Is there a standard for determining how much runnout is acceptable.  I've been "shaft-shoot'n" a bunch of Doug. Fir and some of them look a little squirly.  

Thanks

Doug fir is pretty tough and won't break as easily as cedar if the grain runs off the shaft.  However, I personally wouldn't use any shaft that has grain that runs totally across the shaft at some poinit.  It would probably hold together, but I don't want to be the one to find out.

Yeah, that's what I figured.  Most all the shafts I have made have looked pretty good but there's a couple that were obviously less than perfect.  Mabye I'll start another random shaft pile for shafts like that.

Orion I've had the opposite experince with Douglas Fir. Of the few I have made, they seem to break easier than cedar. I had one hit the target and just apparently not want to stay in one piece anymore. It hit and the back half flew back 5 feet. Perhaps we have a different quality douglas fir.

Ursus:  Some wavyness is OK, even grain that runs off, if it doesn't go all the way across the shaft, will probably be OK.

Luke V:  Good point.  I did get a batch of Doug fir a while ago that was very brittle.  Fella I got it from said he doweled them from 80-100 year old timbers acquired through some sort of building demolition.  I think the stuff was just too dried out.  That's the only time it's ever happened to me, but perhaps Doug fir is susceptible to overdrying and becoming brittle.

One interesting thing, I've found, is that the DF shafts that I've made with the Shaft Shooter have come out very straight!  As good or better than the cedars I used to buy.  I can't wait to get some stain on a few of them, the grain should look really cool.

Luke,

I have a few more hickories ready to "shoot" and three Bubinga ready for you to attempt, more if they work out.

Ursus, I can't give you a definitive answer to your question, but if you are making your own, why even take the chance?

Scatt- Yeah, I might take that road too.  At less than $.50 a shaft it's no biggie if I have to toss a few.  Garden stakes maybe...

Steve I'll run that hickory real soon.  I need some heavy spined shafts.  Maybe I'll swing by and get more wood from you.

Orion it could be that they over-dried in my basement. I had them down there for a while, and put the finish on them down there. It would make sense.