Wood dowel shafts

[Rick Wallace]

Can you straiten dowels with heat the same as cane shafts?? I bought a box of 100  5/16 hardwood dowels and they are crooked as a politician,,,I hate to waste them as the shipping was more than the dowels. BTW Im a beginner at arrow making   

[JW_Halverson]

First order of business is to go thru every shaft and cull out those that have grain run-outs.  You can heat straighten the bendiest corkscrew shaft a little at a time until it spins nice and true, but ya can't fix grain run-outs!  Them's just tomato stakes.

[Rick Wallace]

I think I understand grain runout,does someone have a pic so im sure? I sure dont want a piece of thru my hand,,,,,,,,

[JackCrafty]

If they are birch, you can straighten some without heat.  But yes, you can use heat just like they were natural shoots.  And like JW said, get rid of the ones with bad grain.

You might get 1 out of 5 that are OK for 28"-30" arrows.  Maybe 1 out of 10 will be perfect for that length.  Since I make short arrows, and also arrows with foreshafts, my percentage is higher.

[HickoryBill]

Depending on bow weight 5/16 might be a little light in spine. I usually use 3/8 and plane to the desired size.The best way I've found for straightening raw shafts is to rub them down with veg. oil ,like when heat treating bow limbs, then heat and straighten them. This keeps the heat from scortching the shaft. Assuming your using an open flame for heat.

[Rick Wallace]

They are birch,My heaveyist bow is 40#   A bum shoulder limits me to that. Im still  wondering about the bad grain,and 28" is my draw,I have a few 30" arrows that are 3/8 and they dont do well for me,28" carbon shafts work well but I would really like to build my own. Sorry for my ignorance!!

[JackCrafty]

As far as bad grain, it's hard to tell sometimes with birch.  You have to look at the dowels with plenty of light... preferably in daylight.  If you can see one growth ring going all the way from one end of the shaft to the other, that's perfect.  If you see grain that runs diagonally across the dowel, then it's bad if the diagonal distance is less than 5".  You can test all bad spots by bending the dowel a little.  Really bad spots will break easily.  After a while, you will get used to judging which ones are going to break.

Everyone has their own system for judging what a good arrow shaft looks like.  Use a system that will give you good results for the strength of the bow you are using.  Strong bows require strong arrows.

[Rick Wallace]

Thanks Jack,that makes sense to me,Ill get there just want to get it right!! You guys are the experts!

[sweeney3]

It's likely that your dowls are actually ramen wood, which are commonly sold as "birch" dowls in the hardware/retail stores.  Although, you said you ordered them, so you might have found a bit more accurate supplier.  Either way, doesn't matter too much.  The process is the same.  5/16 might be a bit light depending on your point weight.  I have used 3/8 before and done alright.  I make my kid's arrows from 5/16 dowels, but they are pretty short. 

[scattershot]

Not sure where you got your dowels, but I have used American Woodcrafters, and they came straight. BTW, I spined a bunch of the 5/16" birch, and they run in the mid-40's for spine.

As stated, flex each one before you put much work into them, because they are dowels, not arrow shafts, after all. If they were sold as birch, they probably are, since I don't think Ramin is imported into the country anymore.

Good luck!

[Rick Wallace]

I got them from Woodcrafter.com   I got 5/16 because I thought 3/8 was to big,, Thats what I get for thinking! The lowes here carries 3/8 and 5/16 red oak dowels,will they work? Sorry for 100 questions

[scattershot]

Sounds like the 5/16 would work very well for your bow. You can use just about any straight stick for an arrow. The oak is heavier, of course, and makes a pretty good arrow, but for my money the birch is better. Buying them from your local source is more expensive, but you can hand select the good ones.