I still have a few of these left....tuffest wood arrows I ever experienced....by far.
Anyone have a source for them?
Hmmmm. I've never heard of compressed maples, thoughI suppose it's possible. Maple is dense and heavy enough that they make a very heavy, sturdy arrow without compressing. Maybe adding the word "compressed" was just a marketing gimmick.
As I remember, you shoot pretty heavy bows, in the 60# range. An 11/32 maple spined appropriately would likely come in at about 750 grains with a 125 grain or so point. The same diameter in a compressed shaft would likely come in at 900 to 1,000 grains.
Are the compressed shafts you have that heavy?
Possible that someone ran them through a compression block?
Compressed maple? I'd like to see that machine. I've got some 5/16 parallel, 90-95, and they are heavy, heavy, heavy!
Years ago I bought compressed ramonwoods a few times. I have since been told that you cannot compress hardwoods and they are in fact burnished. Maybe these are the same. The Ramon's were heavy, very straight and tough. But rarely available
Quote from: Charlie Lamb on March 20, 2019, 03:48:10 PM
Compressed maple? I'd like to see that machine. I've got some 5/16 parallel, 90-95, and they are heavy, heavy, heavy!
Yeah, maple in its natural state is DENSE and HARD as a box of rox...and, as Charlie said...HEAVY
Dink's Feather shop use to sell compressed maple or at least it was advertised as such. Ramin I think can still be had in higher spines.
Dinks Feather Shop used to sell Laminated Maple shafts, not compressed. I know because he bought the machinery and the idea from me many years ago.
whatabout finding some of the old "Sweetland forgewoods" :pray:
Sweetland Forgewoods are hard to find but great arrows if you can find them. I have 19 matched forgewoods that I got in the St. Jude's auction a few years back. Danny Rowan and I were bidding against each other because we both wanted them so bad. We ended up teaming up to win the bid and he got a dozen and I got the balance of what was originally an exact matched set of three dozen arrows. Being from the early sixties/late fifties these are amazingly straight. Also, the arrows are heavy. 500 grains for arrow without points. Since these came in either 17/32, 18/32 or 19/32 diameter shafts they're like the forerunner of skinny carbons. They hit with authority. Point selection is limited because of narrow diameter and there was an aluminum spacer called the Headshrinker that fit on the shaft and then cou use regular 11/32 points. Mine are the 19/32 so I can get a 5/16 head to fit well. The only other forgewoods I owned were acquired on Ebay by accident. The seller didn't know what they were, nor did I until I got them. They were a very light spine, around 41#, and I ended up giving them to Ron LaClair and he ended up taking a turkey at camp that fall with them out of a lightweight 1956 dual shelf Kodiak. Those are the only sets of forgewoods I have ever run across. There was a company in Alaska that supposedly purchased the Forgewoods machinery and produce shafts that came in a sealed plastic bag. I had bought some, but the shafts looked like snakes and I ended up selling them off for peanuts.
I also had experience with Silent Pond tapered maple and ash shafts back in the early 90's. The ash version was incredibly tuff. I actually stuck a Grizzly broadhead in a bionic turkey target using one. The shaft popped out and was laying on the ground with no damage. The head was stuck in the steel and the only damage was the rear of the ferrule had split a little. I was impressed with the shaft and the point.
Finding forgewoods is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Just not many around anymore, and those who have them don't want to part with them. I've collected enough over the years so I now have enough to last me. Did sell a few recently because I aged out of them so to speak. Can no longer shoot that heavy of a bow or arrow.
Had some 11/32 forgewoods a while back that spined over 100# and weighed about 750 grains bare shaft. Sold those to a very strong fella. :bigsmyl:
I don't know if any of y'all remember Archery7, but he sent me some. I still own a 1/2 dozen.
With Zwicky Delta 4 blades there are about 720 grains.
Yes, he hammered them through some type of a device.
I use a soft maple in cabinets that's actually fairly light. May be the type that was compressed
Terry. If he hammered them through a die, they're not forgewoods. Turning them through a (heated) die compresses the outer fibers a bit and burnishes the shaft in the process.
Sweetland compressed POC boards before cutting them into blanks from which he doweled the shafts. His process compressed the entire shaft. Sometimes he compressed tapered boards to the same 3/8 inch thickness before cutting to squares and doweling to get "naturally" weight forward shafts. Way ahead of his time.
Thanks Orion.... I really don't know what forge woods are..... All I know is he talked about hammering them through some device and I still have some and they are tuff as concrete blocks....
And I would like to have another dozen for sure
Mine are spinned 65-70.... Anyone? ?
I wish that compressed woods would make a comeback. I used to shoot a compressed and tapered cedar. 23/64" compressed to 11/32" then 10" taper to nock of 5/16". Only downside was that they didn't take stain well.
Can you stain them 1st?
The stain would probably burn off a little going through the compression block.
That is if they use the type of compression block which you heat up very hot with a torch then run the shaft through with a drill.
heres a question i want to ask those who have used the compression block type "compressed shafts".
does the shaft swell back up to its original size, if water based stains and finishes are used, just like water will "raise the grain" as opposed to a solvent based finish?
really curious about this!
Bill Sweetland manufactured the Forgewood compressed cedar shafts in Oregon. I believe he made a second shaft. I had several dozen, but found most were not straight and difficult to stay straight.
http://traditionalarcheryproducts.com/product/bill-sweetland-story/