Making a bow out of one piece of wood, a "self bow" is more difficult in some ways than making a laminated bow.  The wood must be chosen carefully and the back of the bow [its convex side] must be worked down to reveal one layer of growth ring along its whole length.  If the fibres of the growth ring are cut through anywhere there is a weak spot which will probably break dramatically when the bow is reaching its final shape, or worse...at some later stage.  Self bows must also be made from wood which is both good at stretching [the back] and at compressing [the belly].

Laminating a bow solves the last problem as each laminate can be chosen to be good at compressing or stretching but needn't be both. Also timber choice is not so crucial because the severing of parallel wood fibres which is common in sawn timber, will not usually result in a break if two or three bits are glued together.  Laminating is a good choice for woodworkers who only have access to sawn, milled timber and there's really nothing to beat the feeling of shooting a bow made from a small tree you've spotted in the woods then whittled down to reveal the bow within...but look at this laminated lovely...

Clamping the laminates together.

This combination of Ipe and bamboo is a classic pairing of woods as the bamboo has great tensile strength and the very dense Ipe [it sinks in water]  can take great compression without being damaged. The shaped handle is American black walnut.

 Laminated bows have their own beauty and people always seem to like their clean lines and contrasting colours.  I'll be making a few more of these Ipe and bamboo ones.