Most important is getting a sense of its specific gravity (sg), easily done by floating a dry, uniform-dimension sample in water, 1/2" x 1/2" by 10" or so. If 40% of it floats above water it's .60sg, etc.
Design the bow shorter or longer per bows you've made of known- density woods, or wider if too long for taste.
Some woods fail in tension, some normally, some in compression. It's good to know which before laying out the bow, this fairly easy to determine:
Again, make a uniform dimension sample and begin slowly bending it over your knee, checking set taken with each small bend increase. If the sample breaks in tension before taking much set it's tension-weak wood, needing either wider of longer limbs or a trapped/crowned belly. If it takes large set before breaking it's compression-weak, needing wider or longer limbs or a somewhat trapped/narrowed back.
Make the first bow of this new wood substantially longer than indicated. If it takes essentially no set shorten it inch by inch until low set is reached. This will be the bows most efficient length.
