This has probably been discussed many times, but what are the top woods to make arrows with? Better yet just some info on the characteristics of the more popular choices and what you feel is the best...thanks!
Surewood Douglas Fir.
Deno
Port Orford Cedar (POC) has been the standard for a long time. There's still good POC around. Sitka spruce is also a good softwood, generally running a little lighter than cedar. Douglas fir is generally a bit heavier, on average, than POC. It's also tougher/more durable.
If you want a really tough shaft, hardwoods like birch, maple, hickory, ash and others will work fine. They'll run 100 to 200 grains heavier than POC. Some folks like the extra weight for penetration and durability, but the tradeoff is speed and trajectory.
Lots of good choices. Just a matter of how you plan to use them.
Poplar has been a good material for me. It's definitely tougher than POC but not much heavier.
I have had good luck with POC and have also had some nice Douglas Fir arrows. The toughest I have ever made are hickory. It is heavy and very tough. You do need to straighten them a little. For primitive arrows I have used River Cane, but I have very limited experience with it. It is very, very tough, though.
I have had very good service from Surewoods Douglass fir, and Sitka Spruce. Probably Douglass Fir would be my first choice, unless I wanted a lighter arrow, then I would use Sitka Spruce.
I tried a bunch when POC became rare in the 1990's. Settled on Douglas fir as the best for hunting and stumping.
I still shoot cedar in some of my bows.
POC for me
Hap
Surewood Douglas Fir here.
I find it hard to get good quality Cedar. I have been using Douglas Fir from Surewood for a few years now and have never gotten a bad shaft. It comes in a wide range of physical weights, is durable, straight and is easy to keep that way, beautiful grain, stains well, there's nothing not to like.
Another fan of Doug fir from the guys at Surewood. They are hard to beat.
My opinion is that Douglas Fir is the best all around arrow shaft. Nothing you can't do well with it. If you will be target shooting or just punching paper in the backyard, POC is a great shaft. If you're going to do a lot of roving or stump shooting, try Ash, Hickory, or Birch. I shoot heavier bows and I favor Ash and Hickory. JMO
Pine is my all time favorite although I haven't seen much available in the states lately but boyton archery in the u.k. makes it. It is pretty durable straight and not too light or heavy.
I Primarily shoot ash although it could be hard for a beginner arrow builder to straighten.
Surewoods for me. Straight and consistent.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Western larch is also very straight grained and tough.
Ive considered larch but havent ordered any yet. I see it fairly often on 3rivers for a good price. I just ordered some rose city poc as my first venture into woods. Will be slowly putting everything together to make my own then start experimenting with the different wood options
Cedar is relatively easy to work with and absolutely smells the best.
I taper the last 11" of my shafts down to 5/16" with a bow plane and THE ADMIRAL doesn't mind if I do it on the livingroom floor watching TV in the winter because it smells so good.
:archer2:
I prefer Port Orford Cedar.
Been using nothing but wood for years and years, and Douglas Fir from Surewood gets my normal vote. Durable, straight, readily available, and it works and finishes really well.
Other than that, I've used quite a few Red Balau hardwood shafts from Kevin Forrester Wood Shafts for heavy big game arrows. That stuff is awesome.
Wanted, at times, to try POC, but cannot find it in the spine I need.
No matter though, Douglas Fir is brilliant.
Best
Lex
I like Sitka spruce, (not the cheaper, lower quality German spruce).
Sitka is considered to be the strongest wood for its weight in the world. The very reason it was used for airplane frames and masts and spars on sailing vessels.
It's super tough and light. It's easy to get a 500 to 530 gr arrow with a 125 gr point.
And if a person wants to get a higher FOC arrow, one can achieve that without the finished arrow getting excessively heavy.
I have built Sitka arrows that had a 20% FOC, and only weighed 575gr. Really hard to do that with other woods, especially fir, even though fir is also a great arrow wood. It's just different.
