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Author Topic: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking  (Read 7300 times)

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Offline IndianKid

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Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« on: January 03, 2015, 11:41:43 pm »
It's amazing what can be found on the net...

I couldn't find reference to the link below, my apologies if it's been covered already...

I'm posting the url as long as all who read accept the fact
that I don't want to piss any one off ! It may contain imformation akin to fighting words for someone
who knows way more....

But all of that aside I am kinda impressed with the findings,
Kinda jives with what I have been reading.. do you think it's
Reasonably accurate?

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/bow-woods/

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Offline JackCrafty

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  • Sorry Officer, I was just gathering "materials".
Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2015, 11:48:01 pm »
All that proves is that there are types of wood that are "mathematically" ideal for bow making.

Your results may vary.  :)
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Patrick Blank
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Offline Jim Davis

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2015, 12:19:28 am »
The data on that website has been gleaned from the Forest Products Laboratories and a few other places.  The original testing was done in the 1930s. It's just a rehash with commentary.

One horrible omission are the figures for dry Osage orange. Either the testing was not done, or the results were not included in the 1930s reports. To this day, no one has done the necessary tests on what is certainly one of the best bow woods.

As far as the value of the mechanical properties is concerned, it is true that little can be concluded from the numbers that has not been observed for centuries about how certain woods behave in bending. But, not everyone has learned those things by experience. And, if one knows what to look for in the numbers, a lot of time can be saved by not  bothering with questionable woods.

Then again, if you like to see a mystery in every tree you look at and like to prove you can make a bow from weak wood, don't try to learn from the numbers. It will take away the mystery.
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Jim Davis

Kentucky--formerly Maine

Offline okie64

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2015, 12:23:43 am »
Osage is best, thats really all you need to know ;D
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Offline wizardgoat

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2015, 12:33:54 am »
our ancestors already figured out all the best bow woods.
i thought there was some kind of bow wood formula someone made with those data base numbers where yew and osage ranked almost identical?
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Offline huisme

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2015, 12:53:48 am »
Yep, it was something like a low ratio between elasticity and MOR, which seems kinda counterintuitive for purely performance bows because a stiff wood like locust would be deemed mediocre wood rather than one of the speed demons.

I doubt there's one equation for good bow wood to be had. Osage will outlast all the other bows. Locust snaps back faster than osage. Yew is like a natural laminate. HHB bends like rubber. Maple makes perfect backings. Elm is extremely versatile. Ipe and bamboo make crazy skinny bows.
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50#@26"
Black locust. Black locust everywhere.
Mollegabets all day long.
Might as well make them short, save some wood to keep warm.

Offline paulsemp

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2015, 01:35:50 am »
Quote from: okie64 on January 04, 2015, 12:23:43 am
Osage is best, thats really all you need to know ;D


YUP
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Offline huisme

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2015, 01:45:18 am »
Nah >:D
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50#@26"
Black locust. Black locust everywhere.
Mollegabets all day long.
Might as well make them short, save some wood to keep warm.

Offline H Rhodes

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2015, 01:47:53 am »
Oh yeah. OSAGE IS KING. 
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Howard
Gautier, Mississippi

Offline huisme

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2015, 01:50:13 am »
I elect my wood based on individual characteristics  O:)
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50#@26"
Black locust. Black locust everywhere.
Mollegabets all day long.
Might as well make them short, save some wood to keep warm.

Offline H Rhodes

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2015, 02:11:43 am »
 ;D I was just stirring the pot....  Actually, I am no purist.  I have spent as much time in the woods this season with my buckthorn bow as I have with any of the others.  A good bow is a good bow and there are lots of good bow woods that I have yet to try.   
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Howard
Gautier, Mississippi

Offline DavidV

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2015, 10:42:58 am »
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5GmFhNj7jLNQmNMWk52TWFSakk/edit?usp=docslist_api

That article isn't very useful but the numbers can be. Make a ratio for compression strength over MOR and you get a number that tells you if it is a tension or compression wood. Tension woods are on top and compression woods are on bottom, notice most woods are 2 to 3 times stronger in tension. You can design bows around this ratio keeping individual factors such as ring ratio in mind.

Edit: sorry, the column to look at is the second to last, I was playing around with it and accidentally saved. The last column is MOR/compression so it would be the same thing just a number not a decimal, with 1.0 being equal forces
« Last Edit: January 04, 2015, 10:49:53 am by DavidV »
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Springfield, MO

Offline willie

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2015, 11:13:01 am »


are you guys ignoring the thousands of excellent rosewood bows that have been built since those wood tests were made 80 years ago?


has any one seen one rosewood bow?
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Offline PatM

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2015, 12:05:21 pm »
Rosewood is a broad term and the Dalbergia family is huge.
 I know a guy who  made a tulipwood bow and he said the wood was quite Osage-like.
 The price and rarity of Rosewood make it an unlikely candidate for frequent use but there are some out there.
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Offline Badger

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Re: Best Bow wood, mathematically speaking
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2015, 12:48:03 pm »
     I used brazilian rosewood with a maple back on the first bow I ever built. It came out great and I had no clue what I was doing.
I could never make heads or tails of the wood sheets or how to read them.
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