since im getting a new bow im thinking of making the switch to wooden arrows but from the littel i know about them it seems they are alot of work. Always needing straigtening and what not. Do you guys feel that its worth all the work need to shoot these arrows?
I've gone through a couple dozen cedar shafts. They weren't any trouble at all and rarely needed any hand straightening. Two of them are on my wall as having taken down deer. Give the wood a try. I think you will enjoy the experience.
For me, tapered ash is the best.Toughest arras I ever shot
F-Manny
ive shot wood exclusively for years and i can honestly say that i have never straightened an arrow. i actually think building wood arrows is a quite enjoyable process and its NOT hard.
They can be very satisfying in making them.I loved making mine back when I shot strictly wood for 3D's and hunting.Sure you have to check for straightness and can be easy to straighten after you get your techinque down.They can be alot of work if you want to get into crown dipping and cresting,but satisfying in making your own signature arrows.I haven't made any wood arrows in a few years but have a few dozen shafts I plan on making next summer.You can get out of it what you want,the satisfaction of making your arrows from raw wooden shafts.Can be alot of fun and alot of work.But I'll admit these days it can be cheaper and easier just doing some carbons or aluminum arrows.
They are a lot of fun to build, tune, and shoot! No work to me....if it's fun it can't be work. Just feels right to shoot a wood arrow out of a wood bow.
Never a problem here except some thin ash once. Make your own & you'll be especially glad you did.
I'm still trying to find my own setup. If you read thru the forum here, you'll get a lot of opinions about the best arrow and such. Most folks say one is better than the other b/c they've killed game with their setup and they have confidence in it.
You'll have to experiment and see what works for you. I've shot them all and they all fly and will kill game. I switched from aluminum to carbon then to hickory shafts. My reason is that I shoot a 70# + pound bow and with hickory, I can get my arrow weight up to 750+ gr without front-loading and arrow. Not that front loading is bad, I just haven't made it work for me.
They all break (bend for alum) at some point or another...If you have to straighten a wood arrow, it isn't that big of a deal. Its not like you have to straighten wood after every shot. Just check them once in a while.
Newell38 pointed out "i can honestly say that i have never straightened an arrow" It has also been pointed by others, woodies are clearly superior because they can't tell the difference between shooting straight or shooting bent woodies.
My carbon arrows are just really old wood! Seriously, I always had trouble keeping wood arrows straight.
Years ago I made my own custom wood arrows. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I used them to hunt and at the time rarely took a shot past 18 yards. When I began shooting better I found that I could group better with aluminum at longer distances. I've since gone to carbons.
They're not worth the trouble to me any more. I guess it's like most everything else. It's all about goals, limitations and personal satisfaction.
Bender,
It's pretty easy to tell if an arrow is staight or not--that is, if you can shoot a lick. :^)
i do straighten my raw shafts if needed before i start making my arrows but as far as using a dial indicator or roller straightener after an arrow has been finished, i havent had to do it yet and i do A LOT of shooting! if you use your spine finder correctly to make arrows, a little bend in the shaft WILL NOT matter. i dont know if they are superior or not because everyone has their own opinions and experiences but there is just something right about a longbow and wood arrow. i also like how a heavy wood shaft from a high performance longbow or recurve destroys just about anything in its path!!!!
I prefer shooting to having to putter with wood arrows...so no, not worth the effort for me. However, I know a lot of guys like snag and newell38 who love their woodies.
yes and i have absolutely nothing against carbon or aluminum...just love the wood! its up to the topic starter (TS) if its worth it to him or not! itll be fun either way!
I shoot aluminum and wood and see no negative side to wood arrows.
YES! I shoot them, I lose them, I break them,
then I make some more. Hell, I even have names
for some of the flighters I make. You get the hang of crafting woodies and there's a lot
of cool things you can do that can't be done with aluminium or carbon.
The only thing I'm using wood shafts for is to build a fire.
It's okay Magoo, I use carbons for tomato stakes.
Been shooting wood shafts for years. I'm now making the leap into shafts made from shoots with self-nocks and my own handmade points. And will be doing cane soon, too.
I never had a problem making wood shafts or keeping them straight. I enjoy making them.
There is something very satisfying in the building of wood arrows. As my friends will tell you I very seldom do more than one of the same. And I do not have to worry about the arrow being mine they always know. They are all the same spine and weight but that is all. MIKE
I'm with LBOW. I derive a certain satisfaction of handcrafting and maintaining my own personalized wooden arrows. Not better but better for my psych. Maybe they are not for the instant gratifiction generation though.
I am so very happy that there are folks out there that love making arrows. I don't happen to be one of those myself. In fact, I HATE building arrows. I'd rather build 10 bows than 2 arrows. Building an arrow reminded me of trying to put together model cars(which I also hated BTW).
