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.


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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.

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.