link above mean in terms of DURABILITY.
For my "ideal" bow, my riser would actually be "figured" bubinga with phenolic lamination reinforcement in the grip/sight window section of the riser. The limbs would be 0.030" s-glass (ULZ) on the back with 0.030" of carbon DIRECTLY under the glass. Then my core woods would be bamboo on the tension side (back side of the core) followed with either edge grain red elm (or edge grain maple...as both elm and maple are excellent). The belly would be clear 0.050" e-glass (ULS).
This would be for a bow over 52#@28." If I was interested in a bow 50# or less at 28" I would likely use 0.040" glass on the belly side.
That is my ultimate longbow. I will post some photos of it when I get some new pictures.
Now, all that said...for those that like osage, if I ever used it in a bow it would ONLY be on the belly side and even then I wouldn't use a piece over 0.050" thick in a personal bow. Too much mass to let it get into the "neutral" shear zone or tension zone of the core, but I think it is fine to use 0.050" on the compression side as long as they use a piece thin enough to keep it in the compression zone...as one might actually get enough compression strength out of it to justify its use there. Many moons ago, Randy (from Saxon Archery) told me that when he used osage on the belly he would get the same pull weight with less core as an alternative lighter wood/grass that flexes easier. I want to do some testing with this, as it makes sense, but I have yet to test it myself in my own design. If that holds true, then despite its additional mass, one might be able to use less of it in the compression zone and end up with a final limb mass no heavier than an alternate lighter wood that lacks osage's compression strength. Personally, I know I do NOT like bows that are all osage limbs, but that is another ball game, as osage is famous for compression, so why someone would use it on the tension side is beyond me (given there are other choices that have better tension strength to weight ratio). However, a single belly veneer may be acceptable as that would be using the wood's attributes in a manner most productive...and its strength to weight ratio on the compression side may be high enough to justify its use there. For specs on this, check out this link... http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/woodworking/Mechanical-Properties-of-Wood/Compressive-Or-Crushing-Strength.html
QuoteOriginally posted by Protege Longbows:
For my "ideal" bow, my riser would actually be "figured" bubinga with phenolic lamination reinforcement in the grip/sight window section of the riser. The limbs would be 0.030" s-glass (ULZ) on the back with 0.030" of carbon DIRECTLY under the glass. Then my core woods would be bamboo on the tension side (back side of the core) followed with either edge grain red elm (or edge grain maple...as both elm and maple are excellent). The belly would be clear 0.050" e-glass (ULS).
This would be for a bow over 52#@28." If I was interested in a bow 50# or less at 28" I would likely use 0.040" glass on the belly side.
That is my ultimate longbow. I will post some photos of it when I get some new pictures.
Very interesting! I was thinking along the same lines except without the carbon, and I thought the boo as a core, maple on the belly, and elm for the back. Also I thought of Cocobola for the riser. How does flat cut elm with the nice grain showing compare to the edge grain?
I doubt the difference would be noticeable.
pretty much what I figured. Thanks for the info!
Black S Glass ground to .015 over .030 carbon actionboo tapers, each 1.5 thousands per inch, Clear maple parallel .30 S glass belly. Trap to the back to level out the power and lighten the weight. Cocabola and maccassar riser with G10 phenolic I beam. Triple glass strip on each side of wave or fang. 58 lbs sounds about right since I am getting old.
Dall sheep overlays and tips over red phenolic and cocabola HMMM I may just have to do this.
God Bless you all, Steve
QuoteOriginally posted by Sixby:
Black S Glass ground to .015 over .030 carbon actionboo tapers, each 1.5 thousands per inch, Clear maple parallel .30 S glass belly. Trap to the back to level out the power and lighten the weight. Cocabola and maccassar riser with G10 phenolic I beam. Triple glass strip on each side of wave or fang. 58 lbs sounds about right since I am getting old.
Dall sheep overlays and tips over red phenolic and cocabola HMMM I may just have to do this.
God Bless you all, Steve
:readit:
Osage orange was called boise de arc or wood of the bow by the french when they discovered the only place in North america that it grew. this was in arkansas. Not sure which part but south east i believe. The French were so afraid of it that if you were caught shipping boise de arc out of the US into europe you would be killed. This was LONG after the english has whipped their ass with their long bows. Boise de arc is the highest in compression and highest is elasticity of any of the non tropical hard words. hedge or osage orange or popufara maculara the native americans knew the value of hedge. hedge bows have been found all over north america. Yew for example was only traded west of the mississippi. back when man only walked hedge bows were part of the trade system. a hedge self bow properly made will give you the poundage plus 100 fps plus 15%. A well made bow of any other north american hard wood will at best do poundage plus 100 fps plus 10%. I speak from reading and several years of building self bows. however these great qualities apply only to self bows. When it comes to the neutral layer of a fiberglass bow from all that i have read it is a toss up as to which wood is best. Earl Hoyt preferred Sugar or hard rock maple for a neutral layer. but it probably is mostly because it is is the most abundant wood that is extremely uniform in grain and really easy to work with from a production stand point.
This has been a very interesting read. Let's bump this one back up to hear any new insight.
I would think that maple and black walnut would be about as tough as they come. I haven't seen Ash mentioned?
