Just a thought on straightening shoots. Let's here your advice and make one of

[NeolithicMan]

Tracy, I have not read that particular piece by Jimm Hamm but i did steal the idea from TBB3 in the chapter he wrote on the subject. From the chapter, excuse my paraphrasing from memory, when these grooves are cut into the shaft before heat straightening it creates ridges that get hotter than the oher parts of the shaft and these help hold the shape applied to the wood. maybe i have a placebo effect working on me with this but it seems to help so i keep doing it.

Fred Arnold, I am trying to get pictures up of a lot of things. this weekend I am having a friend help me understand the technology I own and cant seem to operate. Ill try to get some up of arrows I have grooved.

John

[crooketarrow]

  The groves servered for 1 thing.

  To take away wood from the shaft to get the right spine.

 NOT TO KEEP IT STRAIGHT

  The tribles that did this could'nt get the smaller shoots needed. And with only scraping tools (knife or chert)
 It would take forever to take down a bigger shoot to the spine they needed. Easyer to lighten the spine by taking wood away by cutting groves.

   No rasps or sand paper like we have.

  I asked my friend CROOKETARROW about why he did'nt cut groves in his arrows.
    HE WAS IROQIOUS

  He told me did'nt have to. He just cut the right size that took very little scraping.
  LIKE WE DO

  Think about it,takeing wood away would'nt help to keep the arrow straight.
 
 

[NeolithicMan]

That is really interesting view on the grooves. It makes perfect sense that removing wood changes spine. like I said before I was doing this based on Jimm Hamms writings in TBB, and it could have been the placebo effect but I enjoy the ritual of adding them and the look of them. Hamms theroy was made from his viewing and replicating Western plains arrows. I believe the Iroquoi are East Natives, perhaps your modern friend knows if this spining theory is based off of ancient practices or more contemporary ones. maybe the East and West had different uses for a common idea instilled long before the spread of man across the continent. Maybe it was an independent development that came to be used at different or even the same time.
crooketarrow, what did you mean they could not get smaller shoots? if there are big shoots would there not be smaller ones at some point before they grew too large? Do you mean as they ran out of smaller shoots they started shaping the larger ones?
I am so attracted to the past and to all the ideas and developments that led to us now trying to pick apart and solve the many mysteries of commonly known themes of our ancestors. proud to be apart of this forum, you guys are the best. thanks

John

[crooketarrow]

  All shoots have to be made from second year shoots or older.
  Some shoots by the third year are a good 1/2 inch.
  Way to big for the light indain bows.
  SO instead of taking down the whole shoot. It was qicker and easyer to cut in and remove the need wood to make the arrow the right spine.
  Very few indain bows reached 50 #'s
  Even the western tribes that follow the buff. use'lly only used bows in the low, mid 50"s.
  Seams like they also knew it's better to beable to hit your target that have a lot of exture pounds.
  The same prinicable as today.