Heavyweight Hickory, purpleheart, hickory tri-lam??

[icu812]

Good afternoon gents,

I have 2.5" by 72"  quartersawn hickory and purpleheart boards with excellent grain orientation that have been whispering sweet nothings into my ear. The only problem is that I dont have ready access to premium belly woods at the moment. I really want to make a heavyweight (80-100#) tri lam of 1/8th hickory, 1/4th purpleheart,  1/2 hickory.. but figured I'd ask the panel of experts first.

Would this combination have any chance of success provided the belly lam was heat tempered? Perhaps a trapped back flatbow or pyramid? Or would an ELB style warbow be a better option?  Iv seen a Hickory, PH, white oak ELB 100#@32 on here and it lit the fire for a domestic-bellied heavyweight. All advice is greatly appreciated. The grain is really straight and iv been saving them, so id hate to see them go to waste.

[Blaflair2]

You probly wanna check out the war bow section. Those fellers know more about the elbs

[icu812]

Im not set on an ELB. Ive never made and ELB and much prefer flatbows and pyramids. Iv never made a heavyweight of any design above 65# and was wondering if heavyweight laminated flatbows/pyramids were even reasonable to attempt?

[bubbles]

Were you around for the "showdown" thread?   A 100#,  60" Osage stiff handled Self-flatbow was made by Badger for a 26" draw.   I think it was around 2" wide, but I'm not 100% sure, I would say it is quite possible. 

[bubby]

I would just go hick backed purpleheart, pyramid profile no reason ya can't get 65#

[CustomArcher15]

Make the hickory 2 1/4" wide and make a pyramid bow with a trapped back. I would almost do hickory as the back and middle and do a thicker Purple Heart as belly but your choice because Purple Heart is finicky

[bubby]

I don't think I'd go over 2" wide but yeah I would trap it

[Pat B]

I think you will need a compression strong belly wood like ipe or osage for that heavy of a tri-lam bow.

[icu812]

Bubby- I was aiming for 80-100+ pounds. 65 is the heaviest I've made up to this point. Im thinking purpleheart would fail as the belly wood at that weight.

Pat- Thats what I was afraid of. I have access to Ipe and Yellowheart but the place wont rip it down.. I have to buy 12 foot 12x1's that are $150+ each (ridiculous!).

I suppose I could buy online and hope theyre usable.

Sounds like I might need to sacrifice these as an experimental flatbow.. 2" wide.. 70" ntn? 90#ish.. and post it if it survives.

[Pat B]

There are a couple of guys on TradGang that grind lams for glass bow guys. Any of them could make what you want and with a few different woods, tropical and native, to choose from. I think "Kenny M" is one of them. You might also try one of our sponsors like 3Rivers or Pine Hollow or ask on our own "Trading Post" if you have items for trade. No money allowed on the Trading Post.

[BrokenArrow]

Make sure the purpleheart is the core not the belly wood.
I have used Jatoba for the belly wood as a bit stronger than hickory

[doulosparachristos]

I recently made a hickory backed, bloodwood core, hickory heartwood belly English warbow that was about 80 lbs at 28. I don't see why purpleheart would matter much. In my experience the hickory belly takes a little more set, but I'm still learning.

[Pat B]

Purpleheart is prone to fretting.

[DarkSoul]

Blacksmith's *Hummingbird* 81" hickory backed Purpleheart Warbow 120#@32"

Perfectly possible!
Mind you: it is a whopping 81".

[ohiocountryboy]

I made a 100lb'er from a 60" all hickery  flat bow, 8" stiff handle ,fade section. 2.25" at fades pyramid taper straight to .5" nocks. Heat treated near mid long string tiller reflexed 1.5" forward but returned to 0 finished and broke in. Averaged 183- 186 fps