No grease was used Rob, only a propane torch.
In another discussion Marc was telling me that his shafts, although well seasoned, didn't want to stay straight. I thought this strange so Marc sent me a few to play around with. I had forgotten about how hard the dogwood was in this regard and is the main reason I don't use the stuff anymore. It makes for a heavy, hard hitting arrow, once you do get 'em straight, but it takes patience in getting 'em that way.
I checked this morning after yesterday's initial straightening and the dogwood had crooked somewhat. Meadowsweet, no change. But you really don't want to read a lot into the initial straightening process because of MC. Next session will tell me more. Besides, a little crooking is a good clue as to the orientation of the shaft to the bow.
Here's a dogwood hunting arrow of mine. Dynamically spined 45/50# and 28" long, it's weight is 631 gr. About the limit in weight I want to shoot in 40/45# bows............Art