Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: recurve shooter on April 19, 2008, 02:09:45 pm
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i think thats what its called. i know it grows in louisiana, nc, and mississippi for shure, prolly everywhere els. its a hard wood sprout. they look like theyd make good arras, the stuff grows it pretty big thickets or around the edges of fields. i got some near my house, trying to decide if i should try that or cane first. and do you streighten the stuff the same as cane?
recurve shooter,
who now shoots longbows.
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ya it makes great arrows PatB just posted some sourwood arrows he made.
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oh, cool. how do ya streighten the stuff?
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Probably my favorite arrow wood!!! 8) Collect shoots that have small branches at the top instead of just leaf scars. That will be second year growth and makes a lot better arrow than first year growth(with leaves or leaf scars).
Below are the shoot arrows I posted recently. Not all are sourwood...one in maple, one is viburnum and one is cane. All the rest are sourwood. Pat
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Here is a mess I collected a few years ago and some arrows made with sourwood shoots.
After you collect them, take a few and scrape the bark and cambium off, hand straighten a bit and wrap them in a bundle to dry. Bundle the remainder of you shoots with the bark on and place both in a dry place to begin the curing. If the de-barked ones don't check while drying, strip the others also. This will help them dry quicker. Once they dry a bit(a week or 2 but 2 months would be better) I coat the crooked areas with cooking oil and use our kitchen stove to heat the crooks(one at a time and them let cool completely) and hand straighten. Be aware that the hot wood will burn you. These arrows don't have to be "Store Bought Straight" either. As long as the tip and nock line up and the shaft spins true they will shoot well. Pat
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These arrows don't have to be "Store Bought Straight" either. As long as the tip and nock line up and the shaft spins true they will shoot well. Pat
no one thinks my rose shoot arrows will fly that well becasue they arent that straight but they always change their mind after watching me shoot them. ;D
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cool, i just cut 20 shoots, everything from about 35 inches to 5 foot long. im about to go do what you said. should i cut the long ones in half? i aint got a camera or id post picturs. how many should i debark? other than that Pat B. about covered it.
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Just strip a few to be sure they won't check as they dry. Usually sourwood won't check but sometimes it does. If you haven't noticed any checking in a week, strip the rest of them. The longer shoots make good atlatl darts. If you only want to make arrows with them cut off the section that is about 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter at the base(big end). It is possible to make arrows with the larger diameter stuff but you end up having to reduce the diameter for spine purposes and for appropriate arrow diameter so I usually don't mess with the larger stuff. Pat
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thanx. about to go work on em. im gonna just chunck em up ontop of my house in the sun to dry. is this ok or should i keep em in the shed or something?
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Pat do you seal your arrows? so far i havent sealed any of mine
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Recurve, I would store them inside out of the elements. Even though sourwood arrows are some of the toughest shafts I've ever used, they are whitewood and very susceptible to rot if not treated properly. I usually keep the bundles of shoots next to the hot water heater in my utility room.
David, Most hardwood shoot arrows do need to be sealed to help as a moisture barrier. I have used Tru-Oil, spray shellac, spray poly, Massey finish and pitch varnish to seal my hardwood shoot arrows. I do not seal cane arrows. Pat
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thanks! :)
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David, Did you see the PM I sent you? Pat
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o sorry let me check
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ok, cool. i just figured out that here i have been complaining about how i caint get any shafts, and im sitin in the middle of a freakin forist of em. i just got some debarked and bundled up, im about to go look for some more. real pretty day down here in southeastern la, gonna spend it outside. later guys, thanks for the info.
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Cool, show us pictures of the arrows when they're done! :)
Sean
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ill try to borrow a camera, and as i progress ill be askin more questions, i apreciate the help.
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Yep, sourwood is one of my favorite arrow materials.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v325/hillbillync/swarras670.jpg)
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Sourwood is also called Black Gum and Tupelo Gum. It has really straight shoots good for making arrows. Also it has an interlocking grain much like elm or HHB, in other words if worked right it can make a decent D style bow.
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Chris,(greenbean) The sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) we are talking about and black gum/tupelo(Nyssa sylvatica) you refer to are two different trees(family, genera and specie). The word sourwood could easily be a common name(colloquialism) in your area for a black gum tree. This is why knowing the botanical name of a specific plant(or animal) is necessary when trying to identify it. Like talking about ironwood. Are we talking about HHB, Am. Hophorn, mesquite, ipe, ligna vitae, etc. Without the botanical name, no one knows which tree we are talking about. Another cool thing about botanical names, they are universal...everyone around the world know exactly what tree we are talking about...unless the taxonomist have changed their minds again. ;D Pat
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yeah, what he said. :P i caint wait till i can start workin mine. i also found a small patch of cain yesterday while hunting sourwood. got that to. how long should i let stuff dry before starting to streighten it? 2 weeks to two months right?
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At least a month with the bark left on. . The stuff you peel will dry quicker if it doesn't check. Thats why I recommended you strip a few and see how they fair. Pat
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yeah, i did. got 3 striped and 18 not. just waintin now. fun. (not really) same time for cane?