Arrows are beautiful and I love a good arrow especially woodies but I never was able to make them to my satisfaction. I thought that maybe it was because they were wood so I tried to build some aluminum ones... it wasn't any better.
I tried to force myself. I bought a gross of Rose City shafts once...lol I ended up giving most of them away. Years ago I planted japanese arrow bamboo in my back yard. and I've yet to cut one arrow shaft from it. The same is true of the arrow wood bushes(viburnum) I planted, or the gray dogwood I planted.
Maybe this coming year I'll cut it all and take it to the MoBoJam as trading material..lol
OOppsss! I got carried away.. I love shooting woodies and they aren't any trouble at all...lol
God bless,Mudd
No
I'm going to make a switch to woodies this year.I shoot everything(Carbon,wood and aluminum).Trying to decide on what particular shaft to use.I've been looking at sitka spruce,hex pine or tapered lam birch.There are many choices of shafts to choose from,each is their own animal,and building raw sticks into a finely crafted arrow is a big draw to trad for me.
Carbons are tough,aluminum has the consistensy and weight,but woodies are a labor of love. :thumbsup:
Wood arrows are way too much trouble, are horribly expensive, and really not worth a darn-save your self the trouble. And besides there just isn't enough good wood around for everyone to start fiddling with wood arrows-heck you might even get hooked! Stick with the other materials where there is no danger of addiction!
Building woods can be alot of fun.You get to personalize every aspect of the arrow and when you stab something with one its even more satisfying. I have found that nothing shoots smoother or sweeter than wood. I was reluctant to try but now thats all i use lets face it if you want to be truley traditional theres no choice its wood. I tried my carbon and aluminum from the logbow and recurve but it just dident seem right.
I haven't had to straighten any of my Douglas fir arrows, yet. They are worth it!
I switched from wood to carbons, tough choice but I'm glad I did. To me woods are alot of work not as nearly consistant as carbons. Especially buying a new bow and trying to tune woods to bow, thats a tough combo to work with. I've read on A&H archery web-site, that, out of a hundred wood shafts he would find a doz straight shafts. Hope this helps.
As far as woodies go if you want them to be straight and hard you have to dilute Viagra into some water and dip the shafts in it then your good for 6-8 hrs of shooting...LOL I love my woodies and never had a problem.
lpcjon---
Didn't I see you on one of those info-damnable-mertials my wife keeps leaving on the TV?
There are two arrow shafts I shoot. Alumunum and wood. I also make my own arrows. It is now getting to be a hobby to dip and crest a dozen shafts. Work? Maybe . For me fun. George you have some expensive Tomato stakes.
QuoteOriginally posted by bowmaster12:
since im getting a new bow im thinking of making the switch to wooden arrows but from the littel i know about them it seems they are alot of work. Always needing straigtening and what not. Do you guys feel that its worth all the work need to shoot these arrows?
Yup...
Absolutely. I think they're a lot more fun than carbon or aluminum though I shoot them too.
Just something about them makes me think they have more warmth than the others.
This is another thing I like about'm! Boy the smell/look good like this.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/varmint101/101109021.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/varmint101/LongbowDoeKill1021070001-1.jpg)
I'm enjoying my Surewood arrows so far. They seem straight, easy to straighten, and after initial straightening, they've stayed that way. I hope they keep it up!!
Craig
I like wood, aluminum and carbon. I used to shoot wood exclusively, namely because I could build a bunch of arrows cheaply(compared to alum/carbon) and not be out too much when I lost them. The laminated birch shafts were tough as nails too. I built them plain jane with no cresting, etc. Many shoot well with the woodies and enjoy them very much.
For me, I didn't have the same confidence shooting the wood arrows as I do now with my carbons. Each arrow is the same. Less variables in the shooting equation. In addition, I can jack up the point weight on the carbons to suit me...something difficult to achieve with woodies. Many carbons also have skinny shafts for better penetration.
Who knows, I may go back to wood someday, but for now carbons suit me just fine. Why not try some of each?
Matt
Well I shoot carbon out of my GM2 now and wood out of my martin LB. They both shoot well. Wood has alway been what my LB wants and is cheap. Making woodies is not very hard, I can even do it. I have always hand straightend my shafts even helps to know when I use to shoot aluminum. There is an certian appeal to wood,the smell,the fit and finish,the process in builing them. Wood is good. Carbon hasn't been the best tomato stake, I guess mine just grow to big for that,lol.
In my mind trad=wood. It is probably just me. I like to go all out.
They smell good...
I don't have the time to fiddle with them though.
Wood bows and wood arrows- can't beat 'em.
I make simple wood arrows. No crown dip, no paint. The only "dressing" I put on them is simple cresting with sharpie pens. That's so I can tell sets apart.
