Finally got my hands on some real wood.

[blackhawk]

Yes the darker rings is what you want ...and go to the first of the fatter ones for the back of your bow. Because after those the rings get super thin and a horrible ratio of late wood to early wood with there being more earlywood.

[Pat B]

Yes, the darker rings(yellow) are what you want for a back ring. Sometimes it is hard to get a good clean back ring with thin rings like that, especially if there are any knots or pins. I usually rawhide back bows with rings like this just for insurance.

[Hamish]

Hi Julian,  If you can get hold of a gooseneck scraper(carbatec once again), they are very good for cleaning up growth rings, after the sapwood has been removed.

That is pretty thin ring structure, bows can be made from stuff like that, but it would be worth backing with rawhide, because they can pop a ring down the track. Best time for that is when you have got it to full brace height with a good tiller. You can get rawhide strips from leather sellers like Tandy, Birdsalls etc. Goat, calfskin,  or even kangaroo.

Do a bit of practice on a ring higher than one you want to use, as it can be easy to work through thin rings. When you have a small continuous section done and you are confident with what you are doing then try for the final ring.

 Hamish.