harvesting and drying river cane

[Pat B]

I have a spine tester but rarely use it with cane or hardwood shoot arrows. I believe in the KISS rule when it comes to primitive archery. My point is, cane arrows are more forgiving than ordinary store bought shafting. Start out long cane shafts and cut them off if needed. The extra length won't hurt anything and longer(simple) cane arrows seem to fly better.

[hedgeapple]

PatB, when you're test shooting the cane shafts:  Do you fletch them?  What do you put on the business end of the cane to keep from damaging it?  I use shell casings, should these protective ends be of hunting point weight, 125 gr.?

[Pat B]

I generally mount either field points or broadheads(glue ons, trades or stone). Kenneth made some target points with 16d common nails with brass braised to the head and ground to a point. They came out at about 125 to 130 grs.

[recurve shooter]

i found that dropping screw in field points into the hollow of the cane works ok.

im gunna mess with them some more this weekend.

[ken75]

im a beginer , but i recently cut some cane and placed it in the shop to dry, out of curiousity i put a shaft on the dashboard of my truck it was dry in about four or five days , those in the shop are still geen . i dont see any damage to the shaft in the truck , do ya'll think this is a bad idea

[Pat B]

No it is not necessarily a bad idea unless it caused the cane to crack. If you put the other ones in the sun they will turn tan color. It is the sunshine that makes them change color. Just because they are green now doesn't mean they are not dry.
  I usually leave my cane bundled in my utility room for at least a month before I begin to work them. They are green when I take them out but soon turn tan as more sunlight touches them.

[ken75]

hadnt thought of that thanks patb