I am new to Trad bows, and looking around at the different builders they offer a lot of wood choices, whats the difference, do they affect the way a bow shoots, speed, quiteness, durability.I know weight probably is a consideration. I am looking to have a Takedown recurve built 58" long 45 lbs. at 29" DL.
Thanks in advance.
H

You have opened a real can of worms....

Talk with the bowyer you are leaning towards.....

Each has his favorites for his design.  Base woods make the bow work (limb action, weight, etc.).  Veneers make it pretty and expensive.  It is the choices you need to make.

BobW

One area that isn't really discussed is the effect of the riser wood on the overall mass of the bow.  Heavy dense woods (concobola, ebony etc...) will provide a heavier bow that some might find more stable and others might find distracting.  This is particularly true for a recurve with a relatively large riser (ala Black Widow SA or MA series) and less so for a longow.

While it doesn't seem like much, it can have an effect and is something to consider when you are talking to a bowyer.

Depends on what you are willing to spend on the Bow.

All the Fancy woods are for only cosmetic purposes period. They just raise the cost of the Bow, play very little if any to its performance during shooting.

The core Laminations and the limb Design will determine the finished results as for speed, quiteness, handshock, smoothness of drawing, stacking and overall performance of the Bow.

Good core woods are Maple, Action Boo, Walnut, Osage, Hickory, and some Bowyers are now using Carbon cores.

I Myself in building My Bows only use Maple and Action Boo, Hickory and Osage for My core laminations....ONE SHOT...  :D    :D    :D    :D    :D    

I agree with one shot.
Black widow used actionwood for many years. Only recently did they start offering exotic woods. I would imagine demand had more to do with it than performance. Otherwise, they'd have offered it long ago.

If you want environmental consciousness to creep into your decision, keep in mind that most of the exotics are coming from South American  rainforests, which the world, primarily the U.S., is denuding at an accelerating pace.  Bamboo, on the other hand, is not one of the threatened species.  Same can be said for the dyamondwoods and actionwoods, which are stained and laminated birch or maple.

One of the things that seperates a truly custom bowyer from a guy that just builds bows, imho, is their ability to build a bow within their design parameters but EXACTLY how I want it. I have sometimes in the past given a bowyer artistic freedom, but more often than not I will pick the woods etc. that I want. I like pretty woods, and I like to have bows made out of them.

Here is a block I searched for over a year to find the right one; this will be my next shawnee riser from Bob Morrison when it's dry enough:



While I am deeply concerned about deforestation as Orion is, I don't think the rain forests are being raped to support a small cottage industry of exotic woods...but rather for a shift in agriculture needs for an overpopulated planet, mining and big industry, colonialism, large dams for power etc., just my opinion.

Nicely said JC!  

Joe, I like the look of that wood! What is it? I've got a Bocote PSAX from BW and a Kingwood Longbow PLX by BW. I tend to like the darker woods. But that looks real nice.  DAVE

Jc, What wood is that if I may ask.