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Dogwwoods

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bjrogg:

--- Quote from: Beadman on September 03, 2017, 11:12:11 am ---BJ....By maintenance I presume you mean straightening?I've had that happen in the past but to be honest the last few batches have stayed straight.I think because they are from older shoots and I let them season a long time straightened.
I seal them with gasket lacquer also.

--- End quote ---
Yes Ed, I mean straightening. I have some that stay good and some that don't. I've noticed that they don't seem to like sitting on my truck dash in the hot sun, or really high humidity maybe. It seems like they keep their shape better for me during winter. It seems strange that some of my straightest harvested shoots seem to make me the most trouble. I have some I've been drying straightened and zip tide to broom handles. My previous ones weren't this straight during drying, hopefully this will help, haven't made one from them yet.
Bjrogg

DC:
I wonder if the some good, some bad relates to how much you had to heat it to straighten it. The straightest ones would have had the least amount of heating during straightening and they give you the most trouble.

BowEd:

--- Quote from: DC on September 03, 2017, 01:48:55 pm ---I wonder if the some good, some bad relates to how much you had to heat it to straighten it. The straightest ones would have had the least amount of heating during straightening and they give you the most trouble.

--- End quote ---
DC.....That could very well be.I've found too though trying to get them perfectly straight can be an excersize in frustration with some of their corkscrew shapes so they are shot just as they are surprisingly accurate too yet.To me wood has a memory so leaving them season a long time[3 months minimum/3 years better/good average of 6 months] I think helps also.
BJ ....I store my shafts in the quiver on end or in card board carpet tubes.Never laying sideways.I think the stuff mine are made out of are gray flowering dogwood.I know when exposed to a wet enviornment such as over night in the dewy grass they can warp some yet.
On a side note those long v grooves heated I've heard help to keep them straight.Never actually experimented with it though.Rolling them on a hot surface such as a wide topped wood stove with a wide weighted board I've heard works too. Seems I get around 1 to 1.5 hours into each one to make a shaft from harvesting to finish just as is.

bjrogg:
I've never tried the grooves either Ed. Yup I'd like to have a nice flat top woodstove for straightening shafts. The old wood cookstove we had when I was a lighter would be great.
Bjrogg

BowEd:
BJ....I've seen what I think is a slick way of putting grooves on these in a piece of wood that has the point of a hardened nail sticking out in the hole then the shaft pulled through the hole.That would work great for parallel width shafts.
Since I've made these lately I have to replenish the stock of shafts to give them time to season.Bundles of 6 around 1 for a total of 7.Staying away from shoots with too much of a kink on them.Wrapping them onto a broom stick handle is a good idea too.Along the way 3 multiflora rose shafts on the left looked too good to pass up too.I straighten/wrap,straighten/wrap,straighten/wrap these a few times while green every other day.Then just let them dry and season.I probably won't think about making arrow shafts from these till next fall.



Seems no matter what type of shoot shafts I harvest I do it the same way whether they be hazel/sourwood/or even bamboo if I had it growing here.The list of shoot shaft material is quite a few.Ocean spray/viburnum/and honey suckle to name a few more,of which I've never made any shafts from though yet.

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