Can the cedar from Lowes or Home Depot, which I believe is all western cedar, be used for making arrows? And how does it compare to POC shafts?
I've made up a couple, but thought I'd ask before shooting them.
Thanks
Probably, but what is the norm is Port Orford cedar. Plus you may find it hard to find the stuff in Lowes that will have straight grain without less than 12" grain runoff.
Personaly i wouldnt shoot them its not worth taking the chance buy the POC made for arrows. It has been chosen and cut to be shot from a bow,with force.you have no idea what the lowes wood can handle. They may be good for kid arrows but not for an adult. Safety first.jmho
Two reasons to not do it. Western red cedar is more brittle than POC. And, it it's not as stiff as POC, meaning it will be difficult to get anything other than fairly lightweight shafts out of it.
I would not shoot the cedar from a lumberyard bin it is simply not worth the risk. Do you have any idea how stiff you want the shafting?
I was able to select a very straight grain cedar brd. and made up a couple 11/32" shafts with my router jig. The shafts alone came out at 340 grains at 31". (my DL is 30") According to my spine tester, they came out at 55#, which is what I needed. I also made up a couple from poplar and they weighed around 460 grains with a spine of 62#.
I shot the 4 arrows with 125 grain field pts. and 5" feathers yesterday and they all hit very close with good impact at 18 yards.
This was an experiment. I was curious, since POC comes from the West coast and this cedar is also West coast, give it a try.
Ok so these are not from the dowel bin. Cutting from boards is a different deal. Sounds like you know what you're doing! Keep us posted.
Now try some doug fir. Its a lot stronger than cedar just doesn't have the stink that some like. Frank