Maple backed red oak longbow

[ajooter]

I did use a lot of clamps and the glue used was tb3.  I do want to wrap the limbs next time in an effort to get a better seal.

[kevinsmith5]

I always think in terms of the limits of my materials. Red oak is a marginal bow wood and (in my opinion) is really only for bows of rather "limited" expectations. Low draw weight and kids bows are all I use it for.

[huisme]

The RO bows of 60#+ don't look marginal to me when they're posted...

[rossfactor]

I think red oak is a fine bow wood. Not top tier perhaps, but in no way marginal. I've seen Red Oak bows in the 50+ range shooting over 170 fps at 10gpp.  I probably haven't made more than 5 or 10 red oak bows, but the ones I've made have performed well at weights of 45 - 55 lbs.

The key, I think, is picking a good board.

Gabe

[bubby]

exactly what Gabe said, I've built 55# red oak board bows that have thousands of shots in them, I made my dad in law one that was around 40# and that bow is screaming  fast, you have to get quality mat. to get quality results