question about risers...
 

What is the best wood for a riser to dampen hand shock on a longbow? An experienced bowyer that I know likes bubinga best. Is there that much difference between cocabola, ebony, bubinga, maple, etc? For that matter, what is the worse wood for absorbing hand shock?

RE: question about risers...
 

The heavier the riser, the better it will mask handshock.Cocobolo, chechen, and Bolivian rosewood are the heavier (and more reasonably priced) riser materials I know of. Tough to get a piece of ebony big enough for most risers, African blackwood in the size is rare and very expensive, phenolic costs a good bit also. Those last three are overkill in my opinion--if a bow has so much shock that it needs that much weight in the riser to shoot it (except maybe small longbow risers), the bow design itself needs looked at. Some bows have massive risers and don't even need an extra heavy wood to weigh a lot. I like a heavy wood in a smallriser, but don't feel it's needed in a well madebow with a larger riser.

Chad

RE: question about risers...
 

I would have to agree. If a bow thumps that hard I wouldn't buy it! Some of the more production longbows come to mind.

This big 5 I recently bought thumped pretty hard. A simple change to a dynaflight string took care of all but 98% of it. what's left is just enough to know you are shooting a longbow but no more.

Heavier arrows will also absorb some of the thump, between the two it can get rid of the majority of it even on a bad bow. Then there are those bows that just belong in the scrap heape, I'll leave those names out....you'll know them when you findem!

RE: question about risers...
 

I don't know about best, but I had my Massie made out of Walnut Dymondwood. I THINK it's epoxy impregnated so it's heavier.

C_

RE: question about risers...
 

A friend of mine had a Saxon Mongoose with a leadwood riser. I had exactly the same bow, but with a shedua riser. His was noticeably heavier and had less thump than mine did - which wasn't much anyway. Problem with leadwood is, the stuff isn't very pretty. It'sdark brown anddoesn't have any figure to it at all, which makes it look like the riser is molded from chocolate pudding. But the weight sure makes for a stable riser.