Phragmites arrow help

[Marin]

Hey guys,
I have been recently focusing on phragmites arrows. I moved up to Utah where there is a bunch of the stuff on the shores of Utah lake, so before it got too cold I gathered a bunch of it. I tried being selective, only gathering shafts that weren't brittle and that were big enough, but I have had a problem straightening it. I tried phramgites a couple months before but wasn't very successful with it, and ended up breaking it.
I did some research around the web and on this website. I also researched how exactly native Californians made phragmites arrows. They used steatite straighteners to make them, heating up the straightener and then bending the arrow through a groove in the stone. . I unfortunately don't have steatite to make one but I have heard of people straightening them by hand. I saw Jack Crafty's video about it and he appears to only heat it on one side, the side he is going to compress the phragmites. However I get different answers about straigtening phragmites. Some say that nodes can be stragitened, while others say you can't. Some say to only heat one side while others say they heat the entire section.
I am just wondering how anyone here heat straightens phragmites. I know there have been some how-tos on this website in the past but many of them no longer have photos as they have been deleted from their photobucket accounts. Plus, some of them don;t fully answer my questions on how to deal with nodes, heating properly or if a steatite arrow straightener are a must to have for phragmites, so I thought maybe starting a discussion on the topic would work.

[jeffp51]

Marin,
I also live very near Utah lake and I have made arrows from those reeds, but so far only display arrows.  All the arrows would be very light spined for low-poundage bows.  The places where Phragmites works well it has the possibility of growing more than one season.  Ours is pretty thin-walled.  To straighten it, heat it gently and go very slow with very light pressure.  you can definitely straighten the nodes, but it isn't easy.

There is also tons of red osier dogwood on the river, and a little judicious pruning does not harm the plant, I believe.  The dogwood makes a much better arrow.  If you need help, send me a PM.

Jeff

[Pat B]

Patrick(Jackcrafty) may have a build along for phragmites arrows on the How Too section.

[jeffp51]

Jackcrafty definitely has a good YouTube video on this subject. Worth watching if you haven't seen it yet.

[Marin]

I have seen Jack Crafty's how to but all the pictures are gone, probably because they have been deleted on his Photobucket account. His YouTube video has been helpful and I have tried his method of only heating one side on the cane (the side you will be compressing) with some sucess.
Is it possible that I could be overheating the cane? Normally when I heat solid shafts I heat them until it is too hot to touch. Should I try to reduce the heat amount?
Btw, has anyone tried using stone arrow straighteners? I know they used them in the past and I wish to try it but don't have any steatite to make a good one.

[jeffp51]

In Utah I am sure they used sandstone for arrow straighteners. I would heat the shafts all the way around. It seems like I remember being able to get the most bending on the first heating, and then it got harder to do much each heating after that. It is easy to have the Reed crush in compression, so be careful. It is also easy to scorch them. Under the best conditions, though, I would expect to ruin nearly as many as you succeed with.  Look for shafts with the thickest walls. I have a couple of phragmites arrows from Utah lake fletches with goose feathers from geese shot on the lake tipped with knapped glass points from bottles found on the shore. The pitch glue is from closer to the mountain-and the sinew is local too.

[turtle]

Its been several years since I made any phragmitie arrows. I ruined several before I got the hang of straightening  them. I heated them all the way around over a tea candle and bent them gently by hand. Takes a few shafts to get the right feel for temperature and correct amount of pressure. I also found that a light sanding and a coat of boiled linseed oil a day or two before working on them greatly reduces the chance of them scorching. Boiled linseed  oil is a flame retardant.

[Redhand]

Marin
I also live in Utah.
I have made arrows from phragmites they can get tricky to straighten out. I use a straightening tool made out of soap stone. I hear up the straightener on a hot plate. I will heat up all sides when straightening the phragmities. I straighten between the nodes and the nodes as well.