I made up an arrow out of laminated birch this thing drops like a rock out of my 47# @27' hill the shaft is 5/16 cut to 29 BOP 125gr point. It weighed in at 725 grains my POC come in at 470+- I like the way a heavy arrow hits and seems to take the shock and noise out of a bow. Is there a wood that is as workable as POC but is just a tad heavier and will perform at my hunting distance of 20 or so paces. I could go with a heavier point if need be.

Thats a pretty heavy arrow! You probably don't even need a broad head just shoot em head they should be out cold.  

I'd try poplar or quite possibly Doug Fir...with Fir being the heavier of the two...
Both of which have the added bonus of being more durable than cedar, too...

you are shooting way too heavy an arrow. Why don't you shoot cedars, or fir, and soak them in watco (danish) oil for about a week, it will add 100 grains to the shaft.

How does poplar hold up for straightness? i've always hated working with that stuff as a carpenter because it waroped so bad...

James, i just PM'd you re: Doug fir shafts..What is the spine on those birch arrows anyway?..Kirk

I just made up some Fir arrows, the raw shafts came around 440-450g. Check out Hildebrand shafts, she says there is a wide grain weight range available with fir.

Eric

Ya could also try some regular birch shafts, not laminated. I had some that weighed in around 550 or so all done up, or maple as well will give ya a finished arrow around 550 or so. Shawn

douglas fir from hildebrand is an outstanding shaft..

Poplar is just a little heavier and easy to work.  Once sealed I have had little problem with warping on finished arrows.

Like Shawn stated, try some regular Birch shafts.  They will be a little lighter then the laminated ones.

Dennis

I have had excellent results with Sitka Spruce.  They are very durable and take stain well.  I had a dozen cedar shafts before I started shooting the spruce or I would be a spruce only kinda guy.  After I bust the cedars I'll get a large quantity of Sitka's and only shoot them.

Are u looking for a heavy arrow or just an alternative to the laminated shafts.I just wrapped 1/2 dozen ash and the hit like slugs out of my 55lb curve.23/64 at 30" weigh in at 535 or so, raw.

I would say try sitka spruce

Don't overlook Ramin shafts.
Good weight, tough and cheap.
I get them from  http://git-r-donearchery.com/  .
I do prefer carbons but for some shoots we needed wood and these were great.

Pete

I am going to throw in another vote for plain White Birch. With 125gr points and at ~28in BOP, mine are also in the 550gr neighborhood. They are very very durable and I absolutely love them. The only problem is I can't find a source to get any more recently. I got the current ones from Raptor Archery, about 1 and half years ago, but they don't list them anymore on their site.

Does anyone know who carries them?

Don't forget chundo (lodgepole pine) 30" shaft 510 gr. Hits like a hammer................


Mike

Yeah, but good chundoo's so hard to get ahold of these days...

Where can you get birch shafts?  Old South Traditional used to sell them but they have went to selling arrows only.

Eric

Hey Madness where can you get the sitka spruce.Jay Massey used to say they were the best.But of coarse he made his own.

Hildebrand's is my source for sitka spruce. Good folks, awesome matched shafts. Love that spruce! I did just buy a doz. POC that I'm blown away by though. The spruce were 420gr. and the POC were 430gr. With 160gr. fieldtips they come up to almost 600gr.

Lumberyard carries almost all the wood everyone is reffering too. Arrows are easy to make and a good way to sample multiple kinds.