DaBoys

HELLO
Need if anyone can explain the difference between magnesium riser and aluminum riser. The Magnesium riser seems to be on the “cheaper” bows. What about the High Country's all carbon riser? That is not just a block but wrapped or layers like limbs, no core of aluminum? Does it make any difference? Is there any webs sights that go in depth on mechanical design of a riser? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Greg

PABowhntr

I think ArthurP is the man you should fire some of these questions off to. A couple years ago there was a very good post on this forum titled something like "Bow Components and Quality". In it he gave a very good explanation of the various riser materials and manufacturing processes.

From my limited experience...most, if not all, magnesium risers are made with a casting process. Most aluminum risers are either forged or machined or both. That, in and of itself, is the reason you pay more for the aluminum. The machining process is much more costly than the casting process.

From a practical standpoint I cannot say that one is necessarily stronger or "better" than the other though from a technical standpoint I believe that the forged or forged/machined risers provide the most strength overall. Past cast magnesium risers also tended to be larger (especially in the grip area) and heavier on average than their machined aluminum counterparts. Manufacturing tolerances were also a bit looser on the cast magnesium riser models.

Nowadays though there are some cast magnesium risers, namely the new Hoyts, that take more than a casual glance to tell that they are not machined aluminum.

Hope this helps some and that Arthur gets winds of this thread.