Redwood Riser?

[Wandering Archer]

Has anyone ever seen redwood burl used in riser for a fiberglass bow? It's pretty soft, so I would think it would have to be stabilized. Will the stabilizing make it strong enough to handle being used as a riser?

[mikkekeswick]

As long as you didn't use it for the actually fades then it should be ok. stabalising makes things hard but brittle.

[Wandering Archer]

this would be for a longbow with a one piece riser. im not making it so i dont know what you mean by fades

[mikkekeswick]

When you make a riser you have to taper both ends to a feather edge. This edge upto where it becomes say  1/4 inch thick bends in the finished bow. You couldn't do this with stabilized wood and have 100% certainty that it would hold up to bending repeatedly.
So the way around it is to glue your stabilized wood to a piece of 'normal' wood that will become the working part of the riser. Eg. make your stabilzed wood purely structural and it will work fine.

[BigJim]

I disagree mikkekeswick, but it is purely opinion. After all, they have been stabilizing all kinds of wood and using for risers at bear for a very long time.
By gluing the lam's around it, I feel it will hold it together like a sandwich. I built a bow a couple years ago utilizing a solid piece of California buckeye burl that had been stabilized. For piece of mind, I did put a G10 I-beam in the riser, but the fades were mostly stabilized burl.

I haven't heard back from the fella who just had to have it....but then maybe he doesn't shoot it.
I'm not afraid of trying new things. The only way a guy can learn is from sticking his neck out a little.
The more the wood accepts the stabilizing, the better the "stabizied wood" will be.

I also will take issue with the brittleness. A piece of spalted maple or redwood burl is certainly more brittle before stabilizing than after.
BigJim

[Wandering Archer]

Thanks for the opinions guys!

[Wandering Archer]

Man, I wonder if it's worth the risk? I keep seeing some real nice redwood burl... And I've always had a special connection being that I'm so close to the redwoods and spent a lot of time around them as a kid.

Are you saying bucket burl is also an iffy riser wood Jim? I've seen some nice examples of that, but I don't know anything about buckeye.

[mikkekeswick]

Jim may well be right. I've been using stabalised wood quite a bit in risers and this is just my opinion. I guess the fades probably would be ok as they are thin but my idea means that there can't be a problem with it ' down the line'. I'd rather make a bow that had no chance of failing than 'risk' using something untested by myself. For me it really comes down to how the grain runs in burls.
I guess the sure way to know is to glue one up and see.

[BigJim]

Unfortunately everything is an opinion until proven and there is a lot of opinion in bow building.
If you support areas in question with glass and or I beams, it is unlikely you will see much more than delams or cracks if they do fail. Makes a chance much safer.
Buckeye is not going to work with out stabilizing.

bigjim

[mikkekeswick]

Unfortunately everything is an opinion until proven and there is a lot of opinion in bow building.

I agree with that!