HICKORY

I have been told by many, many people that Hickory is possibly the best bow wood there is. It is strong and straight grained, easy to work with, and readily available. In Maryland, it's practically everywhere.

Not only will it make good self-bows, it is highly recommended as a backing for any material to make weaker woods less likely to break under stress.

Due to their extreme strength in tension the hickories are about the hardest bows to break and, unless at least moderately violated, never need backing. Hickory is used for backing other bows.  (TB)

I'm including some images here to aid with identification.

Bitternut Hickory

Mockernut Hickory

Pignut Hickory

Shagbark Hickory

Bitternut

Mockernut

Pignut

Shagbark

Specific Gravity of Hickory
Shellbark: .69
Mocerknut and Shagbark: .72
Pignut: .75


Sources:
Choosing Woods by Tim Baker (TB) Unless noted, SG figures are from Choosing Woods by Tim Baker.
All images on this page are courtesy of Dendrology at Virginia Tech, by John Seiler, used with permission.