New bowyer here

[DesertFox]

Hello all. I'm Billy Browne.

So I just recently finished up my third bow and I have to say I am absolutely addicted to this craft.

The first was a ~40# at 28" for my little brother made from HomeDepot red oak with a poplar riser, backed with sheetrock tape (poorfolk bows). It's a fine shooter except for the wrist slap.

Then I picked up a SWEET hickory board at a hardwoods shop here in albuquerque. I made two bows out of that with grain that runs straight from nock to nock. First was tested at 50#, the second (one I'm keeping for ME) tested at 60#.

The heavy bow is approximately 70"NTN. I ended up bracing it pretty high, around 7 or 8 inches, to try to cut down string slap. (I read that post, pretty informative) I managed to get away without a backing, surprisingly. It feels like it doesn't send the arrow as fast as my Martin recurve which is only ~50-55#.

So here's a question for ya. The hardwoods store I got the hickory from also carries "Hard White Maple", Cherry, "Walnut-Indiana", Mahogany, Ash, Basswood, and Alder. (the quotation marks are for direct quotes)

I was wondering if any of those other woods work well for longbows. I read somewhere that Ipe is a type of walnut, how would I tell if what they have is the same thing?

[Pat B]

For your dry climate in Albuquerque hickory would be your best bet. With some tweaking you should be able to get a selfbow pretty close to matching the speed of your glass bow.
 Of the other woods mentioned I would go with the hard maple and maybe the ash but hickory would be the best.

[walkabout]

generally a self built longbow wont be as fast as any mass produced recurve, although there are ways of improving cast. a few of them are heat/ steam bending, gluing reflex in with a backing, and kerf bending reflex. i am in the process of gluing reflex into the tips of some bows with a 6 inch tapered piece of wood over the tips, so far so good on my test bow. not sure how much this has improved cast but i still havent shot it.another thing is that a higher brace height will actually rob some speed. also make the bow a little louder. good luck and if you have any other questions post em.

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes on maple and ash (not my favorite). Hickory and oak rule in boards. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[DesertFox]

Neat! I've been loving the hickory, honestly. It felt good in my hands and the tools seemed to  love it too. You know what though, I hate string slap... It ruins my concentration, for one. Maybe I should just go buy a less stretchy string and put something strong on the bow tips.

Gluing in reflex... I think I see what you mean. Especially with the 6 inch taper. That taper is what introduces the reflex, correct?

I have a form made that would allow me to bend boards into a simple r/d shape HOWEVER I don't have a hot box. Is there any way to get around having to use one? Could I leave the bow in the form in the back of a van on a hot day?
(my form is based on this design  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80527FAa-L0&feature=related  )

[walkabout]

well i didnt use and heat cure glue i used titebond 3 for my reflex, just clamped the tip and overlay between two blocks and tightened the clamps till i got a reflex i was happy with. let the whole shebang sit overnight then smoothed everything out. its the same as gluing a backing on the whole bow and pulling the handle down for reflex, only its just the tips. i left these static so they dont bend but im sure one could tiller them like a normal r/d

[DesertFox]

This is my Hickory bow.

    This is the Red Oak bow. My little brother wanted to be faceless.

Haha! Finally got the thing to post the pictures properly!