Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: gene roberts on April 29, 2008, 12:20:17 am
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What is the best shaft material? Thanks For All Opinions
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depends on what you have at hand in your area. can you tell us some things you have access to?
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Not specs because I don't anything to make them out of just dowell rods or something,but I have lots of woods like 35 yards from my house.
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If you have woods in your area, you have shaft material! Look for straight shoots coming from the base of trees, shrubs and some annual weeds. Tree stumps where trees have been cut usually have shoot material growing. Take a walk in the woods and look for the straight lines of shoots...before the leaves come out. ;D Hickories, oaks, poplar, pine, birch, viburnum, spice bush, sweet shrub, horse weed, dog fennel, golden rod, and the list goes on. These are all common names. If you need botanical names I can probably come close. ;D Pat
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Sweet I will look tommorrow
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David, spice bush should be blooming in your area. Have you identified the shrub you talked about before for arrows.? Pat
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My favorites in my area are cane, cane, cane, sourwood, arrow wood viburnum, buffalo nut, and hazlenut. There are many others that make good shafts, just experiment with what you have around you. Sections of pine and tulip poplar logs can also be split and planed into good shafts.
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When I was in Oregon I LOVED California Hazel. Now that I'm in Utah, I make do with Red Osier.
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i be workin on my sourwoods. great stuff.
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Cane is ready to go. So is Phragmites but it is weak compared to cane. Never step on your phragmites arrows, but they will fly noticeably farther than any other I've tried so far. Any shoot requires 2-3 times more work and 5 times more time than cane or Phragmites. Most shoots shrink a lot when drying so get them bigger than you think you need. Shoots takle a long time to season, then you have to remove most of the taper as well as making them straight. it's good winter work.
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David, spice bush should be blooming in your area. Have you identified the shrub you talked about before for arrows.? Pat
yep it is spice bush for sure i should make arrows from some pretty soon
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Pat, have you tried sweetshrub? I made a few shafts up awhile back from it and I was quite impressed with its weight, spine, workability, and tendency to stay straight. I haven't tested them thoroughly yet, but I think it's going to be another great material.
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I've used Salt Cedar (also heard it called Tamarisk) and other shoots of some kind that I need to ID one of these days. Just walk around in the thicker woods - their'll be something straight to try. Cane seems to capture my interest the most though - has been an obsession of sorts to find a source of good cane. Not that it's any better, I dunno - but it's what I want ;D.
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i think i need to dry my cane indoors now. it got all brittle and stuff outside. thats what i get for being impatient :P
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If you have large power tools, like a large bandsaw or table saw, you can cut up 3/8" squares from logs and turn them into shafts with a hand plane- or, if they're still slightly green, chuck them up into a corded power drill and run them through a piece of metal with graduated holes cut into it. The second method takes about ten minutes a shaft, maybe five if the grain is straight. I prefer this method as you can just use small billets from a stave tree, and hickory makes such sturdy arrows I wonder if modern carbon arrows could have met their match (hickory flexes, they don't).
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Steve, I have a bundle of sweet shrub in the utility room but haven't made an arrow from it yet. I'll have to give it a try. Pat
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I think you'll like it. Smells good when you're working it, too.
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ive found good arrow woods, by just cutting some small shoots and found they make good arrows. not sure what this wood is but it is strong and straightens well, but i knwo ash is good, hickory, im sure any wood will work and depending on what you plan on using it for.
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We have a wood here called salt cedar (I think).. heavy and hard as nails.. I am going to try and cut some next time i get down to the Greybull river.. has anyone tried it ? Hawk
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Since you have access to nearby woods, I suggest gathering shoots from as many different trees and shrubs as possible. Peel the bark off them, label them with the name of the tree/shrub, put a date on them, and put them aside to dry (the car dashboard is NOT a good place, by the way...unless you're very impatient).
Some shoots will dry faster than others. You can weigh them (to see when then they stop loosing water weight) but I'd just wait two or three weeks.
Try straightening the shoots by hand first (without heat). Most shoots will not stay straight after hand straightening but if you find a species that will stay fairly straight your search is over. Rejoice and gather more of these. Count yourself lucky.
Here in TX, there is only one shrub that I have found that can be hand straightened: Roosevelt weed.
If none of your shoots respond to hand straightening then use heat. Most shoots respond to heat but some will get brittle. Discard these.
If all the shoots you gather turn out to be "crappy"...then I suggest using birch dowels. That's what Ishi did.... ;D
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Hawkbow - guess we'll have to do a search on that salt cedar to find it's proper name or whatever ya call it :). The stuff growing around me that I've heard called salt cedar all my life is light as a feather when dry and don't think it's all that hard :-\. If I had a picture I'd post it..
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Is there a website where you can look up plant species? I have an old wildlife book but it has drawings instead of pictures and its not working out too good for me. I found some plants on the side of the road yesterday and havent figured out what they are yet. I wish I had pictures. I think they would make good arrows.
Jeremy
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Mike, I've got a few salt cedar shoots that Justin gave me last year. I've made a couple shafts from them, and they seem to be a really good material. Salt cedar is Tamarix, also known as tamarisk. There are several species of it, all introduced invasives. Out of nine species naturalized in the US, the most common are T. chinensis, T. ramosissima, and T. parviflora.
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i debar and and straightened the 1 good spice bush shoot today i love it it works great i can twait to finish it it should make a good strong arrow
it straightens really easily and its way easier than rose