For me, if I'm not shooting wood arrows I might as well have wheels on my bow, too.
I moved up to wood arrows MANY years ago and have no plans to change. Every time I send a wood arrow to its mark, a part of me flies with it. Aluminum and now carbon make very functional arrows, but they have no spirit or life in them.
Steve, if you have the right arrows you won't have to fiddle with them. :D
Fletcher is right, carbons have no life in them themselves. But they take the life out of my targets very well, and may do so without breaking.
i love/hate threads about arrow shaft materials - drudges up all the personal, subjective opinions of what's best for archers and bowhunters, with some folks espousing, or at least hinting, that their way is the only way.
to think that wooden arrows are as consistent or accurate or durable as carbons, alums and even glass arrows is pure myth. even the most consistent woodie - hex pines - can't hold a consistent candle to the cheapest of man made material arrow shafts.
wood is a living, cellular, unique material. even shafts created from the same log will sport differences. wood is enormously affected by the environment and by the pressures of exiting a bow and entering materials with great force from said bow.
due to their inherent inconsistencies, woodies will mask your shooting form. who missed the mark - you or your arrow?
you don't hafta accept them, but the above facts are irrefutable.
all that said, heck yeah - i'll rove and hunt with woodies on occasion, using my wood and glass laminated longbows. wood arrows do get ya closer to the core of traditional bowhunting.
to each their own and ymmv!
Rob, I respectfully refute your irrefutable facts. :)
Properly constructed and matched wood arrows will perform as well as anything else. You DO have to know how to make them correctly, and how to match them to your bow. There are no "inherent inconsistencies" that can't be overcome by the skill of the arrow maker when he has good material to work with.
I have a picture that would help to prove my point, but it includes a compound bow so it can't be posted here. The picture is of a regulation indoor target with 5 x-rings, shot at twenty yards, by a fellow named Ryan that worked for Dan Quillian. Dan bare-shaft matched him and his high-end compound with some of the matched arrows they made using my shafts, and the target has 5 arrows in the x-rings. There are no other holes in the target. Dan did it to show how good wood arrows can be!
While in the Superceder business, we sold quite a few into Canada to compound shooters. Apparently they didn't know that you can't shoot wood from a compound!
Disclaimer: You REALLY have to know what you're doing, and the arrow shafts must be of the highest quality and straightness of grain.
QuoteOriginally posted by Don Stokes:
... Disclaimer: You REALLY have to know what you're doing, and the arrow shafts must be of the highest quality and straightness of grain.
back atcha, don - i respectfully refute your refute of my irrefutable statement. :bigsmyl:
re, your above disclaimer - therein lies the larger part of the problem, don. this is why the approach to shooting woodies needs to be careful and well thought out, particularly when the target is game and the bowhunter is a relative newbie.
woodies require, demand, extra care of building and use - carbons don't. if you don't have the time patience and money to delve into woodies, don't go there for the sake of yer bowhunting.
i've found that compressed wood shafts have a very high tolerance to dynamic shot compression, and have better 'memory' (consistency), than non-compressed shaft wood. i'd like to see a compressed hex pine shaft, if that's even possible.
still, man made shaft material (i.e. - carbon) can take an enormous lickin' and still keep on tickin' perfectly. in the long run, woods just don't. but i sure do love my woodie arras! :D
Oh my.
Trad Gang is becoming one long string of damaged refutations.
Some folks like to fiddle with and make their own bows, arrows, armguards, and tools. Some folks don't, and would rather just buy a finished product.
Some want the involvement in the process, and some want quick results. Some learn spelling and grammar, and proofread, and some jus slam da keebord and go two th nex tread, lookin fiur laffs r watevur.
Different strokes.
Killdeer
Good morning, Kathy.
:wavey:
I think the "newbies" get more confusion from bareshafting, and front-loading, then they ever would from building a simple wooden arrow 8^))))).
QuoteOriginally posted by George D. Stout:
I think the "newbies" get more confusion from bareshafting, and front-loading, then they ever would from building a simple wooden arrow 8^))))).
i agree, george - for sure. best to keep it simple.
also best to take arrow issues out of the newbie learning curve - MUCH easier to build and learn with alums ... carbons can be trickier when it comes to spine issues, but the easton alum chart's a great start.
imo & ymmv.
Killdeer you crack me up.
It's a personal choice. I love wood arrows, I love shooting woods but I have this little problem between my ears, I'm too picky, my wife calls it anal. Maybe it's a little OCD or something but all my arrows have to be the same weight, spine and straight. Don't get my wrong I am by no means good enough to see any difference in my shooting between wood, aluminum or carbon. So I shoot aluminum so the little man in my head wont bug me so much.
Give wood a try ya never know you may fall in love with them and never switch back.