Main Discussion Area > Arrows

Dowels

(1/3) > >>

jaxenro:
I was looking to make some 3/8"  arrows from dowels at my local wood stores.

Are dowels suitable for arros if I pick straight grain ones? Anything I need to know?

One place has oak and what they call hardwood but I am not sure what it is. The other has oak, birch, cherry, and wanut. What woods are suitable and any I should stay away from?

Et_tu_brute:
As long as you look through the dowels carefully and select ones with straight grain they should be fine for shafts, also make sure there are no joints in the dowels. Obviously they wont be well matched for weight and spine, so I'd probably buy lots then weigh and spline them yourself to get them into matched sets. Birch is good, Oak will work well enough but is quite heavy, Poplar is also a good one if you can get it. Ones listed as "hardwood" may be Ramin (would need to see pics to be sure), which works OK. Out of what you can get I'd personally go for the Birch, it makes very nice arrows and is pretty tough. I've no experience of Cherry and Walnut, but I guess if they have nice straight grain there's not reason why they shouldn't work.

Pat B:
I agree with Et tu although 3/8" might be to big and to heavy of spine for your arrows. Try a few different smaller sized dowels to see what would be appropriate arrows for you.

scattershot:
In my experience, the 5/16" birch or poplar make very good arrows, and the spine will run in the mid-40's. The 3/8" will spine anywhere from 80# on up. They are usable, but very stiff. As noted above, check for cracks, knots, and grain runout, and I flex the ones I use before I ever start the arrow making process. They are dowels, after all, and some of them simply don't want to be arrows!

Good luck!

El Destructo:
Like Pat said....3/8" is probably too strong for your Arrows....if not ....do I have a deal for you!!! I have about 60 - 3/8" Birch Dowels sitting in my Garage....the Reason being....they spine out at around 80-100 pounds....so if you are He-Man enough for these....PM me!!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page