which of these combos will work

[fishfinder401]

ok, so some of you might have seen my post about the wood at the store i just found and i was wondering what combinations of these would work, i think i have narrowed it down to wenge black walnut yellow heart and koa, for possible belly woods, and hard maple, ash and hickory for backings
my question is which of these would be best, and could the ash or hard maple work as a backing for ipe
 sorry, one lat question, what would be better for warbow arrows that are 1/2, oak, walnut, cherry, or birch
thanks
noel

[Ian.]

Good to see you are still on the heavy bow campaign. 

If it was me and I was thinking of making something 150+ I would go for a hard maple belly, a thin Ipe core then a hickory back. Or Ipe belly, maple core and hickory back. I think at these weights Yellow heart would get crushed, and wenge and black walnut are good but not as good as Ipe.

As always getting the tiller spot from the start is the only way you will make a heavy bow, do you have an idea of the dimensions you are going to use.

For the arrows use birch tapered from 1/2" to 3/8", never go for 1/2" parallel  they are far to heavy.

[fishfinder401]

thanks ian, i actually have the ipe in a 7ft board, nice straight grain, im thinking 80inches, as far as the width, im not sure. im glad to hear about the birch as i can get them for 60 cents each and i get a 10% discount on orders from 10-100, 100+ is 15%
noel

[Ian.]

Ipe is fantastic I have said it is to heavy in the past but with the correct profile it really comes into its own. I would also say that 76/77" may be better for that reason, keep the physical weight down.

[mikekeswick]

Keep it simple to start - hickory backed ipe will make whatever weight you want.

[bow-toxo]

ok, so some of you might have seen my post about the wood at the store i just found and i was wondering what combinations of these would work, i think i have narrowed it down to wenge black walnut yellow heart and koa, for possible belly woods, and hard maple, ash and hickory for backings
my question is which of these would be best, and could the ash or hard maple work as a backing for ipe
 sorry, one lat question, what would be better for warbow arrows that are 1/2, oak, walnut, cherry, or birch
thanks
noel

We are really getting into almost every kind of wood that grows. A word of advice;
don't try balsa.