Archery has come a long way from the bent stick cut from a
hedge. The modern day bow, as used in the
Olympic Games is the product of some quite high tech
materials science and
engineering.
The modern day
recurve bow consists of 3 main pieces, the riser, the limbs, and the string. The riser, or the handle if you prefer, is now usually CNC machined from
aircraft grade
aluminium. But other lightweight, strong materials can be used, eg
magnesium or even
carbon fibre The limbs, the bits that bend and do the
work, are a
composite material, made from layers of
wood and
fibreglass, or in the really high tech (ie
expensive) models, syntatic foam and
carbon fibre. Don't ask me what syntatic foam is, I don't know, it's patented, I reckon it behaves linearly over wide temperature ranges, whereas the more common wood doesn't.
The string is made from very high
tensile strength
polymers such as
kevlar.
Also see
compound bows