Shooting characteristics

[Del the cat]

Ok Coaster I exagerated a tad .

Actually my lasted bow 'twister' which I posted a short while back is now my fave', I modelled it on the Hazel bow, a tad narrower and longer with much slimmer tip, shoots reall fast and consistent, groups like a dream. Just shot my best ever field round of 30 targets, I'd usually score a little over 300, I score 492 out of a max 600 ! , nearly every target was a first arrow wound or kill.
Del

[coaster500]

Very nice Del.... maybe not Mississippi wide but that was a well used stave, I love the way the bark wraps the perimeter and covers the handle. Great natural trim. That took more patience than you claim to have 

[mikekeswick]

I think a big factor in choosing a wood should be looking at which woods suit your climate. Over here in north England we get a lot of high humidity days. For my laminated bows ipe and greenheart both work excellently showing only minimal set when well tillered, for self bows I like elm and black locust. I guess you could also factor in how easy a particular type of wood is to work.
Once you've chosen a particular wood or narrowed it down to a few that will work well in your environment then it's a good idea to keep in mind that they will all shoot the same speed when designed properly and it's down to you to get the best out of the wood - no excuses!

[coaster500]

mikekeswick, I live in a Simi dry area on the central coast of California so just about any wood will do here, but I hunt anywhere the time and wallet will let me, I don't own a custom bow that does not break down and travel. If and when my skill level improves enough for me to make a take down it will probably be with Osage just for the toughness and moisture resistance.

This turned into a thoughtful thread. I appreciate your comments. I think it expressed your passion for the woods and the bows they (freely or kicking and screaming) allow us to remove from them 

Thank you

[UserNameTaken]

My favorite bow wood is Free bow wood. I'm really fond of its characteristics; makes a really sweet shooting bow.

[Keenan]

I think Pat B and Badge hit the nail on the head. I have also heard the same about not being able to tell the difference if blindfolded but disagree. And no I have not tried it. However somehow it just seems to me that a denser wood like Osage or Ironwood will have more of a thump to the shot then a lighter wood like Yew or Vine Maple. My personal favorite is Yew.

[nyarrow]

Coaster,

  I don't want to rob your thread but can't help asking a question based on the underlying theme going around here. It appears most bowyers of experience say "I let the wood choose the design". It sounds almost cliche' to me. Not to say its not true, I'm just too green to understand it. It's obvious I'm very inexperienced but would like to know what you guys look for in the wood that dictates design. What characteristics persuade for a pyramid, mollie, elb, D bow, recurved tips and etc.?

[mikekeswick]

It's not really about d-bow, mollegabet, holmguaard etc it's really about the cross section and width of the limbs. Different woods have different properties and when designed around these properties will all shoot the same. It mainlt ot do with width of the limbs but there are many factors involved.

[sadiejane]

after reading all the responses, a question comes to mind.
it seems many of ya'll deem certain woods lend themselves better to certain designs.
has anyone put together a list or chart that matches wood type to bow design?

[mikekeswick]

Read 'the mass principle' chapter in vol4 TBB - it says it all!

[Badger]

  Ny arrow, that is an excellent question. I think many have no asked it for fear of being disrespectful. Just speaking for myself here. When I get a brand new stave in the mail first thing I do is clean it up, sometimes I have a particular desogn in mind when I purchase the stave but most of the time I just wing it. Lets say I have a piece of osage 68" long, not much crown and a full 2" wide. This leaves me open to most anyting I want to build. In this case I simply choose what I want because I can do anything. But at the same time I know that getting a stave like this is not all that common and their are certain designs I have been wanting to try but never had a stave I felt was suitable. I would likely build a bow from this I felt would be competitive in broadhead flight shooting, probably a modified molly type with a hint of r/d in it.
    Another factor is that most of us have settled into a style of sorts, the stave we have available mainly based on it's limitations will dictate the demensions and tiller shape to a certain degree.

[George Nagel]

Osage!!!??   Hedge, for the most part will give more snap with smaller dimensions than other woods. That being said, every tree  has it's own, very different, characteristics. Tension wood, compression wood, large/small early and late rings or combinations thereof......many variations make every bow unique.

[Almostpighunter]

Top Three:

Osage: Most interesting and fun to work with and excellent (best?) self-bow performance when finished.
Hickory: Highest quality to find in board form (IMO), usually the easiest find and to work with, cheap to buy and extremely good performing self-bow.
Ipe: Hard to work with due to density, some people allergic to oils/dust, use only as a core for backed bow; however, EXTREME HIGH PERFORMANCE (just finished latest bow, BBI and it is hitting my highest arrow speeds ever).

Disclaimer: 1)Haven't worked with Yew yet, so no opinion at this time. 2) Mulberry is another big favorite but hard for me to find.

[soy]

Osage and hickory are fun and tough...but the one I have the most fun with /best results has to be iron wood aka hhb.