Author Topic: A question on wood for arrows.  (Read 1588 times)

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Offline Gimlis Ghost

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A question on wood for arrows.
« on: November 27, 2021, 03:13:09 am »
I can remember when wooden arrows were just about all one could find in sporting goods stores other than solid nylon arrows used for bow fishing.
Anyway my question is on the inherent suitability of different woods and bamboo for arrows intended for different draw weights and how arrow length may be dictated by these qualities.

I've noticed most bamboo arrows used by owners of Asian style bows are a bit longer and have longer fletching than arrows made of more common woods.
They seldom if ever quote a spine number for these, and I suspect thats due to the inherent flexibility of bamboo. Are all of about the same spine value?

Cedar arrows were once the norm for American archery, either target or hunting, despite inherent fragility of cedar compared to other woods.
Makers of their own arrows here seem to avoid Cedar prefering much tougher wood shoots.
When I made my own arrows I used Viburnum shoots, though even they could become brittle over time.

Does anyone have a run down of the various woods used by commercial mass production arrow makers at various times over the decades that archery has been popular in the USA?