Oak Lams

Shredd · May 30, 2018, 05:29:47 PM

Have any of you guys used oak lams in a glass bow?? How is the performance?? Will it stand up to the stresses?? I am thinking the grain is too open which could lead to inconsistency or failure... But if the grain was on edge it might work... I got a chit-load of rough-sawn oak boards... I put them on craigslist but now I am thinking that there might be a use for them...

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Wolftrail · May 30, 2018, 07:14:45 PM

Dont build glass bows, but I'm sure others that do so will chime in. I have used white oak for a center lam in wood bows between maple and it does increase performance in my opinion.

C. Johnson · May 31, 2018, 02:17:12 PM

Never tried oak, but I have used ash which has a very similar grain structure. Worked just fine. I think you'll be ok. I'd give it a try myself if I had that much oak laying around.

Bow Bender · July 31, 2018, 10:55:28 PM

Hey Shredd. Did you ever get any lams made from the oak and if so have you glued up any of them?

EwokArcher · July 31, 2018, 11:30:11 PM

I used a big bunch of oak I had in a handle on a prototype bow actually polished up pretty good looking.

KenH · August 01, 2018, 06:58:33 AM

I dunno about lams, but the board bow folks swear by oak...

Pat B · August 01, 2018, 10:46:06 AM

The reason folks use red oak for wood bows is because it is cheap and readily available. Generally as soon as they can they switch to a better bow wood. Not saying that good bows can't be made with red oak, I've done it but there are better options.
Red oak might make OK lams for a glass bow but like with all wood bows, there are better options.
Maybe you could trade the red oak for hard maple on Craigslist. Hard maple is a proven lam bow wood.

EwokArcher · August 01, 2018, 11:48:52 AM

Maple boards at a local hardware store are stupid cheap here in okc. Like 1x2x 8 foot long cost only 10$ even with my sloppy table saw work I can get a lot of lams from that.

KenH · August 01, 2018, 07:52:23 PM

Yeah... but Shedd and I live in SW Florida where there are no lumberyards, per se, and locals have trouble spelling m.a.p.l.e

Shredd · August 01, 2018, 09:03:28 PM

Update on the Oak... I sold half of it about a week ago and made $250... I will keep a couple of the nicer pieces for projects... I doubt I will be using for bows, but you never know...