3Rivers had free shipping past $50 and I only needed a few things. So I ordered a hickory backing strip. I had originally thought that I would just put it on a piece of maple I had picked up recently. But now I'm rethinking that.
Choices are fairly limited out here. The local HD has the usual choices of maple, red oak, walnut, etc. I can get hickory from another lumber yard but the few times I've searched through looking for anything straight-grained, I've walked away empty-handed. Figured I'd check with some of you to see which of the usual lumberyard woods are best in compression to pair with the hickory backing strip. Is it worth doing a hickory-backed hickory bow on a wavy piece of hickory? Would it be appreciably better than hickory backed maple or walnut?
Also, the backing strip coming in is supposed to be 1/8". I've read that a backing strip should be no more than 1/8". Should I be looking to thin this out a little? If anybody has experience with the strips from 3Rivers, I'd be curious to know if they need to be thinned & the best way to do that.