Does anybody know what woods would make the fastest shooting longbow? Im looking into a 66 or 68 inch bow, with a 45 pound draw weight at 28.5 inches.
So far I have looked into yew for a core and bamboo for the limb (or the other way around) with either a ebony or cocobolo riser, but I am open to any other suggestions as well.

Limb design has more to do with speed than materials.  A while back, KennyM did a comparison of different cores in the same bow design and didn't find much difference.

Wht jsweka said x2.

I am planning on getting the mild reflex/deflex design. The 2 bowyers I was really looking into were Abbott Archery and Liberty Longbows. I liked Centaur and Black Widow too, but they seemed pretty expensive!

where you at in montana,you might also look at the toelkes,fast turnaround,whip is a mild R/D.

Im in Missoula. I go to school at UM.

brandon, i sent you a PM.

I would encourage you to try some Toelke bows. Dan is a first class guy and builds a sweet bow.

Limb design is what determines how a bow performs. Different wood cores on a limb make absolutely no difference in how a bow shoots. This is what the boys at Black Widow told me a few months ago, and I bet they know what they are talking about.

I've got a fine piece of Macassar ebony right here that i could build you a "Flatliner" long bow. I've even got one your weight in stock i could send you  to try before you buy if you'd like....

check these out.

QuoteOriginally posted by JamesKerr:
Limb design is what determines how a bow performs. Different wood cores on a limb make absolutely no difference in how a bow shoots. This is what the boys at Black Widow told me a few months ago, and I bet they know what they are talking about.

You guys are obviously not bowyer's to make bogus claims like that...and that guy you talked to at black widow wasn't a bowyer either I'd bet.

You build two bows identical and use bamboo in one, and foam cores or light weight walnut in the other and you could see as much as 8-10 feet per second in some designs.  You can change the feel of the draw and make a quicker limb by adding stiffer wood in the core like paduke or wenge. or zebra wood too.....

Guys that say cores don't matter don't build high performance bows...... btw... There is much more to limb design than the shape of the limb....

yup...it's what's between the glass, and keeping the glass to core ratio balanced to the draw weight.

That is a gorgeous bow! Definitely something I would love to look into further! What kind of IBO does that get?

QuoteOriginally posted by BBrakke:
That is a gorgeous bow! Definitely something I would love to look into further! What kind of IBO does that get?

Single string traditional bows are not rated by IBO standard arrow weights of 5GPP. The standard is 9-10 grains per pound. the speeds vary depending on material used.

Ok, well that just further proves that I am new to the traditional world. Thank you for the information!

I am not a bowyer nor claim to be an expert on bow design. I was unaware that cores could make even as much as 8 fps difference. I was always told that limb design had much more to do with performance than woods used. According to most bow reports I have read done by Blacky Schwarz this seems to be true. The fastest longbow I have seen that he tested was Alaska Bowhunting's longbow, but it only outperformed a Tomahawk Legacy series (which has a maple core) by around 5-6 fps. One question I do have about the lighter weight core woods such as bamboo is that do they seem to last as long as bows made with a maple core. I know maple has long been an industry standard for making rugged long lasting dependable bows. I am curious if bamboo or any other core woods seem as durable?

Thats a good question. Does anyone have any suggestions on core woods? I've heard bamboo and yew are the best limb woods, but I dont really have a clue about core woods.

Im not a bowyer or expert either, and i wont start talking about speed as this is a subject so complicated with bow construction that i normally just relly on the bowyers recommendations.

But waht i can tell you is about feel. In my opinion a mapla core limb draws a little smoother and a bit softer, a bamboo core has a more crisp, direct feeling. At least thats my experience.

Listen to Kirk, he knows what he's talking about. If you are really hung up on speed, have you considered foam core/carbon limbs?

I am not too hung up on speed, I just haven't had much experience shooting with trad bows, and I was told by someone in an archery shop to "get a fast shooting longbow or a recurve since recurves are usually faster than longbows". But I will look into that.