Jon,
It was my bowyer friend's first laminated bow from, like, 15 years ago or something like that. He just barely found it in his shed(not the cleanest place
) and gave it to me to fix becuz he doesn't have time anymore. I think it is a red oak board but I might be wrong. It is some type of board. Also, following question, how do things really get overpowered and what happens if it is? I am not a laminate guy and don't know much about it because it never intrigued me. I could see something like hickory where it's tensile strength is better than its compression and to get a lower limb weight and have it more even as far as strength and less wood not doing anything. Even if it overpowers couldn't you just trap the back? Doesn't it just make it slower because some extra weight isn't doing anything?