This is gonna be a little lengthy but I wanna paint an accurate picture. Does anyone recognize this wood? I found half a dozen of these 5/16 dowel rods at a craft store after sorting through a hundred or so. For 5/16 they are STIFF.
The grain is very hard to read so I applied a light mahogany stain. You can clearly see a lighter colored line that runs the entire lenght of the shaft on both sides. I haven't spined them yet (recently moved and still getting set up) but they are equal to or stronger than my 11/32 and 23/64 cedars and poplars that spine 55-60.
I'm up to speed on grain, etc, etc and have made some great sets of arrows from carefully selected dowels. Im just a little nervous because 1) I've never turned my own or bought 5/16 wooden arrows. I've only turned 11/32, 23/64, and 3/8 and 2) I cant read the grain on these!
The only thing I can think of is ramin? But I'm doubtful because I have some 3/8 Ramin right next to them that should be much heavier and stiffer for their size if they were the same wood. I snapped a few pictures while rotating the shafts. Any ideas?
