popular?????

[jturkey]

ok would popular boards from homedepot make a fairly good bow i know maple and red oak would be better just want the concensus of what you guys think?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Poplar would be my last choice for a board bow, just one man's opinion.

[Pat B]

Poplar boards are popular for making arrows, though!    They are not good for bows.

[JW_Halverson]

When you consider how much pine they sell compared to the hardwoods, I think pine is the most popular. 

I think I've seen a few poplar stave bows posted here over the years.  I'm not so sure it's not possible.  I'd start 2 1/4 inches wide, make it extra long, and back it before even starting on floor tillering.  At least it's not terribly expensive wood. 

Now for the pure speculation part of this post.  Given: typically the more dense the wood within it's own species the better the bow from that wood.  Maybe, along with choosing for grain orientation, you should consider the heft of the boards as you are meticulously disassembling some poor miminum wage lumberyard clerk's hard work of stacking. 

As usual, if you are gonna spend the time on it, document your progress and post the pics!

[mspink]

Hey, I havemade a couple poplar board bows from home depot. One broke because I made the tips too thin ten inches from the tip. It would still be shooting if I hadnt narrowed so dramatically. Go ahead and try it. Its cheap anyway. Just make sure to get a dense piece. Should work out and if not then its at least some good practice.  I say give it a shot!

[mspink]

Forgot to mension the dimensions. It was 1 3/4" wide to mids ands was 50 lbs @ 28".

[Dazv]

Im sure it can be done ( and i am sure it has been) but i would pick up some red oak or hickory. Poplar is a very soft wood

[JW_Halverson]

Im sure it can be done ( and i am sure it has been) but i would pick up some red oak or hickory. Poplar is a very soft wood

Yeah, it's not good and hard like...oh, I dunno...yew!    

For every rule in making bows there is at least one or more exceptions.  I believe studying these exceptions gives you a better understanding of the rules. 

[Badger]

  I have made several poplar bows and seen quite a few others. Failure rate is not all that bad but could be better. Always surprises me how much guys are getting out of poplar even though it is a soft wood. Best to go long and fairly wide, like maybe 72" and 2" wide. If you notice chrysals stop and trash the bow. Not all poplar behaves the same.

[adb]

With good boards of maple and oak as easily available as poplar, the choice is a no-brainer for me. As mentioned, save poplar (aspen) for arrows.