birch dowels?

[terence pinder]

i was told that birch dowels work good for arrows.do you mean the ones i can pick up at the hardware store in towm or is there a difference?

[Pat B]

Terrence, Go through and pick out the dowels with the straightest grain and few runoffs and you should be good to go. I've not used birch but I have used ramin dowels with good results.     Pat

[Hillbilly]

Haven't tried birch myself, rither, but I've heard it works well. I've read that Ishi really liked them, so that's a pretty good endorsement.

[scattershot]

I have used them quite a bit. The 3/8" usually run 70#+, while the 5/16 spine in the mid-40's, as a general rule. You can get them from American Woodcrafters for $25.00/100. Remember, they are dowels, not arrow shafts, so look for weak spots and grain runout befor you use 'em.
Good luck!

[jb.68]

Hi fellas, I use 10mm Birch dowels. Very strong and good as an arra. I haven't had one break on me so far. You just have to accept that you may throw away 25%, but at the price you can get them at it ain't a problem really. 

All the best
jb

[JackCrafty]

Birch dowels are my standard arrow material (after natural shoots).  Birch is strong, stiff, relatively light in weight, and can be hand straightened (minor corrections).  I've made several dozen from birch.

I make short, Native American style arrows, so when I buy a batch of dowels (mail order) I don't have too much waste (maybe 30%).  If I am making arrows that require 30" long shafts, I expect only about 1 in 5 dowels to be usable (80% waste).  Others might not have this much waste but I'm REALLY picky.....the grain has to run continuously from one end to the other.

I've found that birch is a little brittle for stump shooting.....with breaks occurring within the first 3" of the point.  I break about one birch arrow per day when stump shooting (actually more like limestone chunk shooting around here).

As far as picking them up at the hardware store (and other places)....just sort through the dowels and picks the best ones.  Most of these dowels will be Chinese birch and they work fine.  (If they say "Made in Honduras" then they are probably not birch)  They are a little lighter and more brittle than domestic birch.

[terence pinder]

thanks guys im off to home depot

[terence pinder]

went to home depot they were out of 3/8 dowels so i came home with some 5/16 and some 7/16. i picked the straightest ones in the bunch. i imagine 7/16 is a little large and 5/16 is a little light for a 50-55# bow (i hope)now to get some feathers and points and maybe find some 3/8 dowels.

[Kegan]

Birch makes tough arrows. I use it, ordering it from a crafts place. They hold up with minor run offs, even with stronger bows (70#+). They tend to be crooked things though, requiring a good bit of straightenning. But good, accurate arrows can be made from them without too much trouble