Toughest bow wood...

[Lee Robinson .]

I doubt the difference would be noticeable.

[Kenneth]

pretty much what I figured.  Thanks for the info!

[Sixby]

Black S Glass ground to .015 over .030 carbon  actionboo tapers, each 1.5 thousands per inch, Clear maple parallel  .30 S glass belly. Trap to the back to level out the power and lighten the weight. Cocabola and maccassar riser with G10 phenolic I beam. Triple glass strip on each side of wave or fang. 58 lbs sounds about right since I am getting old.
Dall sheep overlays and tips over red phenolic and cocabola HMMM I may just have to do this.

God Bless you all, Steve

[Kenneth]

Originally posted by Sixby:
Black S Glass ground to .015 over .030 carbon  actionboo tapers, each 1.5 thousands per inch, Clear maple parallel  .30 S glass belly. Trap to the back to level out the power and lighten the weight. Cocabola and maccassar riser with G10 phenolic I beam. Triple glass strip on each side of wave or fang. 58 lbs sounds about right since I am getting old.
Dall sheep overlays and tips over red phenolic and cocabola HMMM I may just have to do this.

God Bless you all, Steve

[Kip l Hoffman]

Osage orange was called boise de arc or wood of the bow by the french when they discovered the only place in North america that it grew.  this was in arkansas.  Not sure which part but south east i believe. The French were so afraid of it that if you were caught shipping boise de arc out of the US into europe you would be killed.  This was LONG after the english has whipped their ass with their long bows.  Boise de arc is the highest in compression and  highest is elasticity of any of the non tropical hard words.  hedge or osage orange or  popufara maculara the native americans knew the value of hedge.  hedge bows have been found all over north america.  Yew for example was only traded west of the mississippi.  back when man only walked hedge bows were part of the trade system.  a hedge self bow properly made will give you the poundage plus 100 fps plus 15%.  A well made bow of any other north american hard wood will at best do poundage plus 100 fps plus 10%.  I speak from reading and several years of building self bows.  however these great qualities apply only to self bows.  When it comes to the neutral layer of a fiberglass bow from all that i have read it is a toss up as to which wood is best.  Earl Hoyt preferred Sugar or hard rock maple for a neutral layer.  but it probably is mostly because it is is the most abundant wood that is extremely uniform in grain and really easy to work with from a production stand point.

[Pheonixarcher]

This has been a very interesting read. Let's bump this one back up to hear any new insight.

[DaveT1963]

I would think that maple and black walnut would be about as tough as they come.  I haven't seen Ash mentioned?

[ChuckC]

It totally depends on what you are making, what kind of bow and how it is formed.  Some woods work better when shaped in a certain way but suck when formed another way.  Some woods make great self bows and do not shine as well when cut into laminations for a more modern bow.  

Some wood (? bamboo) seems to be used in very many limb lay ups while other woods, not so much.   Why ?

Is it best because it is heavy ?  or light ?  because it is available ?  (cheaply), because it is easier to work ? Because it works well under tension  or compression ?  because it looks cool  or indeed beautiful ?

So many options to consider.

CHuckC

[Chuck from Texas]

Petrified Osage. durable but hard to string and lots of hand shock. Not affected by weather.
Chuck

[Pat B]

When going under glass I doubt it matters except for physical weight. For risers probably a heavier/denser wood is preferred.

[pete p]

hey bowyers, how about wenge?? had a wood worker tell me he went thru more saw blades on wenge...said it is very dense?? gotta be strong stuff??

[Bow man]

Durable and good performance you can't beat Osage

[legends1]

you may look into bubinga as another option too.

[Sixby]

Dense does not mean strong. "Dense can mean brittle. Brittle breaks. Also some woods are better on the tension side (back) of the bow and others are better on the compression or belly side.
If you are going for strong bow wise then red elm, hickory, hard maple would probably be the best.

I have also had good luck with straight grained goncalvo alves or better known as tigerwood. If I cxould afford it and find it good English walnut is wonderful bow limb wood. Just too expensive and too hard to get though.
God bless, Steve

[Mudd]

Steve(Sixby)...question?... Does Osage Orange belong with your list?

I love the way a good Osage self bow feels and shoots.(just my opinion)

Merry Christmas and God bless,Mudd

[Sixby]

Mudd, I love Osage as veneers and in risers except I have seen it check some. As too limb cores ect it is way too heavy but since the thread is talking about strong I would include it because of that. Sage is good both on compression and tension side and should make a very long lasting bow.
It is not a preferred wood to me because all of the bows I have had that were glass bows with osage cores were on the sluggish side.
It sure is a nice wood for self bows although I prefer real good yew.
God bless and have a wonderful Christmas
Steve

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by Protege Longbows:
S-glass (ULZ) is superior to e-glass (ULS). Stats are available here...    http://www.gordoncomposites.com/products.htm   Unfortunately, S-glass isn't available in a good clear form. The natural that is available in s-glass is rather cloudy, so I use S-glass when I use black and e-glass when I use clear. Both are excellent, but s-glass does have a slight edge.

Carbon foam core certainly is already proven in performance, but it is also showing some concerns in terms of durability.

Also, when it comes to wood cores and durability, I would NOT confuse hardness with durability. Toughness = durability, but there are many hard woods that are dense as well...but more prone to crack due to their stiffness. Ebony is one such example. Yes, it is used often and used successfully, but it isn't near as durable as many other woods.

Also, I have shot some bows with osage in them that are certainly tough, but due to the limb mass it isn't my preference for a limb wood as I can feel more shock from it in some bow designs than other wood choices.

Again, these are just my opinions based upon my experiences.

I love this guy!                Rather refreshing to here someone speaking from well earned experience for a change rather than getting quotes from out of date books or hearsay...  

I don't think there is a single thing i could add to what Lee has posted in several posts here except i agree 100% across the board....

Where have you been hiding Lee?... This is really good stuff you have posted....


OH....I guess i do have a comment..... I would add "Brazilian walnut", alias "Ipe" or sometimes called "South american Ironwood" to the list of excellent riser wood right there next to Bubinga. But grain configuration is more of an issue with Iron wood.... Bocote isn't too shabby either depending on grain configuration.

[7 Lakes]

The best performing limb woods are Hard Rock Maple or Bamboo Actionwood.  They are engineered to be the most durable by grinding them with 36 grit sanding paper.  60grit or higher makes a beautiful limb but for glue adhesion I use 36 grit to grind laminations.  For Risers the heavier the better to reduce handshock, species matters little to performance but for the most durable I like Bocote or Cocobolo dried for pool cue stock.

[Gooserbat]

Check out wood-database.com Snakewood is the heaviest North American wood but desert iornwood is likely the toughest.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by pete p:
hey bowyers, how about wenge?? had a wood worker tell me he went thru more saw blades on wenge...said it is very dense?? gotta be strong stuff??

Actually i think the best way to describe wenge is "Brittle"..... Used properly with reinforcement it makes an acceptable riser. But the stuff splinters real bad, and has grand canyon pores to fill... I hate the stuff myself....  It can definitely add a little zip to your bow using in in the cores, but you need to keep your lams thin or you'll have a time bomb on your hands.... When that stuff lets go, it explodes!