rose shoot arrows.. finished arrows!!

[lowell]

I don't know either.

   My wife dosen't have roses..... and that's probably a good thing!! or I'd be in trouble with her!!

  Have trimmed some of her plants thinking they were a type of viburnum??  Still like the rose best from what I have found around here.

[Pat B]

I think most any rose will work.    Pat

[napper]

Pat B do you lose much to checking by taking the bark off early I lose a lot to checking so now live the bark on till they are dry and still lose some. I have switched to Hazel nut shoots now I like them better seam to be easyer to straiten then Rose Tom

[Pat B]

I don't use rose much but do know they will check terribly if debarked too soon. When I did cut rose I usually try to get shoots 3' or more long, de-thorn them and wrap the bundles with twine. After a month or 2 is when I would start debarking a few at a time to be sure they were dry enough. This time of year it, as dry as it is, it doesn't take long for them to check. 
   I use sourwood shoots or cane for arrows now. With sourwood, I can scrape the bark anytime and they usually won't check. Viburnum will check but makes good arrows. I have an abo arrow I made that has checks all along the shaft but they have no ill effects on the arrows flight.        Pat

ps. Mickey Lotz(the Ferret) has some info about rose arrows on his site I think. Maybe even Jawge.

[madcrow]

I want to add to Hillbillys rubberband idea.  My dad make these 1/25 scale (roughly) log houses.  Most of the saplings he cuts are 3/8" or a little bigger.  He puts the bundle around an old mop handle and uses the big rubberbands.  He puts the bands over the high spots or bends and works his way to the ends.  He says that helps straighten them out because the bands will push them down to the mop handle.

[BigWapiti]

He says that helps straighten them out because the bands will push them down to the mop handle.

What a great idea, I'll give that a try with the next batch of shoots I get.

[markinengland]

What diameter do people use for their rose shafts? 5/16th or bigger up to 1/2 inch? Just trying to get an idea of range of size to look out for. I know rose can be tough as I used it for bows when i was a kid.
Mark

[Hillbilly]

The few rose arrows I've made, the ones that worked best were about 3/8" or more, and I planed them down to 11/32" or so. They'll shrink quite a bit as they dry, too.

[lowell]

I agree with Hillbilly.  But also depends on the wieght of the bow you are trying to match them to.

 What really surprised me was how much smaller they seem to get after the thorns and barl come off and they have dried.

 I honestly have to say I haven't had trouble with them checking.  I scrape the bark off right away and leave them longer length till they dry a while.  Maybe my shop is good for drying shoots so they don't check?? 

[Hillbilly]

I haven't had much trouble with multiflora rose checking, but I cut some swamp rose shoots once and they checked worse than anything else I've ever used. They pretty much have to be dried with the bark on.

[lowell]

The following pictures are what I did next....

Checked for spine and got rid of extra weak or extra stiiff shafts.
 #1... Spined weak
  #2...Spined strong
    #3 ...Spined about where I want, in the area of the X.

  #4..Shows where thorn was and extra thickness.

   #5..Lightly rasp with sureform to even out where thorn was.

    #6..Scrape off any bak still left on the shaft.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[lowell]

  #1 Shafts are getting close but will keep them near the easy chair and still try to get a little straighter.

   #2..Cut the nock on the band saw.

    #3... Some filing and sanding to get nock to fit string and wrap with back sinew.

     #4...Taper the ends to accept the points.

        #5..Stain with rit dye and alcohol.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[lowell]

  #1.. Finished with about 6 coats of Minwax wipe-on.

 I then shot bare shafts to see how they might be.  Had 6 that seemed they might be good, 3 that were close but maybe a little weak and 2 that did not look very promising but will fletch all to be able to shoot and then decide.

   #2..Fletched them with a goose cock feather and 2 turkeys. All left wing primaries.  I don't see a big difference from left or right wing but prefer the primaries as the secondaries seem loud.

    #3..Completed fletchings

    #4  and finished arrows

    I have shot them all and think I will get about what I expect as good shooters, 6 to 8.

   Now I'm going to start shooting them and look forward to turkey season.... And work on a cherry backed osage I have had in the works for a while!!

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[BigWapiti]

Great build' -Thanks!

This may be a dumb question, but would you mind explaining or showing where on the wing you'd find the "primaries" vs "secondaries" etc?  I assume the primaries are the one's out near the wing tips?

I also like the quick method you use for spining, great idea.  Rather than use a spine tester, if I needed, I could just find an arrow that seems spined right for my bow and make marks like you did to go by.  I like it.

[DanaM]

Great build along and nice lookin arra's.

Wapati the Primaries are at the tip of the wing, I believe there are 10 per wing.