Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Woody roberts on December 11, 2020, 05:27:00 pm
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Out of curiosity what length do your cane arrows end up at. Most of my cane is not as dry as I would like and have had just a few pieces to play with.
Bareshaft tuning before I fletch it seem that 30” is a common number. Some a little shorter, some longer but it seems at 30” I can change the point weight and get them to shoot together.
Does this sound right?
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My cane and hardwood shoot arrows are 30" for my 26" draw. I think the extra length helps the arrow get around the bow and I like the extra physical weight.
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Woody did you find river cane where you are at or did you buy it?
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If you guys actually know what "river cane"(Arundanaria gigantia) is you wouldn't be touting it as good arrow material. Figure out which cane(bamboo) genera and specie you are dealing with. The botanical name is known worldwide, the common names are local at best. Passing on good,factual information is as important with arrow shafts as it is with bow woods.
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Pat you don't like actual river cane?
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Actual river cane will make an arrow but it isn't as good for arrows as many other canes(bamboo), native or exotic. River cane grows to 15'+, 3/4" in diameter, thin walls, large center opening and large nodes. You have to get shafting from the top 3' or 4' of the culm. Like I said before I have a few arrows that were given to me made from river cane so they will make good arrows but IMO other cane makes better arrows.
My point is every arrow cane is not river cane. I'd almost bet very few arrows are made from true river cane. The nerd in me wants to use proper names for materials used so it is clear to everyone what exactly the materials are used for arrows.
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I cut this in a cane brake alongside the Jacks Fork river. This cane doesn’t get much over 10’ tall and 3/4” at the base. Nodes seem huge to me. Nodes alternate side to side. I 2 fletch these arrows with the nodes on the top and bottom regardless of spine. Each one will shoot considerably better with one side up over the other. Once which side becomes the top I paint a white streak down the top. A yellow streak down the bottom. These natural shafts with turkey feather fletch can be difficult to find in the grass/ leaves.
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What you probably have is switch cane(A. tecta), an American native cane very similar to hill cane but more widely distributed.
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I wouldn’t know how to tell. The cane that grows along Jacks Fork and Current rivers never gets big enough to make true cane fishing poles from. The brakes are thick as grass and difficult to walk through.
There is no cane in my area that grows up on the mountain side that I’ve ever seen.
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I'll have to look for some next time I'm down on the jacks fork. Pat I assume anytime someone says river cane they mean the actual variety they are talking about
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River cane is more of a generic term these days.
Woody, hill cane(A. appalachiana) only grows in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Switch cane grows all over the Southeast US.
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In the future I’ll refer to my cane arrows as cane. Since I’m not sure of the variety.
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Cane is the absolute best arrow material around here.. easiest to make also.. most durable shaft out there IMO... I cut my cane at 25 " spine at 65 to 70lbs.. I shoot 27 draw 55 lb bow... I then foreshaft my cane to add weight up front and bring spine down to around 55 or 60.. foreshafts are about 5 inches out shaft... gut
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Those look sweeeet
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Those are scary heads, what's the black and red stuff?
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mahogany obsidian, tiger stripe too, mexican black... some regular glass points ,all work well .. I am going to make a fresh set this summer ... with some stone points I have knapped... that are incredibly sharp and more durable than obsidian .. I've killed a few good deer with this set up.. one 143 6/8 8 point bruiser too... thank you for the kind words... gut
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Hey gut, do you do anything specific to true the holes receiving the foreshafts and end up with a standard-gauge hole or use any certain tools/methods to ensure the in-hole part of the foreshaft is true ... or both? Or do you just make and taper the foreshafts by feel matching each shaft to each arrow? I made an oasge forshaft for the first cane arrow I made a couple of years ago, and use a drawkinfe and sandpaper, and it was a heap of effort to produce one foreshaft that would fit and spin well with that one particular arrow. I can't see myself doing this for sets of arrows unless I could figure out a way to streamline the process and end up with foreshafts that could be reasonably interchangable with several, if not all of the other arrows.
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I dont drill out my cane at all.. I make my foreshafts to fit inside cane as is.. I blunt the end of inserted foreshaft and bottom it on a node so as to not split the cane upon impact.. works great for me... I'll put a point on the foreshaft so I can spin it.. I rotate the foreshaft till I get a perfect spin with no wobble... then I mark the foreshaft and cane with a pencil line so I can line it back up perfect once I set my head in foreshaft.. I then cut my notch to accept the head and haft head to shaft.. with hide glue.. I spin it also to make sure it is trued up.. rarely when I insert foreshaft back into cane does it need a slight adjustment to spin true.. but simple to do .. I also use hide glue to set my foreshaft in the cane... a lil heat is all it takes to loosen it if I need to replace it.. you can use a flint shard or knife to reduce the foreshaft to fit in cane..there will be a taper where your foreshaft slides in to cane.. I try to keep in minimal and I build it up with sinew once set.. if I am making a set I use my belt sander which hawgs it down pretty fast.. haha... hope this helps..sorry it took so long to see this... been quarantined since Jan 21st... gut
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I'll add I try to do most of my arrows the primitive way.. however i see a good point you brought up to possibly drill out all the cane to same measurements for inserting different foreshafts in the field too.. makes good sense. not a bad idea.. if I can knap me out a drill type to accommodate the cane in future I may just try that. Thad Beckham has a new video on making cane arrows.. in that video he does just that.. drills out his cane with a flint drill makes all his foreshafts interchangeable.. I just haven't got to that point yet .. I can make a foreshaft for each cane fairly quickly. and also ad that not all my foreshafts are identical in length when inserted to node, I get at least 1 1/2 deep on every cane some up to 3..my next batch I will try some new techniques too...but these tried and true work perfect for now... and really don't take a lot to make considering the cane just needs to be straightened and is naturally tapered already and tough as carbon and stays straight for a long, long time.. beats the heck out of shaving down a shaft that usually has to be re straightened within a year. by the time I could shave down a shaft and straighten I could have built a whole foreshafted cane arrow with feathers..plus they are relatively easy to find locally and just look as primitive as it gets.. gut
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Actual river cane will make an arrow but it isn't as good for arrows as many other canes(bamboo), native or exotic. River cane grows to 15'+, 3/4" in diameter, thin walls, large center opening and large nodes. You have to get shafting from the top 3' or 4' of the culm. Like I said before I have a few arrows that were given to me made from river cane so they will make good arrows but IMO other cane makes better arrows.
My point is every arrow cane is not river cane. I'd almost bet very few arrows are made from true river cane. The nerd in me wants to use proper names for materials used so it is clear to everyone what exactly the materials are used for arrows.
I have to agree with this. Keeping in mind that all of my bamboo comes from China and is a species of Bamboo with a think wall and a thin central canal, so I do have a dog in this fight...as they say. But not all bamboo is worthwhile for arrow making in my opinion either...and it is VERY helpful to me to know exactly the ingredients I'm using to make anything. It means I can reproduce whatever I want to keep using, and find a better replacement for things which are not what I want. Pat is making a point which is hard to listen to for a beginner perhaps, but it is exactly right...in my opinion. https://khansarrows.com/what-does-high-quality-bamboo-look-like/