Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Yooper Bowyer on March 14, 2021, 09:55:09 pm
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However much I dislike the absence of Osage up here, I am always thankful for the white pines. Last April we had some fresh fallen 2'-3' pines cleared up and I got two good lengths of the cleanest arrow wood I have ever seen. I have used a fair bit by now, but I still have about 15-20 pieces this size, plus a half log I never got around to splitting. Hopefully I can get these split down further and planed into shafts by the end of the week. Did I mention this stuff is amazing to work?
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I would love to see some finished shafts with lots of photos! This is helpful to me to see stuff other than bamboo! Thanks.
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Will do!
They aren't always picture perfect, I use a hand plane and sometimes settle for an octagon with rounded corners for utility arrows, but I hope to make a set of nice target arrows from this slab.
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I got sidetracked, but I got a dozen shafts out of that block, there was relatively little waste because it split so well. These stay remarkably straight compared to some other materials I've tried. I think this is because they follow the grain well.
11 are about 3/8", the last came out at 5/16". 5 of the large ones are between 430 and 460 grains, 6 are between 400 and 430 grains. Good enough at close range, but I'll be making more so I can get a really well matched set. Let me know if there are any other angles you'd like to see.
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man... i really wanna make my own arrow shafts lol! I tried making a shooting board but it failed horribly...
those shafts look really good!
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Thanks, what's a shooting board?
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Where's up here? I'm in Northern Michigan. We have lots of white pines. I guess I didn't know they make such good arrow shafting. How did you dry the log?
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A friend cut out 36" sections from a fresh fallen tree and I used a sledge and wedges to split the logs into quarters and then those large blanks. I set them out to dry for a year and split them down when I am ready to work them. I can send you a bunch if you cover shipping. Are you above or below the bridge?
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I'm below the bridge, about an hour north of Traverse City. Thanks for the offer, but we have an endless supply around here, so I'm excited to find a good looking tree and get sledging and wedging!
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With grain that straight, making shafts ought to be a cakewalk. Nice!
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I've tried poplar, maple, hickory and beech so far. I haven't found a straight enough piece of pine yet. Iion my To-do
They look great!
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Old, well seasoned arrow materials can be found at salvage yards that sells used lumber and even old furniture and doors, many of which were made from straight grained spruce or fir and other appropriate woods.
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Tom Braun in South Dakota made some of the best arrow shaft material I have ever shot. It was old growth fir from a barn, well over 100 years old. Some of the 23/64 shafts had as many as 25 growth rings and I had to cut the shafts on a sharp bias and look through a magnifying glass to count rings!
Sadly, he has used all that up and I can't get them anymore.
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I had a friend that found some straight grained Pine lumber at one of the box stores and made some incredible arrows from it. That was the first I had seen from Pine but I wouldn't hesitate to use it in the future.
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Its been decades since I made any primitive arrows but back then I used viburnum shoots.
I had a very thick hedgerow and though only about one in fifty shoots were straight enough I harvested quite a few when cutting it back to build a fence.
I have a few thick yard long shoots I cut maybe 15 years ago that I've been meaning to dig out and try making a few shafts. They've been stored in a long cardboard box all this time.
The wood is very tough and springy unless it dries out too much. Plenty of pin knots but they don't seem to affect the finished arrow much at all.
Using a cartridge brass head I once drove one through a galvanized steel fence panel without damage to the arrow.
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The viburnum arrows I've made were very good arrows. Fifteen yours of air drying should make very good arrows, even better than when they were first cut.
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The elders always have the bet seasoned stuff, I haven't even been shooting that long, and I started young. ;D
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One thing that got me interested in building a bow was an episode of the TV series "Robin Hood". In that ep a young man asked him to teach him how to use a bow and Robin made him first make his own bow and arrows. I remember Robin said the best wood for arrows was pear wood. A couple of years ago I watched a documentary on Plains Indian weapons and when constructing a war club with long slender shaft for striking from horseback they used pear wood for the shaft.
PS
At one time the best trained Japanese archers had to learn to make arrows first , for several years they had to make five arrows per day before ever being allowed to touch a bow.