Longbow material advice

[Petenz]

Hello to all. My name is Pete and I'm located just North of Wellington, New Zealand. My son is an archer and shoots a recurve. He has asked me to make him traditional longbow (I'm a cabinetmaker/carver) but I'm not an archer!! I've searched the web and have a set of plans for a traditional longbow but it now comes down to materials. Given my location, I don't have easy access to many of the timbers that might be used in the Northern Hemisphere so I've tentatively settled on a laminate of hickory and osage. Now the dumb question. Can anyone tell me which of these should be used for the belly and which for the back?
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Pete

 

[dwardo]

Hickory back and osage belly but i am not a lam man. I beleive hickory is near impossible to break in tension so makes a good backing. I am sure some of the other lam guys will chime in.