any one know about this

[Hobbyman2]

Since I know many of you folks were in the service and some have been around the globe I was curious if one of ya may have heard about this wood , or is it a wood ? I recently bought a recurve bow on line from China but I have never heard of the wood the riser is made of . its is called red lingyun wood . I did a quick search online with out any success .

[edma194]

No real info online I can find either. There are products on Amazon they say are made of Lingyun wood, and I see a couple of ads for bows, specifically the Black Hunter that use the word in descriptions without specifying just what they mean. Lingyun Mountain is place in China but I don't find references to a specific tree or plant with that name.

Now looking at the risers in this video and the ad above the grain pattern is remarkably similar in every riser shown. Not absolutely identical, but maybe this is not real wood.

[Hobbyman2]

Thanks Ed . I never heard of it before and had my doubts about it being real wood ,I was hoping to find a hardness # . it may not be real wood .

[Hobbyman2]

This is about as close as I can get to the wood but it is not spelled exactly the same . https://www.bellforestproducts.com/lignum-vitae/

[edma194]

It's possible lignum vitae is the same thing, it is definitely the kind of strong durable wood needed for a bow riser. I suspect they are different things though since lingnum vitae means 'Tree of Life' in Latin and there is a place in China called Lingyun Mountain, and also people and companies with that name, and lignum vitae trees are not found in China. But I don't know, there are odder language adaptations than that in the world.

Going off-topic, lignum vitae was the key to making long lasting wooden clocks because it is oily and self lubricates bearing areas. This was used by John Harrison who built several large wooden clocks, and eventually invented a marine chronometer that was used to determine longitude by ships at sea (though not with and wooden parts I think). It was also commonly used for the wooden pulley blocks on sailing ships because of the lubrication properties and the oil content help preserve the wood.

[jsburger]

It's possible lignum vitae is the same thing, it is definitely the kind of strong durable wood needed for a bow riser. I suspect they are different things though since lingnum vitae means 'Tree of Life' in Latin and there is a place in China called Lingyun Mountain, and also people and companies with that name, and lignum vitae trees are not found in China. But I don't know, there are odder language adaptations than that in the world.

Going off-topic, lignum vitae was the key to making long lasting wooden clocks because it is oily and self lubricates bearing areas. This was used by John Harrison who built several large wooden clocks, and eventually invented a marine chronometer that was used to determine longitude by ships at sea (though not with and wooden parts I think). It was also commonly used for the wooden pulley blocks on sailing ships because of the lubrication properties and the oil content help preserve the wood.

It was also used for propeller shaft bearings in ships due to it's toughness and lubricating qualities.

[Hobbyman2]

Interesting facts,, maybe I can contact the manufacture and find out more . once I get the package I will have a return address .