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Help with warbow lamination thickness

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cool_98_555:
Hello everyone,

I am making a trilam warbow and I will be aiming for 120-125# at 32".  The osage I have is only 5/8" thick.  The hickory I have is 1" thick.  The bamboo backing strip is 1/8" thick.  I would like to start out with 1.25" thick at the handle and .75" thick at the tips so I have some extra thickness to work with.  I am planning on starting with 1 3/8" wide at the handle.  My question is regarding the thickness of the laminations.  If I put osage on the belly of the bow and I put hickory in the core, then to get 1.25" of thickness I would have 5/8" of osage on the belly and 1/2" of hickory in the core.  This is the option I would prefer, but I am not sure if 1/2" is too thick for a core wood.  Does it matter how thick the core wood is, or does it just serve as a spacer between the back and belly?  My 2nd option is to put hickory on the belly, and in this situation I would have 1" thick hickory on the belly and 1/8" thick osage as the core wood.  I am planning on rounding the belly, and I do realize that osage is far better in compression than hickory, so these are considerations as well.

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

adb:
First off... hickory sucks as belly wood, especially for a heavy draw weight bow.

IMHO ditch the bamboo, as well. Just my opinion. I don't like bamboo. Use hickory on the back, and osage on the belly. Do you have access to anything else as a core wood? Like purpleheart, or greenheart? Ipe?

If you want 120-130#, you'd need about 1.25-1.5" wide at the grip and at least 1.25" thick.

I think a 1/2" lam would not be ideal, especially as the core. I use 1/4" or less, for back and core, regardless of weight.

cool_98_555:
I can buy purpleheart, greenheart, or ipe, but it would cost me more.  I would prefer to use what I have.  Why is it ideal to have 1/4" or less as a core instead of 1/2"?  Is there a particular reason or is that personal preference?  I could use 2 of the 1/4" hickory laminations instead of a 1/2" lam, if that would work.  That would be a quad-lam though.

Thank you for your response!

adb:
With a 1/2" hickory core, you'll end up with less ideal belly wood. You'll make a better bow with a more dimensionally appropriate core thickness. So, if you use a 1/2" thick hickory core, you can't remove any of it while tillering. You'll end up removing more of your compression strong osage, and will likely end up with none at the tips.

More osage than hickory on the belly would be my first choice. But, it's your choice and your bow.  ;) I've never understood why bow makers are hesitant about spending another $10 - $20 on another piece of wood, for a bow that will likely last a lifetime.

adb:
OK... I admit it. For no other reason...  I want the bows I make to look pleasing to the eye. IMHO, how a finished bow looks is important to me. If the laminations are proportionate, I like how it looks... balanced and pleasing.

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