Sources for wood shafting

[Dakota Kid]

You can try ERC from the box hardware store. You'll of course have to take them from board form to dowel, which isn't impossible. Just be aware that the wood is soft and prone to tear out. I found hydrating them with wood oil prior to doweling and sanding helped with this. Leave them 3/8 to start. Most of the ones I made came in between 35-55# depending on the board. They were really lightweight, between 300 and 350 grains for a 32" blank. They seem to hold up okay. The few that I broke should have been discarded due to grain flaw, but I hate throwing stuff away. After the second one exploded in the bow, I changed my opinion on being picky. When it comes to arrows, better safe than shish kabob.

[Danzn Bar]

Good advice Kid...........   
DBar

[CavemanRob]

How about sassafrass shoots for natural shafts?  I have a bunch near me where the town trims the roadside once every few years, and they look to be about the right diameter and length for a decent shoot shaft.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

When it comes to arrows, better safe than shish kabob.

Truer words...

[RBLusthaus]

I found hydrating them with wood oil prior to doweling and sanding helped with this.

I am interested in this thought of yours.  Does the oil effect the ultimate finish or does it all get "doweled" off?  What is wood oil -  do you mean BLO or Tung Oil?  Have you tried water in place of the oil?

My experience with making ERC shafts is very similar to yours.  Light weight, beautiful to behold, but very prone to chip out when doweling.  Of course, sharp blades are a must, but still very chippy, enough to discard almost 25% of the shafts for that reason alone.   

Russ   

[Dakota Kid]

I've used tung oil, motor oil, and vegetable oil. All worked better then nothing at all. I was referring to tung oil when I mention wood oil. Vegetable oil worked equally well and didn't dry as fast. Motor oil didn't penetrate as well as the others. It doesn't all get removed during the process but enough does that it won't effect staining afterwards.

another thing that seemed to help was to adjust my homemade jig so that the feed hole after the cut was a little tight. It seemed to burnish the shaft after the cutting and prevent future tear outs during later finishing. Watch the friction though it will scorch if you let it dry out. 

[BarredOwl]

its great arrow shaft material. love honey suckle shoots.grow very straight. most times with a slight gradual bend. and long too. when you debark it and straighten dont let it fool you as its green that itll be too weak. once it dries its a monster.lol very strong stuff for spine and weight. Tony

I found a standing dead shoot among the bushes in my back yard (actually along the neighbors side) I scraped the bark and straightened it and I was amazed at the difference in strength/toughness between dry and green honeysuckle.  It spined out at about 33#'s.  So I drilled out the nock end just enough to glue in a small diameter piece of dowel rod about an inch long, filed in a self nock and wrapped with sinew and bare shaft tested it tonight with a 125 grain field point and it stuck in my target as straight as could be from about 10 feet back.    What a difference getting a lighter arrow in that lighter draw weight bow and I am shocked at how tough this stuff acts like it's going to be.    Might end up being my new favorite shoot shaft material.  I know where I should be able to cut quite a bit of it around a local reservoir.     

[Fred Arnold]

No idea where you're dwelling but if in the midwest or anywhere else for that matter you might contact Tim at Braveheart Archery for Surewood shafts. Prices are in line and shipping cost usually beats the others hands down.

[BarredOwl]

No idea where you're dwelling but if in the midwest or anywhere else for that matter you might contact Tim at Braveheart Archery for Surewood shafts. Prices are in line and shipping cost usually beats the others hands down.

Thanks Fred, I did find those guys once I settled on Douglas Fir.  Got a dozen shafts on the way.  I agree the price was good enough and shipping seemed in line for sure.

[Fred Arnold]

I always shop around but if what I'm looking for is available from Mr. Harms he generally gets MY business. I prefer doing business close to home with like minded people. Tim doesn't get as much credit as he deserves. Sometimes I wish he was bigger and carried more product but when I think about it long enough, I'm glad he doesn't. We don't need another Cabelas. 3 Rivers, Kustom King, and a few others provide me in a pinch and I do support them. On the other hand Braveheart, Raptror Archery, Echo and a few unmentionables get my vote. tadeletalada

[turtle]

Lowes sells poplar dowels. 5/16 will come in well under 500 grains.

[Ardent]

I bought two dozen Sitka spruce shafts directly from Hildebrand Arrow Shafts. They were $39 a dozen, plus $13.50 S&H. So far I have made six 30-35# medieval-style arrows. They fly very straight and they are definitely my favorites. I weighed one of my completed 5/16", 29" b.o.p., self-nocked arrows with a 100 gr field point, and it is 24 grams, or about 370 grains.

[CavemanRob]

For dowels, I have had much better luck at the smaller craft stores like Micheals, or A.C. Moore etc.  rather than the big-box stores like Lowes or Home Depot.  the smaller craft stores seem to have exponentially better quality dowels for making arrows.  Stiffer for smaller diameters with a straighter grain.  occasionally I will even look at the 3/8 dowels, and I'll sand/scrape them down to the spine I need.  you can also get a really good taper on a 3/8 dowel.  It's a lot more labor-intensive, but worth it sometimes.

[BowEd]

You should'nt be disappointed with surewood shafts.Very well matched weight and spine.He's my man for douglas fir shafts.Note....I've done osage orange shafts here before too.At 5/16's inch thickness spine on them was 35 to 40 pounds.Trouble was they weighed close to 650 grains I recall.That's on a 30" shaft too.

[BarredOwl]

I went with Surewood Shafts.  So far I have not complaints at all.  They are all very close in weight and are all bare shafting real close to the same too.  Here's one I got finished during all the rainy weather we've been having here.  The rain started on Thanksgiving day and there has been anywhere from drizzle to outright rain falling since then.  I had 5 days off for thanksgiving and got to hunt one morning for an hour before it started raining again and and one evening with light mist the entire time I was out.