Silver Maple

[Wulamoc]

I've got a couple good sized limbs from a silver maple tree. Is this good bow stock?

[DanaM]

If its what I'm thinkin of I don't think so, but what you call silver maple and what I call silver maple may be different.
Try it and see, post a picture if ya can.

[Hillbilly]

The short answer: Nope. The longer one: silver maple is one of the lightest of the maples. Many maples are great bow wood, such as sugar, vine, and norway. Some are decent bow wood, i.e. red, bigleaf, striped, etc. Some are not so good: silver, box elder. I wouldn't say that you couldn't make a bow from silver maple (if I do, someone will show up with a pic of a 48" static recurve silver maple bow that shoots 210 fps lol) but it's not likely that you'll be happy with it. If there is any other better wood in your area that you can get hold of, you're probably better off putting your time and effort into it.

[OldBow]

The short answer: Nope. The longer one: silver maple is one of the lightest of the maples. Many maples are great bow wood, such as sugar, vine, and norway. Some are decent bow wood, i.e. red, bigleaf, striped, etc. Some are not so good: silver, box elder. I wouldn't say that you couldn't make a bow from silver maple (if I do, someone will show up with a pic of a 48" static recurve silver maple bow that shoots 210 fps lol) but it's not likely that you'll be happy with it. If there is any other better wood in your area that you can get hold of, you're probably better off putting your time and effort into it.

Ditto!

[Auggie]

Use the silver maple for a fire to keep you warm while working on a bow of better wood.

[Wulamoc]

Thanks for the guidance!  I keep learning from the masters!