Greg, only a few die-hards that I know of willingly reject other woods besides osage and yew. Almost everybody on this site hold.....preferences? at the worst. I'll tell you what, though, osage acts basically like it WANTS to be a bow.....
I don't fault you at ALL for your quest for knowledge. As I said elsewhere i did it myself. I'm like a big 4 year old and always have to ask "why?". It's the ADHD, man!
BUT, I can also add that much of what I wanted to know was being told to me by some of the old timers way back then. The issue was they would tell me, but never tell me why. Regardless, much of it was simply correct and I could learn why as easily by following their advice as by questioning it. I'm not scolding, I promise. and, i still love theoretical and didactic learning. We've all done one little thing that nobody else has, but it's mostly a method, not so much a major tweak of the final product.
Most of my own quest and questions went like this, "I wonder why they say you can't just do it like this.?.......BLAM! Oh, that's why! Hmmmm...." But, I say, never stop!
Hang around a while and we'll have this whole conversation again next year.
