Cedar Fence Boards

[burtonridr]

Anyone ever try using these for arrow shafts? Or have knowledge or experience to share about using this type of cedar for shafts?

I'm wondering because
1. They are readily available.
2. I thought I read somewhere that it might be to flimsy.
3. My grandpa talked about using old cedar shingles to split and make shafts with when he was younger.
4. These can be split into shafts with continuous grain from one end to the other.

My concerns are;
1. Will they hold up?
2. Can they be made with 40-45# spine? And if so, how thick are we talking?

I'm wanting to make hunting and target arrows for a 40-45lb bow. I'm also looking at bamboo shafts, but I'm not a fan of all the work involved in straightening.

[Ed Brooks]

I have made a couple to try them out WRC, old growth, friends all said no can do. it was light little thick, but about the same as my hazel in thickness. shot it through a dead hanging deer at about 10 yrds with a pass through 43LB bow. it can be done but not the best for long term arrow wood IMHO. the boo will last a long time for the work. Good luck, let us know how you did with the Cedar. Ed

[DC]

Fence boards are not usually the straightest grain. When I was a kid all our arrows were made of WRC because there was a ton of old growth logs laying on the beach. It tends to be a bit brittle. It is easy to work and stable but arrows don't last long.

[aaron]

it all about grain- if you can find a fence board that produces a shaft with just one or two run outs, you can make arrows. If you have the ability to measure spine you can just start with a big dia. and reduce until you get the right spine. if you split them, you can heat-straighten and make use of slightly marginal woods. Where I live (WA) it's near impossible to find straight enough grain at the lumberyard. For coarse grained cedar, they come out pretty thick- like 3/8.

[High-Desert]

I think those are Western Red Cedar, at least around here they are. I have made many arrows from WRC, and am not really a fan. They break really easy compared to Red Osier or sitka, even with perfect grain. If you really need arrow wood, it worth a shot, but if you have any other option, I'd go a different route.

Eric

[burtonridr]

Thank you for all the replies, it sounds like they are pretty weak. I think I will go the bamboo route instead.

[make-n-break]

Just made a set of 21 shafts out of cedar siding in 11/32 diameter. I used only the tightest ring count to ensure maximum density and only 5 of the 21 spined high enough to use in a hunting weight weapon. The rest became fireplace kindling. My experience with WRC is too light and weak of shafts that break easily if impacting a hard surface. I'll be avoiding it in the future. Look for Douglas fir flooring boards. They're readily available at big box stores, fairly easy to find a real tight-ringed piece with straight grain, and makes a much better arrow. A $5-7 Fir flooring board will usually yield a dozen shafts or so.

[JoJoDapyro]

When it warms up a bit I was planning to laminate some and try. For whatever reason when you take 2 slats and glue them up they seem to increase that spine. The 13 degree shop doesn't make for optimal gluing.

[burtonridr]

Well, I made a go at creating a few bamboo arrows and decided I really don't enjoy working with bamboo.... Bamboo is just to unpredictable in my opinion. I'm trying to make these at 55-60lbs spine, and I cant figure them out. The first one started at about 55lb, after straightening and smoothing the shaft it had dropped to 40lbs, lol then it broke while bending because there was a very thin wall in an area. So next go around I figured I would start with one a little tougher at 70lb spine, after straightening and smoothing it was still up around 70lb spine.

I think I will try to find a few straight grain cedar or dug fir or ponderosa pine boards. I saw a topic the other day that mentioned ponderosa pine makes a light weight durable shaft.  I should mention, I don't have a setup to cut the boards down to 3/8x3/8 square dowels. I'm going to try splitting them out of a board, like splitting kindling.

@jojodapyro,
ditto, this cold weather is making glueing a challenge, I've had to bring things inside the house.

[Ed Brooks]

Have you looked at shoot shafts, (tree shoots)? they can make some nice arrows also. Good Luck! Ed

[Jim Davis]

I'm not very primitive about my arrows. I make them from spruce or D. fir boards. I saw with the grain to 3/8" square and run them through a router setup. I like shooting more than I like making arrows.

I did make one of multi-flora rose that worked very well.

Jim Davis

[TSA]

   I should mention, I don't have a setup to cut the boards down to 3/8x3/8 square dowels. I'm going to try splitting them out of a board, like splitting kindling.

if you are going to split, dont try and simply split a 3/8  or 1/2"piece off.
chances are it will run out slightly- the split will veer towards the path of least resistance- the side that has the least amount of wood on it.
 split your piece in half, and then each piece into half agaon, and so on- so that there is roughly equal wood either side of the split- until you get to your desired size. see how shakes have a  natural taper on them- thats from the splitting, and thats only over 2' , it will be more pronounced over 3'.
good luck- if nothing else you will have some nice , evenly split kindling

[DC]

This is one of those jobs that I save for when I'm camping. You can just sit around the campfire drinkin' "coffee" and whittlin' arra's. I straightened some boo shafts while out camping.