Basswood arrows?

[briarjumper12]

I'd like to here ya'lls opinion on basswood for arrow shafts. I have the opportunity to buy a big log and have it sawed into boards. But I am wondering if it will be worth the money and effort.
Thanks,
John

[warpath]

It's great for shaft 40# and less at 5/16". At 11/32" it gets a little unpredictable and I feel a little too light. I did some in 11/32" for a 48# bow I build and the spine was fine but it almost felt like I was dry firing my bow. Anyone else want to chime in here? That's all I got.


   G

[briarjumper12]

It's great for shaft 40# and less at 5/16". At 11/32" it gets a little unpredictable and I feel a little too light. I did some in 11/32" for a 48# bow I build and the spine was fine but it almost felt like I was dry firing my bow. Anyone else want to chime in here? That's all I got.


   G

There seems to be very little info out there about it. I've searched all over for anybody that has used it and you're the first one to reply on 3 different forums!

[warpath]

I use it all the time because the lumber is fairly cheap and easy to plane into shafts. Sometimes you can find basswood dowells in craftstores and home depot, but you have to go through the whole bin and sometimes you only find 5 or 6 usable ones. If you're making them yourself out of raw lumber, let me know how they turn out for you.

   G

[briarjumper12]

Had another fellow say that it needs to be riven. Man, that'll  be a lot of log to for that but I may give it try.

[warpath]

Riven? never heard that term.

  G

[JW_Halverson]

Riven = handsplit

The feller that runs Allegheny Mountain Arrow Woods (yet another good advertiser that I found in P.A.) uses basswood, but he dips the shafts in MinWax Wood Hardener.  That creates a hard outer shell that increases the durability of the shaft. 

[JackCrafty]

As long as the grain is straight, the wood does not need to be riven.  Although, with basswood it may be hard to tell.

The physical properties of basswood are very similar to poplar and we all know poplar makes good arrows.

[briarjumper12]

Thank you fellas.  The Hardener is a great idea and I hadn't though of it.
The blanks I bought and turned came from Bill.
I believe I'll try the hardener on the next ones.

[warpath]

JW-  I'm going to agree with you since I use Allegheny Mountain Arrow Woods all the time and he's never steered me wrong.

  G

[JW_Halverson]

JW-  I'm going to agree with you since I use Allegheny Mountain Arrow Woods all the time and he's never steered me wrong.

  G

Sadly, the guy cannot count.  His math skills are somewhere similar to that of a banana slug that got caught in an busy intersection!  Last time I ordered I asked for 3 dozen matched shafts and I got 42 shafts.  There is a huge difference between 3 dozen (36) and 42!  To put this in a mathematical equation, 36 > 42. 

When I called and told him about this, he asked me, "So.  What's your problem?"  I told him that the problem was that I'd have to continue doing business with him so that he might have a chance of making up the loss!  He explained that when he gets to the end of a run of spining shafts, if they don't come out in even dozens he throws extras in a couple of bundles.  I just happened to be the customer that hit the jackpot that time! 

MOST  PA advertisers are like this, good value for the money.  Excellent service.  Reputable products.  Heck, for the first year I was getting the magazine, the first thing I did was read all the ads and make shopping lists for stuff I wanted/needed! 

[crooketarrow]

  REALLY SOLF AND LIGHT NOT A GOOD HUNTING ARROW.
  Be good kids arrows I guess.