African Paduak??

[catfish john]

Hey felow boweyers!!
I haven't posted here since forever ago,,BUT,, I will be posting a bow here shortly,,in the mean time,,I would like to know if anyone has any experience or knowledge on African Paduak ,, mainly as a compression wood??

[adb]

Too brittle IMHO. I used it successfully as a core lam in a tri-lam ELB once, however.

[NeolithicMan]

I have some and used it on knife handle, beautiful wood when finished. I have been contemplating overlays and string nocks for a while now just havent had the right bow yet. ooo or lam handle !

[BOWMAN53]

I have some and used it on knife handle, beautiful wood when finished. I have been contemplating overlays and string nocks for a while now just havent had the right bow yet. ooo or lam handle !

its my favorite overlay material cuz its so easy to shape and its just beautiful when finished.

[DarkSoul]

African padauk is too brittle and lacks elasticity to qualify as a decent bow wood. Its pretty high density gives a false indication that it might be a good compression strong wood. Furthermore, it has a pretty course grain, with fairly big pores, and can have cross grain as well. These last characteristics are not the biggest problems, but it just makes the wood even less desirable for me. It can work as a core in a tri-lam though! Just not for backings or bellies...
By the way, I know someone who is highly allergic to the wood. This is variable for every person, but just a heads-up if you suddenly get some weird symptoms when working with this wood.

[catfish john]

guess I'll go with maple since that's the only other wood available to me here. I had some Padauk left over from a guitar build,,tha's why I was asking,,I'll keep it for tip overlays and such!

[NeolithicMan]

The only thing I dont like about pauduk is if i for get to wear a face mask and Im blowin ruby red boogers for the rest of the day!  I know it happens with osage an walnut and just about every wood you sand in a workshop but pauduk just sticks in there good!

[mikekeswick]

As said it's no good for a belly.
The colour looks nice to start with but over time it dulls down a lot and can also end up looking greyish.
I wouldn't use it for anything other than a core.....however it must have very straight grain. I've had padauk cores fail and the rest of the bow is still fine. I'd take pictures for you but you can't really see it on photos. The grain was running through the board from back to belly. I'd been shooting the bow for a month or two and every so often had heard a tiny 'tick' come from the bow. At first I couldn't see anything wrong but the core had cracked right through every few inches for the full length of the bow.

[catfish john]

I started a riser with it last night,,but it is only the decorative part and not load bearing so much

[bushboy]

having only used it for tip overlays i can say it chips readily if extra care isn't taken when filing in string grooves.

[tattoo dave]

I have made 1 paduak self bow from a quarter sawn board. It did take a fair amount of set, but is still shooting just fine. However, that was one success out of many tries. I was actually just eyeing another piece of it the other day, and pondering trying it again. Good luck with it!

Tattoo Dave

[BOWMAN53]

I have made 1 paduak self bow from a quarter sawn board. It did take a fair amount of set, but is still shooting just fine. However, that was one success out of many tries. I was actually just eyeing another piece of it the other day, and pondering trying it again. Good luck with it!

Tattoo Dave

I would love to see some pics of it Dave