Bow Woods (From A Mathematical

Perspective)
Archery bows present a somewhat unique challenge in finding the right requirements for the
best wood. In the simplest and crudest terms possible, the wood should be able to bend, but
not break. With all of the data available on the Wood Database, theres no single
measurement that directly indicates a woods ability to bend easily without breaking.
Instead, it is primarily a combination of two values: the woods modulus of elasticity (also
known as MOE), and the modulus of rupture (also known as MOR).
Again, dealing in the simplest terms:
1. The modulus of elasticity (MOE) measures how easily a wood will bend, (the higher
the number, the more stubborn and stiff it will be).
2. The modulus of rupture (MOR) measures how easily the wood will break, (the higher
the numer, the harder it is to break or rupture).
In terms of looking at the raw mechanical data of woods, the best bow woods tend to be
those that have a low MOE and a high MOR. (Stated another way, the best bow woods
tend to be those that will bend easily, and not break.) Its of little advantage if a given wood
scores well in one area, and poorly in another (i.e., a very low MOE or a very high
MOR).What is most important, regardless of how low the MOE may be, or how high
the MOR may be, is the ratio of the MOE to the MOR; it must be easy to bend AND
hard to break.
Given the rationale and requirements, an equation can be formed to roughly assess a woods
suitability for bow use: (MOR/MOE) * 1000. (The added factor of 1000 is simply to bring
the number to a more manageable size and avoid dealing with tiny .00xx decimal values.)
For lack of a better term, this ratio will simply be referred to as the woods Bow Index.
Analyzing all the woods in the Wood Database for their Bow Index, the following results are
obtained:

The Highest Bow Index:

Wood Species

Bow
Index

Comments

13.79

Data is taken from a several species in the

Dalbergia genus, (D. baronii, D. greveana,
D. madagascariensis, and D. monticola), so it may
not reflect an accurate picture of any one particular
species of the grouping that is referred to as
Madagascar Rosewood.

11.81

Along with Madagascar Rosewood, Muninga

represents another curiosity. On paper, it appears
to rank right alongside other historically proven
bow woods such as Yew and Osage Orange. Realworld results may differ.

Madagascar
Rosewood

Muninga

11.52

No MOE data could be located for European Yew

(Taxus baccata), but the values for Pacific Yew
(Taxus brevifolia) are so close to identical that they
have been carried over and used for the European
species. A slightly higher MOR puts European Yew
ahead of Pacific Yew by a nose, though from a
numerical standpoint they should be considered
equivalent.

European Yew

11.51

Osage Orange

11.26

Pacific Yew

Given the great differences in density and overall

strength between Yew and Osage Orange, its very
interesting to note that the Bow Index of the two
species comes out to nearly the same. Note that
this is for the North American species, with
Argentine Osage Orange only scoring an aboveaverage Bow Index of 9.06.

Guajayvi

10.90

Tambootie

10.90

Chinaberry

10.85

Pear

10.68

Cebil

10.61

Mansonia

10.57

Turkey Oak

10.57

Makore

10.55

Movingui

10.52

Field Maple

10.42

African Blackwood

10.40

English Walnut

10.31

Alligator Juniper

10.31

Brazilwood

10.22

Good luck finding this wood.

The Lowest Bow Index:

Wood Species

Bow Index

Grand Fir

5.71

Balsa

5.73

Basswood

5.96

Austrian Pine

5.96

Pacific Silver Fir

6.09

Nepalese Alder

6.17

Balsam Poplar

6.18

Eastern Cottonwood

6.20

Sitka Spruce

6.34

Balsam Fir

6.35

Bigtooth Aspen

6.36

Subalpine Fir

6.36

Yellow Poplar

6.39

Yellow Buckeye

6.41

Comments

Sumatran Pine

6.49

Norway Spruce

6.49

Tatajuba

6.52

White Fir

6.53

Jelutong

6.56