Many target, and 3D archers like the benefits of the lighter mass shafting, which helps flatten the trajectory significantly.
However, if a person is looking for good Fir shafting, no better place to go than to Surewood, great folk, great product.
Where can sitka spruce shafts be found?
i dont know if one is allowed to post links to businesses that are not sponsors on here?
i really dont want to tread on people's toes.
Raptor Archery normally has spruce shafts; might want to check with Ted though to see when he's going to be away from the shop for a while, if you order.
Fujimo, I think posting non-sponsor links is a bit of a grey area, good idea that you're checking. Someone else can answer more definitively. Meanwhile, I remember coming across a post here mentioning a place in B.C. - may have been Vancouver Arrows, or Vancouver Archery. I'd like to know myself, as I sometimes use spruce and Hildebrand is no longer available.
I would shoot cedar if I knew of a good source, each time I buy 100, I am disappointed. So I shoot Surewooid Shafts and am never dissappointed.
yup Ted at Raptor sells the sitka spruce, as well as Doug fir and cedar.
great guy to deal with, but hes busy dealing with bush fires right now- so may have to leave a message or email him.
I've been shooting woods since the early 80's. Shot POC for quite a while as it was the norm and shoots quite well. Spent a while with ramin trying to get more arrow weight and found it it shoot well and it was much more durable. I tried Douglas Fir and for me it is the best shooting of the arrow woods. Snappy recovery with a wide weight range and good durability. Sitka Spruce is pretty good, too and quite tough as well.
next trick of course, is to find some old Sweetland forgewoods!
he made shafts in #100 spine in 5/16 diameter :scared:
11/32 or 23/64 Parallels its cedars for me,,, if I want tapered or barreled I go for douglas furs. I stocked up with Hildebrand shafts not sure if they still sell them.. Ted fry I'm sure has some quality shafts too.
I like POC and Spruce, but have been getting into some bamboo shafts and really liking them for several reasons. Experiment and enjoy the ride!
Quote from: fujimo on August 03, 2018, 11:28:57 PM
i dont know if one is allowed to post links to businesses that are not sponsors on here?
i really dont want to tread on people's toes.
As y'all suspected...and many of you know, links to non-sponsor sites are not allowed.
Quote from: two4hooking on August 08, 2018, 08:39:56 AM
I like POC and Spruce, but have been getting into some bamboo shafts and really liking them for several reasons. Experiment and enjoy the ride!
i have yet to tinker with bamboo. How exactly do you go about attaching points and nocks
Taper and glue. Just like wood. Works for me. Cut arrows from the nock end like carbons. Naturally tapered.
Where do you get your bamboo from and how do they normally spine out
PM sent.
I know that pine is sometimes used as a shaft material. What varieties of pine make suitable arrows> Also, how does it compare to POC?
lodgepole pine or shore pine, has been used very successfully. its commonly known as "Chundoo".
it has a very high resin content and plays heck with sanders and sanding belts, so if you plan to put a long tail taper on them, the paper will gum up quick- i have tried it :)
but they have a beautiful polish and sheen to them, due to the resin, and are a tough shaft, i would say about the same mass as POC.
Personally, i would say, tougher than POC, but thats subjective i guess :laugh:
like POC, they come from a smaller tree, ( unlike the Sitka spruce and the Douglas fir - that are typically larger trees)and so there is less clear wood on the log, so the arrows grain can be a bit more squiggly, but to no detriment to the shaft. they are tough!!
they do better with solvent-based stains, than water-based, once again due to the high resin content
the name chundoo is from the Carrier people up here in BC. It's their name for the lodgepole pine tree.
it came about when a good friend of mine - Sam Moore was making LP pine shafts many many years ago, and selling them, and someone started up in competition but their quality was way inferior , but they produced volumes and flooded the market, very quickly the pine was developing a bad name, so he changed his brand name to "chundoo" and the rest is history- so they say!!