Lumber store wood questions

[scrub-buster]

While wondering around the local lumber store, I ended up looking at red oak boards.  What dimension would work best for making a board bow?  What would be the best grain pattern/direction?  There were also some poplar and cedar boards, could arrows be made from these?  I have only used staves in bowmaking so far, so I have no idea about boards.  Thanks for any advice.

[George Tsoukalas]

I usually look for the 1 x 2's. You want straight grained and I like the bow to bend in the handle so I don't usually glue on  a handle piece. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[George Tsoukalas]

There are buildalongs on my site.

[George Tsoukalas]

There are buildalongs on my site.

[scrub-buster]

Would any of those woods work for arrows?

[Don Stokes]

Poplar is a good shaft wood, but getting grain straight enough from boards can be a problem. It should be as near perfect as possible.

[Loren Holland]

http://www.geocities.com/salampsio/oak.htm

i used this build along, very easy to follow, made some great kids bows, because it was way to hard to get anything heavy out of red oak

also, i have used linen and even canvas as backing, as the provided example in the build along is horribly ugly.  i glued up a layer of mossy oak cloth as a final layer, and it turned out pretty cool

[Sam Harper]

If the cedar at your lumber store is anything like the cedar they sell at Lowes and Home Depot, it isn't good for much of anything. Poplar is good for arrows, though, and you can make a bow out of red oak.

[shamus]

Sam and George both have great sites for board bows.

Sam:  http://www.geocities.com/salampsio/index.html

George:  http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/