After many years shooting EFOC carbons I have found a new friendship with woodies. I really like Ash arrows and I dont like the lightness of cedar. Please help me pick an arrow in between these two extremes.
Douglas Fir?
I got some Surewood shafts from Braveheart archery that are 440-450 grns and 450-460 grains raw shaft. I will have around 600+ finished arrow when they're finished. They're Douglas fir.
laminated birch, chundoo(lodge pole pine), hex shafts spruce,ramin, Thats all of the mid weights I can think of.
I like ash for hunting, best weight for wood arrows. IMO Tried hickory too, but the humid weather here just warps them like bananas. I have hundreds of cedar and only target practice with them. I also like Douglas fir. Laminated birch are pretty stout but very hard to straighten. Still have not tried sitka spruce, would like to though. I love shooting wood arrows and after much money buying bulk shafts and experimenting with most, my choice is Ash. .
I switched from cedar years ago... I tried ash and loved it but too heavy for every day use for me.
I tried chundoo, sitka spruce, and douglas fir. Chundoo is good....as is sitka spruce. I think sitka spruce has all the benefits of cedar without any of the negatives (easy breakage, too light).
I prefer Douglas Fir....used to get all of mine from Alleghany Mtn Arrow Woods.
Doug Fir and Sitka Spruce are my two favorite woods for arrows....lots of people sell them so give them a try. I think you will like them.
In woodies I prefer yellow poplar, sitka spruce, and douglas fir.
But consider this to be an opinion and in no way advice.
I haven't tried them all and experience is limited.
If cedar is too light for you, sitka spruce will be too. Fir can vary a lot in weight so you can get some pretty heavy shafts for the spine weight. IMO fir is the best shooting of the arrow woods, very snappy and quick to recover. Another way to get arrow weight up is with point weight. You will have to go up in spine along with it, but the higher FOC really shoots nice. Choices and decisions; ain't it great!
I am Still a Dyed-In-The-Wool Ramin Shooter!! They are Tough,Easy to Straighten, and Cheap to Replace!! IMHO of Course. :goldtooth: :archer2:
Birch and it doesnt have to be laminated but I bet laminated shafts are great, also poplar.
Ash is my go to heavey tough arrow wood also.
Lately I have been experimenting with footed arrows using poplar and several different hard woods with outstanding result.
Is the move from cedar because everyone wants heavier shafts or problems finding good cedar shafts?
Over the years I would assume cedar has killed lots of animals.
Sitka and Douglas fir. You can load up the front of woodies as well.
One way to add weight to any wood shaft is to soak them for a week or three in a oil based wood stain.
Sitka Spruce is tougher but at the same weight as Cedar,,ash is tough as nails and alot heavier,I've recently tried some Fir, sort of a mid-heavy I guess, never tried lam Birch.
Wood arrows are just soooo cool! :D
... mike ...
Does anyone make compressed cedar anymore? The few that I've been able to run across have always been my favorites. Very special arrows.
I've tried ceder, ash, lam birch and fir.The spruce were the best light shafts, the ash best heavy shafts but the fir are the best shooting and make up to good hunting weights for 45# to 60# bows.I'll be hunting with fir this year. Bob
Sorry trac, no more compressed cedar that I know of. I'm afraid the Forgewoods are a thing of the past and Kerry Gesink sold his business a few years back, but I haven't seen the buyers produce the compressed shafts.
ive shot cedars not anymore i loved sitca allaginni dont make em anymore :banghead: so now i shoot dugfir but im looking into more foc so im thinkin about some footed taperd shafts from allaghini. not cheep but i think they will be worth it. oh ya i have some laminated birch the r heavy abd straiten great if you worm them in the oven at like 150deg. befor you make em perrrfect.
Love my 11/32" Acme ramins from the early '90s. Glad I bought a bunch!
I've tried alot of wood over the years, and come to favor the pine family for the best charaters needed in wood shafts. Weight, straightness, durability, and ease to work.
But for true, natural material, and tapered to boot, God created....Cane!
I will be buying my first wooden arrows for my traditional bows. Currently I have a self longbow, and a Bear Kodiak recurve which both are 45# bows. I will be buying another traditional bow, but have not decided wether to get a longbow with a shelf or a nicer recurve with a bit more poundage of about 55# to 60# range.
The 45# bows have been great to use, since I had left shoulder surgery back in Nov 08. I have another bow that is not traditional that is set at 58# that is just great to shoot but have shot it at 70# with no problem. But I'm shedding the training wheels.
I know there are modern traditional arrows that I could use, but don't want to even though these work fine. But they are not made of wood, but metal or carbon. This is not what I want to be using with my traditional bows at all as I want a solid wood shaft to be released from my bows.
I had been thinking about the Port Orford Cedar, but after seeing the link for The Feathered Shaft, it seems that these would be even stronger and since I like heavy arrows already I figure what is the harm in getting the best wooden shafts to start out with.
I think I'm on the right road here.
You can get heavy cedars and spruce shafts if you ask for them.I like the spruce because they are tough enough to barrel taper with out breaking points like with cedar.Most other woods are too heavy for my taste and my bow weights.
MT, I think you're on the right road, too. :D
Cedar will vary quite a bit in weight, fir even more so, but spruce is always light. I've gone thru a few hundred sitka spruce and the most I've seen is a 50 grain spread within a 5 lb spine group. Fir can vary 150 gr. I've had 60 lb fir from 350 to 520 grains for a full length shaft. There aren't many at those extremes, but they happen. Of the three, fir will average the heaviest and, IMO, shoots the best. I'm making up some for myself right now (finally!). :archer:
Obviously, cedar is a fine arrow wood. It was at the top of the pile for a long time and is still the wood that all other arrow woods are compared to. I've shot a bunch of it.
Once in my early years I went through 400 3/8" Ramin dowels at the local hardware store to find 100 that I thought could be made into arrows. Spined and weighed most turned out a finished 31" arrow at 750 to 800 grains. A bit heavy for me and my weight bows. However, they were tough to break. Could shoot cement blocks w/ the things. Never found a recipe that made blocks taste decent though.
Poplar. I've shot hundreds of them and don't have any complaints about them.
Dennis
Deerdog: If you don't like the lightness of cedar, then you probably won't like Sitka spruce either, because it's generally lighter. I concur with those who have recommended Doug fir as a good compromise between cedar and hardwoods. They're heavier than cedar and nearly as tough as hardwoods. And, luckily, Surewood shafts is probably making the best Doug fir shafting that has ever been made. Good luck.
I just want to say this.. My Cedars are 625gr w/160gr point. Great grain, striaght, lasted a year, shot a bunch, easy to work with, and fly perfect. But most of all, they smell oh so nice when you are making them or when they break. I still love Cedars......
give a dozen surewood doug fir shafts a try.