I'm not looking to make laminate bows, Ive been asked by a friend if I could make some, cheap low poundage longbows for reenactment use, so I'm thinking of building self ash longbows. I'm not sure of any woodland or timber yards close by (I'm near Leeds) so sadly I cant come down there!
The ash didn't look too expensive by my reckoning id get at 4 bows out of the ash he is providing (82" x 8" x 2") but maybe I'm missing something, another factor is whilst one day id love to be able to build bows from logs Id rather try and get sawn wood at the moment. Seasoning and roughing out looks intimidating to me, but if its free then there cant be any harm I suppose.