hand planed shaft questions

[pjsnell]

For those of you who plane/turn your own shafts, how consistent is spine from shaft to shaft?  What do you look for when you select your stock?

[Art B]

Look for straight running growth rings on the board's face/sides. Doesn't mean you'll find many like that but that's something to shoot for. Look for consistent growth ring thickness as well. Boards that show straight, both on the face and sides, is another indication of little stress in the wood. I prefer 2X2 to work with personally, overall lateral stresses will show up better. But I'll jump right on any nice straight grained board. You kind of get a feel for the wood's density after doing a few but it's a good rule of thumb to kind of weigh one board against one another. That and studying the board's growth ring structure plus it's overall straightness is my critrion.

As far as consistent spine vs diameter, I've had pretty good luck there. But you will get a few from time to time that will show different spine vs their diameter though. -ART B

[George Tsoukalas]

I cut barrel tapered shafts to better control spine and weight. More on my site. Jawge
http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/shafts.html