Size of wood for longbow?

[typical2]

I'm looking to buy some wood for risers on upcoming longbows I will be making this spring.  

Can I get away with 1.5" x 1.5" pieces?  My maximum widths will be 1.5 "long but I don't know if I need a bigger piece to allow for some wiggle room.

I'm thinking African backwood, Gabon ebony, and maybe snakewood.  I can't find a lot of stuff 2x2 but do find a lot of 1.5"x x 1.5"x stuff.

Thanks in advance

Eric

[rmorris]

Eric, you can get away with 1.5x1.5" wood if you know your design well and have done a few but make sure it is actually 1.5". Next and more importantly " African backwood, Gabon ebony, and maybe snakewood" are seldom kiln dried and come with a wax coating on them to prevent checking, cracking, splitting and twisting I know this because when I first started I picked up a lot of expensive wood that was not kiln dried, got it home , took the wax off and the next day I had some nasty twisted checked paper weights. If you are just starting out I would think about some stable kiln dried wood or some nice ACTIONWOOD RISER BLOCKS from Kenny @  http://kennyscustomarchery.com/index.html   . You can always work with extra wood but once you come up short you cant fix that. Hope this helps and good luck.

[JamesV]

Eric............

1 1/2 X 1 1/2 is plenty big for a longbow riser. Most turning blanks are not dried wood as stated above and a lot of trouble to dry. As an experiment I freeze dried a cocobolo riser, more work that it was worth but it did work.

James

[typical2]

I have been wondering about whether these woods would be dried or not.  I love the looks of these woods but maybe with my lack of experience I should go with something else.

Would a wenge riser block from binghamprojects be a better choice if I want a dark riser?  I've heard the grain can be tough to work with and seal.

Are there any places where I can get kiln dried blocks of ebony, blackwood, and snakewood?

Eric

[JamesV]

Eric...........

I have used some black walnut that was almost black but the stuff I have is only rough cut 5/4 material

[typical2]

Might have to go with walnut.  Thanks for the help.

Eric

[bamboo]

Eric
the wenge makes a real nice riser--but be prepared to fill some grain--

[typical2]

I guess I will try the wenge too.  I have a bit lighter colored limb laminations and I like the look of the darker riser with them.  I guess I need to do some reading about wenge risers and filler so I have an idea of what I'm getting myself into.  

Thank you fellas for the advice.  Hopefully at some point this bow spring I can show a finished project.

[bamboo]

eric
heres a wenge/red elm---i like the dark riser -light limb/accent look too

if your patient and thourogh the grain filling is worth it

[typical2]

Bamboo,

Nice looking bow.  I think you just convinced me to try wenge.

Thanks for posting.

What is the best way to fill and seal wenge?