Best wood to make a bow from.

[lum]

 New to bow making,and need some help to pick out the right wood.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Check out 4est trekkers buildalong "So you want build a bow"

it will get you going in the right direction as far as board bows. Then you can cut your teeth on some good ol' Osage.

Sticks

[hova]

lol i havent seen that emoticon yet , thats a good one...


my only recommendation is to find a good lumber yard and start with good lumber. you might get lucky at the big chain store , but chances are , the selection is going to be small , and the assortment even smaller. i got my first piece from a big store , and it was so light and crappy , it sucked. the next piece that im workin now , came from a sawmill/lumberyard , and it was only seven cents more than what i paid for the crap wood. not to mention they had tons and tons (literally) of it , and they said that they would cut me the exact piece i wanted , if i wanted....


i second 4est. pofolkbows is a good one too , and everyone here is more than happy to share the wisdom...

good luck
-hov

[SaMbO2]

If your just starting out i would recommend Hickory, its a very forgiving bow wood and a great one to start out on IMO.

God Bless.

[George Tsoukalas]

The wood you have the most access to. Where do you live? Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[John Scifres]

Osage, of course.

[4est trekker]

John said it best       Also, George is spot on.  You often will have the greatest success with that which is most readily available.  That is you'll inevitably make and break many in the process, and having a steady supply of wood is necessary to "feed the habit" which is sure to follow    

[Pat B]

I have to agree with John that osage is the best bow wood but most woods will make good bows if the bow is designed for the woods charactoristics...so, whatever wood you have available can make a bow that is hunt worthy

[Rich Evans]

i was in need of a some hickory once and went to a local saw mill near where i was workin at the time. you would be surprised at the prices you pay for wood and get good quality wood. i asked the guy to cut me 4 or 5 boards 1" thick by 8' long so i could fit them in my van. he did that exactly, but when i got there, he said i think i gotta charge you for the whole log, and in my mind i am thinkin "oh brother", and then he said how's $24.00 sound.  what he didn't know was if i had more room in my van, we would have been cuttin about 20 more boards up.  lol i couldn't get the money in his hand fast enough before he might change his mind.  It ended up being very good grained hickory and worked great.