I was wondering what core woods you guys prefer,bamboo,maple,walnut, actionboo,or whatever and why?    :confused:

My favorite bow is bamboo core and bamboo lams, It seems to have a smoother draw from the time the arrow is on the string to the anchor and their is no shock afterwards.  I may be a little biased becayse I built Bamboo Fly rods for years.

I don't have a single favorite. There are a lot of good woods that perform so similar under glass that it's not worth worrying about. A few that I really like that I don't often hear mentioned are black cherry and sassafras.

Those you mentioned are all dandy.

I like wood that is light in weight and quick on recovery. Sugarberry fits pretty good in both areas.

Until I found the Sugarberry a combo of Black Walnut and Hickory was my favorite.

I know that's kind of an oximoran since Hickory is a heavy wood, but I only used the Hickory in thin parallels (.050" or less). All Tapers were Walnut.

I've always liked aboo and yew as core woods but I have been messing with aboo/maple combos lately and like them so far

I do mixed cores, aboo on the back, maple on the belly.  I do it because aboo is stronger in tension and maple is stronger in compression.  To each their own, they all work and most would be hard pressed to tell the difference in otherwise identical bows. Fond of walnut too, for the look, but it seems to have a higher failure rate than the others, seemingly because it drinks glue.  Haven't had one fail on me yet, but have seen issues with other folks.

i like yew- for the few glass bows that i have built

My favorite 5 in order: Elm, walnut, maple, hickory, and ash.   Those are all pretty close in performance but I've found elm about the best.

QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Mecredy:
My favorite 5 in order: Elm, walnut, maple, hickory, and ash.   Those are all pretty close in performance but I've found elm about the best.

Red elm ???

Mike,

Which Elm exactly? Red Elm is good, no doubt.

American/Gray Elm is my favorite when it comes to Elm.

Red Elm is what I meant.  But American elm is good too.

In order I prefer: Black Locust, Yew, Osage, Red Elm, Bamboo, Maple

The above is for Longbows/hybrids that I make.

The above is for Longbows/hybrids that I make.