Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Dazv on September 13, 2011, 10:52:20 am
-
hi guys
I do alot of shooting and my arrows often get torn up and splinter pretty bad. I have been useing ceder and sprouce shafts. I was wonder what do you find last's the longest cane ect???
thanks very much
darren :D
-
Hi Daz,
I've been using cane with good results. Here in the SE UK I tend to bounce a lot of arrows off trees during field shoots, and the cane ones are survivors! I get mine from MarkInEngland on this same web-board. I'm sure he will chime in, or you can send him a PM using the website.
Cheers, Bob
-
I use both cane and hardwood shoots for arrows and both are way more durable than any other shafting I have used...plus they are fun to build from scratch and IMO are more appropriate for selfbows. I do still use cedars and other doweled shafts but haven't bought any in a long time.
If you want to stick with doweled shafting ash makes a very durable, heavy arrow that will need occasional hand straightening but don't let that deter you. IMO, it part of the experience. ;)
-
Dazv, it would seem some of the fun of primitive archery is making those arrows. If we didn't get them scarred up a bit, we'd have no reason to build more. For durability, though, ash, hickory, ramin, laminated birch all hard to beat. I'm just getting into bamboo and really like what I see with them so far, however, have no personal experience on the ruggedness - I'm afraid to shoot them where I might break or lose them!! :-\
-
Tonkin cane is some tough stuff! WAY tougher than anything else i've used. You can get them from www.ruddersbows.com or from www.Primalneedarchery.com my only problem with cane is that i can never get a heavy enough shaft for what i want...
-
Boofus, my hill cane arrows are 650gr+ with 125gr heads. I've had the same results with switch cane too. I've never made Tonkin cane arrows but I do have a dozen or so shafts sitting around. They are smaller diameter than both hill and switch cane. If I'm not mistaken the Tonkin has had the rind remover so sealing them is a must!
-
cheers guys it sounds like can may be worth ago. I do make primitive arrows from shoots like hawthorn ash blackthorn rose etc but they are not for practice it just kinda sucks when i spend £40 on materials to make 12 practice arrows and they just get tron up. I just want to be able to make good cheap target arrows that will last a long time. What dose anyone else think???
-
Ash is tough and available from Allegheny.
Pat, I am shooting the same weight, in fact of my six long ash arrows, each weigh within five grains at 65x. I am pulling about 47 pounds. These suckers whump. Is the proportion 14 grpp out of whack? The weight feels well matched to the energy of the bow and they penetrate the target vigorously and really group well. I love the way ash shoots. PD
-
Pete, at 15 yards the heavy weight arrows do quite well as you know. I will take quiet and momentum over speed any day. If I were shooting targets at 50 or 60 yards I might go with a lighter shaft but for hunting distances I like what I shoot. ;)
-
Tonkin Bamboo is by far the toughest shafts I've used. That is what David Knight and MarkInEngland sell.
-
I think i will make a couple of arrows of tonkin to give it ago thanks for the advice :D :D :D
-
I know I sell bamboo arrow shafts but....
if its good and cheap you want hazel shoots would come close on durability and be very good on cheap.
In the UK a few walks in the woods allows you to pick quite a few dozen hazel shoots about 3/8ths to 1/2 inch at the base and maybe 48 inches long. Peel them, dry them, use heat to straighten them, cut them to length and you should have some good durable arrows that even if not spine matched will shoot pretty well.
Tonkin may be easier and quicker tyo make up and tougher but hazel makes a very good arrow and it's free.
Mark in England
-
Excellent Thread for us new guys... :)
-gus
-
I know I sell bamboo arrow shafts but....
if its good and cheap you want hazel shoots would come close on durability and be very good on cheap.
In the UK a few walks in the woods allows you to pick quite a few dozen hazel shoots about 3/8ths to 1/2 inch at the base and maybe 48 inches long. Peel them, dry them, use heat to straighten them, cut them to length and you should have some good durable arrows that even if not spine matched will shoot pretty well.
Tonkin may be easier and quicker tyo make up and tougher but hazel makes a very good arrow and it's free.
Mark in England
I dont really like making arrows from hazle it dose not have very good memory but i have never tried to make them without scraping them down from a thicker shaft. where do you find the cheapest points in the uk???? thanks alot for the help.
darren ;D
-
Pat B: I don't know how your getting your weight perfect like that... my tonkin cane arrows all finish out at ~540-572 grains with 190 grain field point or grizzly broadhead, i'd love to get them around 750~800 grains maybe it's the spine i shoot... they're only about 5/16 diameter.
-
My tonkin boo arrows all eneded up at about 525-545 with 125 gr tips. They are 29" long.
-
My Tonkin cane arrows are the toughest I've ever shot.
-
Working up a fist full of Tonkin arrahs.
From another thread on PA, got the idea to get some shaft material from the Garden department at Lowe's.
Bamboo garden stakes, forty eight inches, picked through em to find two groups of six in two different diameter classes.
We'll see if they turn out, but what the heck, at $0.75 per shaft.
-gus