Does the riser need to be seperate pieces of wood laminated together for strength or will just a riser cut from a single piece of wood be strong enough for a R/D longbow pulling 55 pounds
You can make it with one piece of wood. Laminated pieces are stronger though. What kind of wood are you looking at? That might come into play.
Just my opinion-you are going to want a strong riser, so either laminate your pieces together or add and accent piece of glass to your solid riser.
Or just use SuperActionwood or Spectra Ply. Strong as an ox but very heavy.