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Core woods???

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Mafort:
So I’m looking to build my horn bow. Got some horn ready just need to find a core wood. I’ve got hickory, black cherry, Osage orange, red elm, and hackberry. I have a small long of eastern hip hornbeam that’s about 7 years old. It looks a bit twisted though I guess I could straighten it out a bit. Would Osage work?

bownarra:
Osage works but it is too dense really. Anything ring porous makes things harder. Ideally you want sugar maple. All you need to do is call a bunch of mills and ask for perfectly straight grained, green maple.
Do not use anything twisted that you have straightened. You need to use heat when tillering and the heat would undo any corrections turning the whole thing into a twisted mess ;)

Pat B:
I don't know as fact but I believe mulberry was one of the traditional core woods used in Asiatic horn bows.

Ringeck85:
Straight birch or beech can work too (I think those are diffuse porous?), but seconded on sugar maple!

bownarra:

--- Quote from: Pat B on November 15, 2019, 10:29:22 am ---I don't know as fact but I believe mulberry was one of the traditional core woods used in Asiatic horn bows.

--- End quote ---

Mulberry was normally used for the tips as it steam bends so incredibly.
Beech has short fibers and birch is too low on density. You could maybe get away with yellow Birch but standard silver birch is no good.
Maple is easy enough to get and a broken core really, really sucks when you have 6 months in a bow :)
Use only what is proven until you have a few successful hornbows under your belt and then you can use your experience to guide you on corewood choice.

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