Dogwood and meadowsweet from Marc!

[Mohawk13]

Nice looking arrow. Do You make Your own Points?

[artcher1]

Nice looking arrow. Do You make Your own Points?

Yes, I do make my own trade points from old circular saw blades Mohawk. Here's a few patterns I use.........Art

[Mohawk13]

Nice. I have been using some old barrel hoops I found on My property. Heat them red and then quench in oil. File and strop edges. Nice looking points. I'll try and dig up a way to post pics of mine..

[artcher1]

Love to see your points Mohawk!

OK, I have the initial straightening done on those shoots that Marc sent me. Going to put 'em back for the time being and see if I can, over time, keep 'em straight. Generally, during the selection process, I'd have only selected a couple of these shafts for arrows. But since this is more or less an experiment, I'll finish 'em all up and see what I come up with.

Here's a pic of their initial straightening. Two dogwood are on the right. A couple of the meadowsweet appear scorched badly, but what you're seeing is mostly bark.........Art

[artcher1]

Here's a set of sourwood I started this past summer. Shoots were well seasoned to begin with so little if any additional straightening was need. I checked them yesterday and found only one shaft that needed tweaked.

Once I finish these up I have no doubt that they'll stay straight. For anyone having trouble keeping they shoot arrows straight, slow down, make sure your shafts will stay straight to begin with, then you will have confidence that they'll stay that way once finished into arrows............Art

[Pat B]

Being well seasoned makes a big difference as to whether your shoot shafts stay straight.   I have made arrows from sourwood shoots that were only 3 days off the tree by force drying under the wood stove. they were very dry but not seasoned but it didn't take long before I was straightening them again.    Like bow wood, wood for arrows needs to be well seasoned for make quality arrows.

[artcher1]

Five days off the stump Pat. 

[Pat B]

My favorite pic of you arrows, Art.     That one crooked arrow won the ATAR shoot didn't it?

[artcher1]

That was a club shoot Pat. Good enough score to best all glass and wood bows that day...........Art

[artcher1]

For Nate:

I use a propane torch for my heat source. Before I reduce the shafts I get the shafts really hot (I use cotton gloves to keep from burning myself) and do some initial straightening by hand. Then I'll reduce their diameters. Then working short sections at a time, I'll reheat and use a ceramic power line insulator to burnish down those stubborn areas. Here's a pic:

 

[Dan K]

I think good selection to begin with goes a long way with making great shoot arrows Pat. But alas, I general have to work with what's given to me, so I do the best I can.   

+1 for any shoots!

I have never done this but hear if you scratch 3 grooves the full length of your shaft after straightening they will never change.  Has anyone tried this and can share your experience?

[artcher1]

When you hear or read things like that Dan you should do a little experimenting and draw your on conclusions, cause you'll get all kinds of opinions about this.

I have tried the grooves. But not for the purpose of straightening. My goal was to achieve a lighter spined arrow but still maintain good hunting weight. And this was before I ever read of grooves for straightening. Once you have a good understanding of what it takes to keep a shoot shaft straight, well, the groove theory for straightening purposes really makes no sense.............Art

[crooketarrow]

  ARCHER thats the same reasoning you see lighting groves in old indain arrows.
  The were to heavy spine so they lighten the stiffness by cutting in the groves not to keep them straight.

   I've made dogwood arrows for going on 18 ,20 years. I've made and used everything I could get my hands on but dogwoods local and theres millions of shoots just where I'm at.
  SO I CAN FIND NO WRONG IN IT.

  MEADOWSWEET is really light to light for me for a hunting arrow.

[artcher1]

After letting the shafts set for a couple of weeks I noticed they needed some extra tweaking here and there. Mostly on the nock/small end. If these shafts were made into arrows right after initial straightening, I would be getting some funky flight no doubt.

Key to making and keeping shoot arrows straight, is to make sure they stay straight before ever fletching. 

That's your common sense lesson for the day .............Art

 

[Buckeye Guy]

Hey Art
All I know about Lightning Grooves is they seem to show up naturally when I scrape the bark of of shoots with a piece of chert !
Just food for thought !


Thanks for passing on your experience with arrows !
Don't know of anyone better for the job !
Take care.
Guy