longbow laminate wood properties

Hello all

I'm in the process of getting together different woods to form the laminates in a longbow stave - I want to move away from the usual and try some more exotic and hopefully aesthetically pleasing and useable longbow.
So does anyone know of a site or have personal knowledge into the properties of woods with regard to the back belly and core for compression and tension.

I have Rosewood, Tulipwood, Ebony, Wenge, Padouk, in mind with some others I have already researched any help or ideas welcome many thanks ~Shaun
 

BillM

Member
I don't know about the mechanics of the woods used in bows but my longbow is Ipe, Purpleheart and Bamboo. It is quite slim and FAST. It was made for me by a good longbow archer and he obtained the Ipe from a builders merchants who sold 'posh' decking. Worth looking around ones near you in case they have similar exotic woods.

BillM
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
Primitive archer forum and the traditional bowyers bibles are good. There are various tables of wood properties on the web, but they don't always tell the whole story.
Del
 

jathalls

New member
rule of thumb, something fibrous like hickory or bamboo as the back - strong fibres that are not likely to break out under tension and curvature. Dense hardwood for care and belly to store the energy and be strong in compression. But very dense like ipe or ebony can be hard to work so there is a trade off. Also some woods can be more brittle, like mahogany, and these are better as a core where they can be supported while still storing good energy. The belly wood shows a lot so it helps for it to be pretty, or easy to work and bring to a finish (lemonwood? easy to work but no visible grain).
Bowyer's bible is interesting reading but deals mainly with flatbows as it is written predominantly by American bowyers. Try to corner a good English bowyer, drag him down the pub for a jar or three and see what you can wheedle out of him is the best bet.
 
Hi all sorry for the late reply I hope everyone had a good Christmas and that you are now fully recovered for the new year.
Many thanx for all the replies and the time you took to offer your thoughts - much appreciated and welcomed - see you on the field all the best S
 
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