limb Material ?

[BigCnyn]

If you were to make the Dream Limbs, for performance only, the belly and back will be covered in Brown Glass.
What would your lams be, boo, action, natural woods,  carbon included?
Parallel, tapered? I would like the smoothness factor included. this limb must Drive hunting weight arrows reasonably quick, and vibration and shock resistant.
I want 47-54lbs at my fingers 30", I have a 17 inch riser, prefer a longer limb, 64-66.  
Help me decide please..
Brian

   

[Apex Predator]

Limb taper will depend entirely on what type of bow you are building.

As far a pure speed is concerned, I would go with wood instead of grass.  The fastest bows I know of utilize either red elm, hickory, or maple for cores.  I've heard good things about walnut and zebra, as well.  Use the edge grain cuts.  Carbon on the back will gain you a few fps in most designs, but requires other design considerations.  

I always heard that black was the fastest glass, but I may be wrong.

[Colt]

One of my favorite woods for limbs is sassafrass. Very light but very strong. Looks good under glass, too.

[LarsonArchery]

I dont believe that glass color make a lot of difference but glass thickness does. I personally have used 2 parallels one is carbon and then one .002 taper. Most of the woods perform reasonably well. I lay them up starting at the back glass/carbon/core/taper/glass. Master Crafters sells a foam core material that is supposed to reduce mass and thereby increase the cast of the limbs but I have not tried it yet. it is definately not for clear glass not pretty enough. You can also monitor the amount of recurve I assume that is what you want since a recurve is generally faster than a longbow type design. Binghams and master crafters have everything (almost) you need...Good Luck the fastest I have ever gotten is in the 190 FPS range I am trying to break 200 fps but I like the pretty woods too much to really scrifics the look for the added speed plus I like a slightly heavier arrow for hunting, remember that speed is only a part of the equation and kinetic energy is just as important to penetration. That may be why I havent tried the foam yet. Take Care

[dutchwarbow]

cherry seems to be the fastest woods on selfbows, but tends to break in tension. With it's low hysteresis I bet it'll work excelent under glass.

cherry's got similar characteristics as walnut, but a even lower hysteresis. that may be the win here. But, I've only made selfbows and backed bows, no glass yet.

Nick