Mixed core woods

[bornofmud]

I read somewhere recently that there may be some benefit to making a core with bamboo to the back and maple to the belly.  I'm guessing that this is because bamboo is stronger in tension and the maple stronger in compression?  Any truth to this?  Anyone tried it?

Also, I'm talking glass bows, though now that I think about it, that is the normal lay up for many board bows, so I'm guessing there's at least some degree of truth to it, though perhaps a very minor effect?

[monterey]

The majority of the work done is in the outer 10% of the back and belly.  That means most of the work is done by the glass.  Not saying that the cores you suggest would not be a good choice.  I try to keep my core woods as light as possible to reduce limb weight as much as possible.  Once again, not saying this is "the way", just what I do.

[arrowlauncherdj]

It won't effect it much either way from my experience which core wood you choose, but i did just a you say on my last bow with a pair of aboo parallels on the back and a maple taper on the belly and got a really good performer. I have tried both maple only and aboo only cores in the past and I just prefer maple only or the mix... The aboo only just didnt feel right to me. For some reason to me the maple and mix cores seemed to have less vibration and were quieter, but I have no scientific reasoning as to why I had those observations to be honest.

Another bowyer would prolly tell you I'm full of it, so take my observations for what they're worth. Now I'm building recurves, and a LB might prefer a different core mix.

Dave

[JamesV]

I have used many, many different core woods and have seen very little if any differences in performance. The glass does the work as Monterey stated above.