Least utilized bow woods?

[elk ninja]

Lets put together a list of the least common/utilized woods for (fiberglass lam) bows....
There are a ton of cocobollo, bocote, etc, etc., and while I like these woods, what else is there?
Mike

[Bob B.]

I don't know ... petrified?  I bet that is pretty uncomon (LOL).

[bvalentine002]

Pine/fir/spruce...almost any kind.

Probably a good reason for that too: MOE among other things.

[onemississipp]

elk ninja,
  On my site I have a list of bow woods. Broke down into non bow wood, borderline bow wood, and true bow wood. The list is mainly for selfbows but could be a good starting place.

[Canadabowyer]

I really like cherry, its light, strong and beautiful under clear glass.I have been shooting a longbow with maple center lam and back belly and riser of cherry for 3 years , 50 @ 28". It shoots real good and is very light to carry.Some may think the cherry isn't strong enough for the riser but its worked well for me. Bob

[crosseye]

i have not seen many bows with it, but the couple of bows using tamo ash as a veneer under glass were show stoppers.  google it...it is an awesome looking wood.

stan

[snag]

For selfbows you don't see much Macassar Ebony. That is one of the prettiest woods there is, I think. Maybe because it is really hard to work with...? I like good old American Walnut too. Don't see a lot of that anymore.

[Gator1]

Great information guys, good information on onemissisip site...

I was surprised about sasafrass being a marginal wood???

I have a new bow being built for May delivery, and I'm soaking up information from as many sources as I can..

[ONE SHOT]

Here are some woods that I use in making My Bows laminations: Shag Bark Hickory, Honey Locust, Black Locust, Black Walnut, Red Cedar, Mullberry, Hackberry, and of course Osage Orange, all of which I cut the trees down myself and machine the laminations to finidh sizes. Hard Rock Maple and Action Boo for cores....ONESHOT...          

[steadman]

I think walnut is one of the most underutilized bow woods. It's light and springy, makes a good bow wood.

[laddy]

Louis Armbruster,  Zebra bows, was working on iron wood.  He had several made,but wouldn't sell them.  They shot great and looked good.  I've never seen it used anywhere else. the stuff grows all over the place in the midwest.

[heydeerman]

Tracey Tricket, former Morrison and Ancient Spirits bowyer, made a longbow with osage  handle and chery limbs that was sweet to look at and sweet to shoot.

[elk ninja]

How about Desert ironwood?  See a lot of it in custom knife handles but never have I seen it in a bow.  Sorta looks like burled cocobollo...
Myrtle is another.
Juniper for limb vineers has really grown in the last year or two...
Bob lee seems to be the only one really pushing bubinga, which is really nice.

Shedua is another under utilized one.

[Holm-Made]

Anybody hear of anyone using hop hornbeam (ironwood around here) for bow laminations?  Makes good selfbows, very thin growth rings, tough and seems to be consistant.  I have a lot of it growing around my place.  Chad

[Chris Wilson]

Black walnut is way under utilized as a limb core, IMO.  I've had two outstanding bows that used it as a limb wood.

[elk ninja]

I would agree with you all on the walnut being under utilized, both as a riser and limb wood.  Black locust is another wood I think is under utilized, both in self bows and as a limb wood on lams.
Mike

[Dale Hajas]

I had a sasafrass bow that really shot nice. I had it stained dark to go with a cocobollo riser. It was a nice combination