Arrow wood?

[JoJoDapyro]

So, I have made dowel arrows, and then tonkin arrows. I was wondering what other wood I can buy and make into dowels to make arrows. Western Red cedar? Hemlock? Douglas Fir? Poplar? Let me know what has worked for you, and what hasn't. Thanks.

Joe

[RBLusthaus]

I use pine, poplar, maple, and ash, in that order -  also depending on desired spine.   

Russ

[Aaron H]

I like Doug fir, and Sitka spruce

[DC]

I tried old growth Western Hemlock(35-40 rings per inch) and while it was very straight and stable it seemed a little brittle. I'm comparing it to bamboo so take that into consideration.

[Pat B]

Poplar makes a very good, durable arrow.

[loon]

I have yet to make arrows from Pseudosasa Japonica I got from Jaap Koppedrayer. Much more thin walls than tonkin, I assume it's lighter for the same spine

Witch hazel?

[BowEd]

Generally JoJo with most shaft wood I'm looking for a lot of rings per inch.Elasticity and density in a nice combo for shafts.Seems the denser then I can make skinnier shafts with conifers.Ring pourous can be different or thicker rings and make good shafts.Then it's a matter of how elastic it is too.I'd like to find a place that has hickory dowels myself.Ramin I think has been used too although not by me.

[JoJoDapyro]

Generally JoJo with most shaft wood I'm looking for a lot of rings per inch.Elasticity and density in a nice combo for shafts.Seems the denser then I can make skinnier shafts with conifers.Ring pourous can be different or thicker rings and make good shafts.Then it's a matter of how elastic it is too.I'd like to find a place that has hickory dowels myself.Ramin I think has been used too although not by me.

I am the high bidder of a Vertitas Dowel maker. I'll try what I can. Ramin from what I have read is very hard to straighten. I'll have to see what the local wood place has in hickory . The rest I can get at the big box store (Red oak, western red cedar, douglas, poplar, hemlock) including red oak dowels, poplar dowels.

[Pat B]

Well seasoned wood will make better, more stable arrows.

[JoJoDapyro]

Well seasoned wood will make better, more stable arrows.

Well seasoned versus kiln dried?

[Pat B]

Well seasoned like 2+ years at least. Kiln dried would probably be OK after 2 years.

[BowEd]

Forgot to mention I did red oak and it makes good shafts.45 to 50 spine in a nice weight range.

[wayne nicol]

i agree with Pat, with kiln dried wood, one doesnt know what you are getting- was the wood dried slowly in a dehumidifying kiln- minimal heat- and in turn minimal damage to the actual cell structure of the wood, or was it dried in a pressurized steam kiln, where a load of 2x4 can be dried in a fraction of the time- with horrendous damage to the internal cell structure- still meets regs for construction- just no good for archery. i had a piece of chundoo( lodgepole pine) 2x4 - i hit it along the wider edge with a sledge hammer from about 2 feet away- it sheered right off where it was clamped. sure a bit of force- but it should never do that.

wood in the round dries at about 1'' of radius per year- split will dry a lot faster- so it takes a long time- like Pat says!!!

[JoJoDapyro]

I do have some wood that has been drying for some time. Some pine, Maple, locust, Russian olive, and juniper. I'll have to see what works.