What are good choices for wood for a solid (no laminations) riser for a takedown? Are there any woods to stay away from?
Are there any disadvantages to making a solid riser for a takedown?
Thanks in advance for any input.
I think the only disadvantage is the potential weakness of the individual piece of wood. Laminating makes stronger risers, but its not always necessary. I would go with one of the harder, hardwoods. I would stay away from Walnut.
Bocote might be a good candidate. Also you can always go with actionwood or dymondwood...its not one piece of wood but its a solid piece (i.e. no cutting and glueing on your end).
You can also add some overlays to the front and that will strengthen it a bit.
I have made quite a few solid risers. Had good luck with maple, shedua, bubinga, imbuya, purpleheart etc. The only one I ever had fail was made of zebrawood. I did always cap the back of the riser with fiberglass which does add quite a bit of strength. The relatively low rate of failure is likely due to the fiberglass cap. In fact I am convinced of it and always use a cap on the back of all of my risers.
Use a heavy, dense, strong hardwood. Some times the pretty swirly grain stuff will break, because the growth rings are all over the place. I would use osage, bubinga, or granadillo. All are pretty, strong, and available. They also represent three different color schemes to choose from.
Personally, I would stay away from the middle weights like walnut, maple, and zebra. It all really depends on the design (degree of centerstot), and draw weight.