hard rock maple verses bamboo

[RC]

anybody ever chrono`d identical bows with different limb material . I`m interested in the difference between bamboo and hard rock maple. I know the bamboo is smoother but I`ve built some bows with hard rock maple that shot really good.RC

[dragonheart]

It depends on the bow design. Some designs will gain significant amount of speed with the lighter limb material (bamboo).  You will probably never see more than 10-15 FPS.  The big difference I believe is in the smoothness of draw, I think bamboo is superior.

[vermonster13]

Maple makes an excellent core material. Most ILF limbs are maple cored.

[Shakes.602]

Can You Make A Maple Stave and Back It With 'Boo? Or will it Need Belly Work too? Just Curious.

[arrowslinger22]

Maple makes great selfbows.  Just need to have the design right.  Backing with boo is probably not necessary.  Doesn't mean it won't work, but it all depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

[heydeerman]

I talked with John Fazio of Sovereign Archery about this a couple years ago. He said in his designs there is almost no difference in performance between these two. In the Chaparrals I thought the maple limbed Kaibabs shot harder and had just as smooth a draw as the bamboo. I'm a fan of hard rock maple limbs.