What about it.  What is the density of micarta and how does it compare to some of the woods like ebony and I think kingwood is fairly dense too.

wondering if a bow could be build as heavy with an all wood riser as with an all micarta like the Bob Lee Heavyweight and ultimate.
any input is appreciated.
matt G

Just some estimates

Snakewood.........................81  lbs/cuft
Micarta...............................78 ibs/cuft
Leadwood...........................76 lbs/cuft
Kingwood..........................75 lbs/cuft
Blackwood African.............75 lbs/cuft
Cocobolo...........................68 lbs/cuft
Ebony Macassar..................68 lbs/cuft
Ipe...................................66-75 lbs/cuft
Desert Ironwood.................66 lbs/cuft
Curupay............................65 lbs/cuft
Macawood........................64 lbs/cuft
Ebony...............................63 lbs/cuft
Dymondwood....................60-75 lbs/cuft
Marblewood......................62 lbs/cuft

Before building a bow with an all phenolic rise talk to some people that own them. I have heard quite a few negative comments from people with phenolic risers that say that they transfer vibration a lot more than wood does. I too believe that. Its one reason I use a combination on most bows of phenolic and wood instead of all phenolic. Wood dampens and kills vibration better IMHO.
I would imagine some will contradict this and that's alright but its my experience and the complaints were not about my solid phenolic bows.
Anyway you might check it out. I do like using a phenolic I beam in the riser.

God bless, Steve

Steve,  I'm no expert and can only comment on my personal experience.  I have many all wood recurves and longbows and have/had only two phenolic riser recurves.  Both are Cascade Nighthawk 3 piece recurves.  One 58# at 28 and  58 inch and the other 63# at 29 and 52 inch.   They have no vibration at all.  I suspect a lot has to do with design etc.  As I stated, only my experience with two bows.

Never built a bow, but have scaled a lot of knives. Desert ironwood lives up to it's name! One of the only woods that doesn't need to be stabilized, IIRC it doesn't take well to that process anyway. The lb/cf chart doesn't show it as being the densest but I'm willing to bet its one of, if not the hardest.

Never built a bow, but have scaled a lot of knives. Desert ironwood lives up to it's name! One of the only woods that doesn't need to be stabilized, IIRC it doesn't take well to that process anyway. The lb/cf chart doesn't show it as being the densest but I'm willing to bet its one of, if not the hardest.

I love a heavy bow. I bought two blocks of Lignum Vitae,(heaviest, densest wood in the world) a few years ago but have not used it yet. I'm dying to try it out in a riser, its nothing special to look at, so I may have it as a flair.
It is becoming very rare.
I have a friend who used to work for Bear, he said that the 1968+ phenolic bows always showed a lot more stress in the limbs and finish than the wood bows.
But as Toejammer said, technology has come a long way.

That's a great chart Friend! Thanks for sharing it.

I have a bow coming with African Blackwood as the main riser wood. I'm looking forward to a little extra mass, and i love a dark colored bow.

I bought a Stalker Schleyer on the classifieds here a couple of weeks ago. (Great bow and super seller--without a doubt the best all around purchase I've made on the classifieds in 4 years).

That bow's riser is Snakewood with an Ebony Flare. It is the most hefty bow I've shot and I love the feel.