U.S.A bow handle wood

[buddyb]

I did a search on here but was unable to find the information I needed.

I'm very interested in making my 3 piece takedown bow handles from local "meaning woods from the United States".  What species make good takedown handles, I know some or maybe all need to be laminated with another wood to make them strong enough, although maple can be used by itself.

The ones I know of are Maple, Hickory, Walnut, myrtle, and Osage, what others are there?

If I figure I need exotic woods I'll just use dymondwood or spectraply.

Oh, and pictures are always appreciated.

[Flem]

Too many to list. This is a great resource  for specs;
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-finder/?fwp_location=north-america

[buddyb]

Thanks Flem, I've researched there as well but I didn't find too many I thought would work.

[Flem]

Really? I counted 90 on the first page.

[buddyb]

I should clarify by takedown I mean 3 piece takedown, I'll revise my initial post if I can.

[Crooked Stic]

Of the five you have listed Osage would be my choice and is strong enough alone. Walnut and Myrtle I would Ibeam of have an accent on front of the deepest part of the grip. I beam is better.

[KenH]

Tupelo
Sweetgum
Manzanita
Blue Beech
Hophornbeam
Apple
Pear
Ash
Texas Ebony
Ironwood
Hornbeam
Madrone
Locust
...to name a few

[Tim Finley]

ash and elm make good handles some myrtles are too week as American walnut .

[Flem]

Here we go with the Walnut again. It's the Rodney Dangerfield of handle wood.
Quick search turned up some results. Northern Mist, McBroom and Stalker, to name a few, offer Walnut as handle wood. I use it often and have never had a problem. Their are lots of improbable woods and grass that have made long-lived bow handles. The only ones you can say for certain are not working, are the ones you have not used.

[buddyb]

I like walnut but I won't use it by itself anymore. I had the top half of a takedown recurve handle fly passed my head when it broke in the middle. This was with 50lb limbs. I remade the handle from maple and stained it walnut.

[Mad Max]

I have some walnut I got from Marshall Missouri, there were walnuts on the ground and a storm blew the tree over the day before, so I got two 24" long pieces from the trunk. The riser blanks are light in the hand and wide rings, not what I was looking for.
I did a search on the specific gravity
black   38/55
English 64
Brazilian  99
It said there were 20 different species.

[Flem]

I'm thinking that a lot of the issues attributed to wood strength are actually a result of our preoccupation with pretty grain figure, ignoring proper grain orientation. If the shear lines of the wood grain are perpendicular to angle of the bending load, you could cause just about any wood to fail.

[buddyb]

Thanks KenH there are a couple of those I need to try, locust, ironwood, texas ebony, Ash and I also want to try some pecan. Texas Ebony and Ironwood I think will be hard for me to find around here.

[Tim Finley]

That's right black walnut doesnt get any respect from someone who has had experience with it !!! But if you use an I beam or mix it with some other woods then it really isn't a walnut handle . Black walnut alone is Not strong enough for a handle except in a light bow. The breakage will usually occur through the sight window or grip .
  Another wood not mentioned here that will make a bow for handles and veneers is mesquite Ive made numerous bows from it .

[monterey]

I've done ok with walnut in ASL risers but none were over 50#.  The ASL design typically maintains more wood through the handle area so that probably helps.

[wood carver 2]

I’ve built a few bows with walnut risers in the 50 + pound range with no problems, but having said that, the black walnut around here can be strong or weak and brittle. I take care in choosing what I use.
Oh, and Brazilian walnut is ipe, not a real walnut.
Dave.

[BigJim]

I've made risers using redwood burl and California buckey. Two woods that offer no structural strength whatsoever even after stabilizing.
I no longer build a bow without a g10 ibeam for several reasons, but with that, I can mash a bunch of popcorn together with glue and use it for a riser.. probably not the buttered kind.

If you are building a bow for yourself, lots of things you can get comfortable with.  When building a bow for others...and  chance to be sold to countless others after the first sale, you don't know what it will have to endure.

I'm confident that a high percentage of bow failures are due to the owners not knowing how to take care of them... meaning that they shouldn't be shooting soda straws at lightning speeds out of them.
Most of our ranks are made up of crossovers from the compound industry.. I was one. There it is all about Speed, Speed, or Speed!
BigJim

[KenH]

Most of the Walnut we get in this country is the American or Black Walnut -- Juglans nigra,  not English/Persian Walnut -- Juglans regia.  Two radically different woods.  English walnut is 25% harder than Black Walnut, and has been prized as a gunstock wood for generations.  Black Walnut not so much.

If you cut down and work your own walnut trees, rather than buying the bleached-to-standardize-the-color commercially available wood, you will have a much better bow-making wood.  Bleaching does not do the wood any favors in the strength department... just sayin'.

[Crooked Stic]

You speak of popcorn Jim. I seen a while back an ear of corn cast in a clear resin block for a riser. Hmmm wonder if you could stabilize the popcorn then cast it for a block      

[Flem]

I just saw a video recently where a guy made a Guitar body with epoxy and Ramen noodles. Looked yummy