Walnut or Cherry?

[Prarie Bowyer]

Which would be better for a bamboo backed trilam bow as a belly wood?

[bubby]

walnut, how about boo, cherry, walnut, nice color combo, Bub

[Slackbunny]

I've had good results with cherry as a belly wood in a wood backed bow. It wasn't a tri-lam, but the principle should still hold. I have no experience with walnut, but I'm guessing either would work well, and both would look great.

[DarkSoul]

I think bamboo will easily overpower both cherry and walnut. Ash or maple would probably be more balanced and create a faster and more durable bow. The bamboo has a very high tensile strength, while cherry and walnut are both moderate in compression. I'm sure you could make a boo backed walnut or a boo backed cherry bow, but I'd personally pick another woodspecies that is a better match to those two species.

[Prarie Bowyer]

Hm... I was mostly after the color combination.  I never considered the overpowering.  I sand the boo pretty thin so I'm not certain I follow.  The middle lam would be either hickory or bamboo also.

[Pat B]

I agree with darksoul. Compression strong woods like osage or ipe would be more appropriate for boo backing.  The boo needs to be thin anyway(1/8" at the thickest point) and all of the strongest power fibers in the boo are right on the outside surface of the boo.   Either cherry or walnut will be a good core wood.