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Syringa arrow build a long

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juniper junkie:
I have been getting a lot of questions on the syringa arrows I have been shooting for a while now. so I thought I would share with you how I build them. Syringa (philadelphus lewisii) grows throughout the more arid regions of the northwest and northern california, also referred to as mock orange, it grows in rocky hillsides and along creek bottoms, in the mid summer it blooms with a white flower, which is Idaho's state flower. it produces shoots and seeds for distribution. usually growing in clusters of shoots ranging in size depending on the age of the plant. the plants which grow in the more shady areas produce the longer shoots. shoots with reddish color bark are sucker shoots and are weaker than the grayer bark ones and have a larger pith in the center. this is what a bush looks like.

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juniper junkie:
locate the shoots that are the straightes and do not have any hard curves to them, gradual curves are no big deal since it is easy to straighten

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Pat B:
OH! Mock Orange and not Lilac! ;) I have a nice Mock Orange(probably P. coronarius) bush in my front yard. Looking forward to your build-along.    Pat

juniper junkie:
next you will need to straighten the shafts as they dry. the bark seals in the moisture incredibly well so there is no real hurry while the bark is on them. at this point they will be very limber.

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juniper junkie:
next you will need to scrape off the bark and cambium layer, you can use a obsidian flake, knife or any kind of blade, just hold a metal blade vertical so as not to gouge into the shaft. after the bark is off then lay them on a flat surface to start drying, you will need to check them almost every day if it is warm and make sure they are staying straight. next you will want to remove any nodes that are on the shaft, I use a small hand plane with the blade set real shallow, I have also used a strunk arrow planer. you can now use the plane to even out the shaft on the fat end. keep rotating the shaft as you plane and remove the high ridges, keeping it round. this will also get rid of some of the irregularities in the shaft.

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