It totally depends on what you are making, what kind of bow and how it is formed. Some woods work better when shaped in a certain way but suck when formed another way. Some woods make great self bows and do not shine as well when cut into laminations for a more modern bow.
Some wood (? bamboo) seems to be used in very many limb lay ups while other woods, not so much. Why ?
Is it best because it is heavy ? or light ? because it is available ? (cheaply), because it is easier to work ? Because it works well under tension or compression ? because it looks cool or indeed beautiful ?
So many options to consider.
CHuckC
Petrified Osage. durable but hard to string and lots of hand shock. Not affected by weather.
Chuck
When going under glass I doubt it matters except for physical weight. For risers probably a heavier/denser wood is preferred.
hey bowyers, how about wenge?? had a wood worker tell me he went thru more saw blades on wenge...said it is very dense?? gotta be strong stuff??
Durable and good performance you can't beat Osage
you may look into bubinga as another option too.
Dense does not mean strong. "Dense can mean brittle. Brittle breaks. Also some woods are better on the tension side (back) of the bow and others are better on the compression or belly side.
If you are going for strong bow wise then red elm, hickory, hard maple would probably be the best.
I have also had good luck with straight grained goncalvo alves or better known as tigerwood. If I cxould afford it and find it good English walnut is wonderful bow limb wood. Just too expensive and too hard to get though.
God bless, Steve
Steve(Sixby)...question?... Does Osage Orange belong with your list?
I love the way a good Osage self bow feels and shoots.(just my opinion)
Merry Christmas and God bless,Mudd
Mudd, I love Osage as veneers and in risers except I have seen it check some. As too limb cores ect it is way too heavy but since the thread is talking about strong I would include it because of that. Sage is good both on compression and tension side and should make a very long lasting bow.
It is not a preferred wood to me because all of the bows I have had that were glass bows with osage cores were on the sluggish side.
It sure is a nice wood for self bows although I prefer real good yew.
God bless and have a wonderful Christmas
Steve
QuoteOriginally posted by Protege Longbows:
S-glass (ULZ) is superior to e-glass (ULS). Stats are available here... http://www.gordoncomposites.com/products.htm Unfortunately, S-glass isn't available in a good clear form. The natural that is available in s-glass is rather cloudy, so I use S-glass when I use black and e-glass when I use clear. Both are excellent, but s-glass does have a slight edge.
Carbon foam core certainly is already proven in performance, but it is also showing some concerns in terms of durability.
Also, when it comes to wood cores and durability, I would NOT confuse hardness with durability. Toughness = durability, but there are many hard woods that are dense as well...but more prone to crack due to their stiffness. Ebony is one such example. Yes, it is used often and used successfully, but it isn't near as durable as many other woods.
Also, I have shot some bows with osage in them that are certainly tough, but due to the limb mass it isn't my preference for a limb wood as I can feel more shock from it in some bow designs than other wood choices.
Again, these are just my opinions based upon my experiences.
I love this guy! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper: Rather refreshing to here someone speaking from well earned experience for a change rather than getting quotes from out of date books or hearsay...
I don't think there is a single thing i could add to what Lee has posted in several posts here except i agree 100% across the board....
Where have you been hiding Lee?... This is really good stuff you have posted....
OH....I guess i do have a comment..... I would add "Brazilian walnut", alias "Ipe" or sometimes called "South american Ironwood" to the list of excellent riser wood right there next to Bubinga. But grain configuration is more of an issue with Iron wood.... Bocote isn't too shabby either depending on grain configuration.
The best performing limb woods are Hard Rock Maple or Bamboo Actionwood. They are engineered to be the most durable by grinding them with 36 grit sanding paper. 60grit or higher makes a beautiful limb but for glue adhesion I use 36 grit to grind laminations. For Risers the heavier the better to reduce handshock, species matters little to performance but for the most durable I like Bocote or Cocobolo dried for pool cue stock.
Check out wood-database.com Snakewood is the heaviest North American wood but desert iornwood is likely the toughest.
QuoteOriginally posted by pete p:
hey bowyers, how about wenge?? had a wood worker tell me he went thru more saw blades on wenge...said it is very dense?? gotta be strong stuff??
Actually i think the best way to describe wenge is "Brittle"..... Used properly with reinforcement it makes an acceptable riser. But the stuff splinters real bad, and has grand canyon pores to fill... I hate the stuff myself.... It can definitely add a little zip to your bow using in in the cores, but you need to keep your lams thin or you'll have a time bomb on your hands.... When that stuff lets go, it explodes!
KIrk times two. Exactly what I alluded to.
God bless, Steve
Thanks for the kind words guys. I don't get around on the boards as often as I use to.
To that question, you'll get as many opinions as you will member that read it.
According to Dan Bertalan in Traditional Bowyers of America, he quoted Dick Robertson, saying Black Locust was the best core wood (laminations) due to its brending strength, and Red Elm had very good strength either flat grain, or cross grain. He thought Osage was the strongest for risers, and used grain parallel to the string in heavy weight bows (1st Ed. pg 340 - 341). Lately, he has been using bamboo laminations and has changed the limb tapers in the both longbow and recurve to achieve desirable characteristics in his bows.
Black Locust?....Core wood??? Interesting.... i just found a piece of that stuff in my wood bin that i forgot about.... might have to give that a try...
black locust makes a great core