Purple heart for limbs?

[T L]

I have some scraps of wood that i have been collecting with the idea of using them for a bow build. I have a strip of what i think is purple heart, it,s about 2" wide 1/4" thick and 70" long. my question is does this work well as a full length backing strip under clear glass?
  I also have some shorter strips of zebra wood that i could use for the belly.
 My plan is to build a 64" reflex deflex long bow for my son.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.  Thanks.  TL

[marty z]

Purple heart is heavy but it will work.

[Bradford]

If you use glass, you can almost use anything.  If nothing else, you can sand that purple heart down to paper thin and use it as a veneer for the look.  I have done that before.

[John Cooper]

I've heard of it being a little problematic under some finishes, but do a search on here and most likely they'll tell you what the solution is. Beside that, purpleheart is really pretty wood.

[T L]

Thanks guys, appreciate the info. The looks of purple heart is mainly the reason i am thinking of using it, plus its free. i may do what Bradford suggested and use it for a veneer.
 I,m thinking of using the purple heart for the back with 3 lam,s of boo and thin veneer strip of zebra wood on the belly with clear glass  on the back and belly. The handle will probably be zebra wood. any thoughts  on this would be appreciated.

[JamesV]

I have built several glass bows with purpleheart as the core and they were all shooters and lookers. My wife's longbow has black glass on the back a white accent strip, purpleheart core and black glass on the belly. The riser is purpleheart/walnut with white accent stripes.

[Bradford]

I think the biggest key for it working is the cleaning of said wood.  I used my home limb grinder to get it really thin, then like all my lams, I use acetone to clean them good.  I usually wipe down twice with the acetone.  I have not had any  of mine seperate yet.

[Legois]

isn't purple heart hard as rock?

[T L]

Yes the piece I have is pretty hard. I had it planed down to a 16th"    After i looked at it all cleaned up I wonder if its purple heart or something else, maybe vermillion. At any rate it is very flexible and is a beautiful piece of wood.
  When the snow flies and I'm done hunting for the year, I will try to build a bow with it and zebra wood with boo core. will keep you posted when I start. Thanks guys for your ideas.  TL

[fish n chicks]

Absolutely love the stuff. You won't be disappointed. It is dense, and will take a toll on your blades, but man is it pretty and STRONG. Go to town on it and please post pics cause you'll want to show that thing off.