Author Topic: Makore All Wood Bow?  (Read 1395 times)

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Offline deadsilence

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Makore All Wood Bow?
« on: January 20, 2017, 08:56:05 am »
Does anyone have an experience with this wood?  We recently moved and I am now fortunate enough to live very close to a hardwood supplier.  While browsing Wednesday I ran across a very nice looking makore board.  All my research has yielded that it is similar to hickory but a little weaker.  Has anyone attempted a bow with this species of wood?

Offline Springbuck

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Re: Makore All Wood Bow?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2017, 10:50:55 am »
I used makore once, but I almost can't remember anything about it.  I think it was early on in my bowmaking, I backed it with bamboo, and then slowly killed it during tillering until it was finally a 20 lb kids bow 10" shorter than I started with.  At least that was standard procedure back then.

The numbers on makore's properties look good, though the lower end of it's S.G. is pretty light. The high end is about .68-.70, I think.  It's pretty light for me to have tried bamboo backing. 

 If the board looks good and you have the tools, buy it, cut some trim pieces and do some bending tests.  If it doesn't look, like it'll hold  back, you can always use it with a backing.

Most of what I see sold is highly figured stuff, which often means wiggles in the grain.  It is also diffuse porous, so chasing a ring may be a trick. Good luck.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2017, 10:57:29 am by Springbuck »

Offline deadsilence

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Re: Makore All Wood Bow?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2017, 03:40:53 pm »
What kind of bend testing do you recommend?

Offline Springbuck

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Re: Makore All Wood Bow?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2017, 04:46:06 pm »
Like in the TBB's.  Cut a little slat and slowly bend it.  See how much it bends before taking set.  See how much set it takes before breaking.  See if it splinters or breaks suddenly, etc.....