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Spine consideration for war arrows

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Pat B:
I rummaged through my hardwood shoots and came up with a privet shoot(Ligustrum japonicum) that is 36" long. For some all of the larger hardwood shoots I have(no matter the species) have an oval cross section...so this privet shoot is 36" long, 5/8-1/2" at the pile end and 3/8-7/16 at the nock end. As it stands, fairly well seasoned with the bark removed, this shoot weighs 1356 grains... or just over 3 ozs. I have a hand forged round "bodkin" type point that weighs about 570 grs. This was made by a local blacksmith in 5 minutes from his own imagination.
   I will work on straightening this privet shoot, cutting it to length and see how it will work as a war arrow. I have goose feathers(Canada) and red silk thread! I'm good to go!!! ;D    Pat

ps. I do need an arrow for a bow I can't shoot. ::)

Pat B:
I forgot to post the pics so here are a couple.....     Pat

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Lloyd:
sounds like it's time to get out the plane or the shurform and do a little shoot reduction

DBernier:
Hey Pat, I got the Bodkin points the other day and started on an arrow. The heads weigh between 20 and 26 Grams (300 to 400 grains). The top shaft with the head is 7/16 doweling with an 11 inch tapper to 3/8 inch. The shaft is 35 1/4 inch's long and weighs 1000 grains with no feathers. Hint, Hint, Hint   ;D    It is spined to 100#. The bottom shaft is Oak, 36 inch's long and weighs 1050 grains in the raw. I picked up some 3/8 dia. Oak shafts today and will see how they work out. Now I need a 100# bow. Hey if you got any spare white goose feathers, lets trade.

Dick Bernier
Mebane NC

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Rod:
Ash and asp (poplar) were much used, though the poplar used then  (most likely Black Poplar which is almost extinct hereabouts) is not the same as the poplar in current use.
For a heavy shaft ash is good and poplar probably better for a flighting shaft than ash.
Another good option for the heavy shaft would he hornbeam. It should be noted that Ascham cites a number of shaft materials of which Ash and Asp are merely the most commonly used.

For a heavy shaft hornbeam is probably superior to ash in weight at a given dimension and was very common as a coppiced wood in parts of the country, having many "industrial" uses.

On the whole I think it likely that for mass production planing shafts from straight grained wood might be a more productive process than gathering and straightening shoot shafts.

As for spine, as long as stiffness is sufficient that the shaft will "stand in the bow" then it is not too critical.
Lets face it, at full draw you will not be looking down the shaft anyway, unless you are strong enough to anchor low enough to get your eye behind the string.
Otherwise your eye to mark and through the shaft to the mark are two separate and converging lines.
The aim will always consist of an intuitive allwance for offset, so having an arrow that shoots a little stiff is of little consequence, though it might be useful is the arrows were a reasonable match to each other.

Rod.

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