Cut my 1st dogwood arrow wood. (red osier)

[Ed Brooks]

I cut some shafts two weekend ago, peeled them this week. Have I messed up peeling them?
The wood seems like I might be able to speed dry them, without having them split.
I cut some that are close to arrow diameter and cut some bigger ones that I'll plane or rasp down, should the smaller ones stiffen up enough when dry or should I start with the bigger ones? Sorry for all the questions. Ed

[artcher1]

I can't answer your question Ed, all the red osier I've worked I've left the bark on for at least a couple of months. I do this with all types of shoots now. With the bark on, you'll get a little steaming effect which makes the initial straightening easier, plus being somewhat dry at this stage, they'll hold corrections fairly well.........Art

[bowtarist]

I usually leave the bark on. I have, after once reading it on here, peeled all bark except the last couple of inches on each end.  I did this w/ rose though. Seemed to work ok, keeps the end from checking but drys a little quicker. This is deffinitley the time of year to cut shoots...round here anyways. Enjoy your dog wood Ed! dpg

[kleinpm]

I have made a lot of Red Osier arrows. I always peel the bark as soon as I can, usually within an hour of cutting. Out of the 200 or so shafts, I think I lost 3 to checking on the ends that was severe enough to trash them.

Its hard to say how stiff the smaller shoots will get. I little bit of difference in diameter makes a big difference in spine.

I stopped making arrows from Dogwood mainly because I had a hard time getting a matched set. Weights and spine seemed to vary enough that I ended up cutting bigger pieces and barrel tapering them with a block plane to get them close. That was time consuming enough that I just make arrow from tomato stakes now.

Patrick

[Ed Brooks]

Thank you for your feed back. I'll cut some more, leave the bark on and just wait and see whats best. Thanks again. Ed

[Buck67]

I cut a couple of dozen Red Osiers shafts back in September.  I peeled them right away and then bundled them up and waited for them to dry.  I'm just starting on working the shafts up into arrows right now.  So far, only one has split and that was about 3 inches long at the fat end.  I just made my cut for the arrowhead right over the split and wrapped the shaft below the arrowhead to the end of the split.

So far I don't seem to have suffered from peeling them early.

[NorthernArcher]

Red Osier is my primary arrow shaft material.  I use it for ALL of my roving and small game arrows.

I cut shoots in winter, and have always peeled them within a day or two of cutting them.  There is some checking on the ends while they dry, but not enough to ruin a shaft.  I tried leaving the bark on the ends of the shoots, but didn't notice much of a difference.  Recently I did one where I left all of the bark on until the shoot was fully seasoned.  It turned out really well, so this is probably how I will do it in the future, but it's really a personal choice. All three methods work just fine.

I don't bundle the shafts right away.  I lay them out and let them dry for a while.  After a week or so (maybe longer if the bark is still on) I start hand straightening them.  There is a window of opportunity during the drying where you can do most of the straightening, and the partially dry shafts will keep the shape you give them.  After this initial straightening is done, then I bundle them and put them away to finish seasoning.

How long you let them season will depend on your environment and whether you peeled them or left the bark on. I collect a new batch of shoots every winter, which is also when I do most of my arrow making, so I typically make arrows out of my previous year's collection.

NorthernArcher