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I will confess to being as interested in the aesthetics of equipment as its functionality. This is kind of a "book by its cover" thing, but I am an unabashed lover of pretty gear.
When we select woods for traditional Okinawan weapons, hardness, weight and flexibility are all factors in selection. Aesthetics has to come dead last because you don't want a weapon that is too rigid, or it might break. Long weapons, like the bo, require some flexibility.
So this all got me wondering, is there a need for such qualities in a riser. Does it need to have give or have a certain "softness" for shock absorption? Or can we just go with whatever gives us the weight and look we want?
I know Sid and you other bow builders out there will have ready answers for me. Could I, for example, build a riser out of purple heart and osage orange, or zebra wood and jatoba?
When we select woods for traditional Okinawan weapons, hardness, weight and flexibility are all factors in selection. Aesthetics has to come dead last because you don't want a weapon that is too rigid, or it might break. Long weapons, like the bo, require some flexibility.
So this all got me wondering, is there a need for such qualities in a riser. Does it need to have give or have a certain "softness" for shock absorption? Or can we just go with whatever gives us the weight and look we want?
I know Sid and you other bow builders out there will have ready answers for me. Could I, for example, build a riser out of purple heart and osage orange, or zebra wood and jatoba?