Are these any good for a bow

[Nasr]

 Found these wood at my local lumber yard some of these I have heard before others are completely new. Does anyone have experience making bows with these or maybe arrows?

[Nasr]

Also these three, they are really pretty just no clue what they are. There are also two more that I cant upload pictures of it wont allow me to. Cumaru and Sapele

[sleek]

Not familiar with any of it. But chances are, if it feels dense, it could at least be backed with hickory to make a bow.

[Nasr]

I didn't even pick any of them up I didn't really have much time. I also found some zebrawood that caught my eye but cost like 20+ dollars a sq/ft

[Santanasaur]

Soft maple is so so. Useable but not a favorite for me. It’s nothing like sugar maple but a lot of what i’ve split has been nicely tiger figured. I saw paldoa in a glass bow once, I  think just veneers. Dunno about the others. Looked up mokore and it seems like plausible bow wood. There’s one other thread on here about it but it doesn’t go anywhere

[kbear]

I have used Red Gum. This is among the first bows I made.......

2019-08-31_08-09-54 by korey Aitkenhead, on Flickr

It took a little set....... Didn't apply heat though.

2019-08-31_08-09-32 by korey Aitkenhead, on Flickr

2019-08-31_08-09-02 by korey Aitkenhead, on Flickr

2019-08-31_08-08-47 by korey Aitkenhead, on Flickr

2019-08-31_08-08-36 by korey Aitkenhead, on Flickr

I haven't put too many arrows through it. At the time I was really keen to move onto the next one! If I made another, I would probably back it. Worth a try IMO.

[Santanasaur]

Nice bow kbear, that front profile’s real pretty and the wood too

[Nasr]

That bow looks nice the close up kinda makes it look like Jatoba.

[Hamish]

I always thought red gum(eucalyptus) might make a nice bow. I just haven't been able to get any with straight enough grain. It used to be a common hardwood available at nearly any Australian hardware store for building, not so long ago. Now all you can get is treated pine, or merbau.

Nasr, its hard to tell from your photo's what sort of red gum is there because you can only see  the end grain, which could be painted with a dark paint. I know that in the US red gum is the heartwood of the liquidamber tree. Its a very different wood to Korey's Australian red gum. Self bows have been made from US red gum, with wide flat limbs, basic flatbows. A so so wood from memory.

Australian cypress is another wood listed, so maybe the red gum is also from Australia. I have also seen decent bows made from Australian cypress, backed with hickory. Its a very knotty timber, and can be hard to find a decent piece for a bow.

[Mafort]

Spanish cedar makes a good backed bow.

[Nasr]

I always thought red gum(eucalyptus) might make a nice bow. I just haven't been able to get any with straight enough grain. It used to be a common hardwood available at nearly any Australian hardware store for building, not so long ago. Now all you can get is treated pine, or merbau.

Nasr, its hard to tell from your photo's what sort of red gum is there because you can only see  the end grain, which could be painted with a dark paint. I know that in the US red gum is the heartwood of the liquidamber tree. Its a very different wood to Korey's Australian red gum. Self bows have been made from US red gum, with wide flat limbs, basic flatbows. A so so wood from memory.

Australian cypress is another wood listed, so maybe the red gum is also from Australia. I have also seen decent bows made from Australian cypress, backed with hickory. Its a very knotty timber, and can be hard to find a decent piece for a bow.

I’ll try to get better pictures next time I am there. I was in a rush and wanted to get all the names that I wasn’t familiar with. I have to check with the price and if it’s reasonable I might buy some and try it out. That is if it’s straight grained.

[George Tsoukalas]

Nasr, check the Paleoplanet site  where Tim Baker did a rundown on bow woods.
Also, a revised version is in TBB4.
Jawge

[Nasr]

 The only one I could find in TBB was the red gum. Ill try paleoplanet for Tim's post.

[bownarra]

Cumaru is good bow wood. I've made a few from a board I got years ago from a marine construction supply company.
It is very dense 0.90s.g.+, very hard and stiff for its thickness. Pretty good stuff from memory but I never got any more. I backed all mine with bamboo or hickory. 50 - 60# flatbow doesn't need to be any wider than 1 1/4"

[bownarra]

Aromatic Cedar aka ERC which is actually a juniper = excellent bow wood when sinew backed but take care to find the straightest grained board with as few knots as possible.
Leave the other woods until you have some more experience.