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Pretty much the same with cane but you won't strip them. The cane will dry a light green color but after a few days of sunlight they will turn a nice tan color. Pat
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oh, cool. it seems like i got the two best materials for arras growin all around me. looks like all i got to do is go get it. thanx alot for the help and inspiration guys. ill be postin more questions and such as i progress. but it looks like all i can do now is wait on stuff to dry.
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I've gotten sourwood arrows done in about a week. I peel the bark off and hand straighten them. Let them sit in the sun and wind (on a rock outside works if it doesn't rain). Go back the next day and straighten them again. Repeat. Takes three or four days. Afterwards they shouold be nice and sstraight and should be easily planed into perfect arrows. It requires lots of attention though (watching for rain, signs of checking, daily straightennings, etc.)- especialy when you have a bunch to do. Half a dozen or so at a time like this will be enough to keep you pretty busy. If you want arrows in a hurry, give it a try on a few.
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will do kegan. good idea. once ya get the things reasonably streight (ya do that with vegie oil and heat right?)? how do ya get them consistant diamiter and spine?
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I don't make mine consistent diameter but will reduce the diameter with a thumb plane(Tru-Value, $8) and a board with a "V" groove down the center, lengthwise. Take a curl of one side, rotate 180deg and take another curl and rotate 90deg and take a curl and rotate 180 and take another curl. This will give you 4 flat sides and 4 corners. take a curl from each of the 4 sides and you will have 8. Now, with sand paper make the shoot round. You can reduce the spine by sanding the middle of the shaft.
With shoot arrows you can subtract about 10# from the static spine weight for the taper(50# static spine weight will be 40# spine. Anything over 28" arrow length you can reduce the spine weight by 5# per inch). Find the stiff side of your spined shaft and cut the nock perpendicular to that plane.
Pat
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ok, slightly confuseing, but i got it. next question, how do i test spine?
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Easy... make arrows .. shoot them .. if they fly crooked give them to your hunting partner.. >:D if they fly straight keep em.. Hawk
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much simpler. ;D got just the guy to give em to.
seriously, do ya use a bathroom scale, fishie scale, or some much more complicated gadget?
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here is a great spine tester build along by waterlogged http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,4589.0.html
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thats exactly what i was lookin for. gonna build one this weekend at my grandpa's house.
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When the wood is green, you can just bend it by hand- no heat.
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i messed arond with it some last night. will it stay bent like that? i thought it would bend back. well, i got some layin on my front porch in the sun and wind. gonna go work on it in a minut. still tryin to catch my breath form powerliftin/football/shotput practice.
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It will bend back slightly, but as it dries, it will bend back less and less until you find it's nice and straight and dry as well. Then you can just plane it to size and sand them up :).
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HELP, THEY BE CHECKIN!!! WAT DOSE I DO? just like 3 out of the eight did it, but they had small splits in the ends. can i save em, cuz as luck would have it my best ones did it.
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A little checking doesn't hurt. Just cut it off, or work it so it will be cut out for a nock/point.
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i'll do my best. if this batch fail, ill just chock it up for experience. first time ya know!
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Leaving green wood of and kind in a breezy area of full sun will dry it out too fast. I have not had a green stripped sourwood shoot check yet but they stay inside either bundled or laying on a flat surface. This time of year wood is the wet!!! All that moisture has to go somewhere and if it does too fast the wood will check. Arrow making is more critical than bow making so patience is paramount. Even though you can have an arrow from green wood in just a few weeks doesn't mean the wood is "cured". It can take a year or more to cure and the curing process can change(stiffen) the spine weight of the arrow.
I have a viburnum arrow I made a few years ago with stone tools. It checked in three places along the shaft. I sealed the shaft with pitch and added extra to the checks, just cause! ;D The arrow still shoots well. Those checks may also act like the lightning grooves that were used for keeping arrows straight. In most cases, checks are only a cosmetic problem. The deer that it goes through won't know the difference. ;D Pat
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pat, i kinda figured that the outsideness, especially the sun, would dry it to fast, but i am real impatient. other than the checking, the arras are going good. streightening them is remarkably easy. of cource, they aint storebought streight, but, to use your own words, "the deer it goes through wont know the difference! ;D" uuh, yall did say that a lil snakeyness is cool right?
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I love snaky arrows as much as snaky bows! ;) 8) Pat
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im gonna get me one o those snake bows. they look cool as reptile in antarctica! ok, that was lame. but ya get my point ;)
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Thanks Pat. Sorry I haven't post recently but I've been gone. Does the Sourwood ya'll are talking about grow in this area? If it does we call it something else. Also in my area Blue Beech is calle Ironwood also.
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Chris, I have seen it called "Lily of the Valley Tree" or "Sorrel Tree" because of the flowers. One other interesting thing about sourwood is the honey the bees make from it. They keep it separate from other honey in their hives, either by putting it in its own super or dividing a super between sourwood honey and all the other types. The honey is very light colored and milder than other honeys. If you know any beekeepers they would know if you have sourwood in your area. Pat