When I made my recent order from Surewood Arrow Shafts, Steve and I got to talking about some beautiful shafts they had just processed. They turned out to be Hemlock, and from his description...Straight, beautiful grain (similar to douglas fir) AND consistent weights that are LIGHTER than douglas fir.
Always willing to try new things, I put a dozen on my order.
Here is the 1st 1/2 dozen 60-65# spine. There are no points on these, and Steve was right in his description. The scale says 448 grains. These 6 weighed 444-448 grains (finished weight without points) and by looking at the grain of the wood, they look VERY similar to douglas fir to me. If your looking for a lighter weight option than doug fir, you might do best to seriously look at Hemlock from Surewood Arrow Shafts as your next arrow wood to try.
This set of 1/2 dozen is being donated to the Professional Bowhunters Society (PBS) for their upcoming banquet in Cincinnati this coming March. If you are not a Member, or never heard of the PBS, please visit the website and see what we are all about.
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Very nice arrows, Mike!
Sharp, I like that grain and that cap/cresting combo!
Nice Mike. :goldtooth:
Mike, those are awesome! They sure do have the look of Doug Fir!
Thanks for your continued support of PBS.
Mike, I've made several sets of arrows the last few years using their hemlock shafts. Make a great arrow in my opinion!
The first set of shafts I acquired in a trade and made them up for my boys to shoot, but they ended up in K.S.Trapper's quiver before they had the chance to shoot them.
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Mike,
Those look great. I've been looking for some ideas on a grey stain. Would you mind sharing what you used to achieve that grey weathered look to those shafts?
Thanks
Minwax Ebony stain. Each wood takes it differently. Same similar look on both douglas fir and hemlock.
I hope he has a good supply of Hemlock. All of our native(canadensis and caroliniana)have succumbed to the hemlock wholly adelgid, an invasive exotic pest that has killed almost all the hemlocks in our area.
Mike and Ron thanks for saying the good word about our shafts, but we only did one log of Hemlock and is not our plan to run more. Yes we do have some but not a unlimited supply. I also made a few arrows out of them and was pleased with the results as well. If any one is interested please PM me and we can talk. Surewood Steve
I was gifted some hemlock several years ago and am impressed by them. Too bad it won't be an ongoing supply.
I'd like to see some good Western Larch shafts, not sure if they have that in Oregon or not.
Eric
Good looking Arrows!
Regardless of the wood, Surewood's are the best. They put a lot of effort into quality control and it definitely shows up in the final product.
Those look great! But didn't expect any less from Mike, Ron, or Surewood :thumbsup:
I dont know if its the same tree but i've got so much healthy hemlock on my land its everywhere, we use it for rough cut siding and demential lumber
Eric(Westbrook) Yes we definitely have Western Larch(Tamarack) in Oregon, and yes Larch makes a great arrow. We actually mfg. some several years ago, but we currently have none in stock. We have several people who say they are working on getting us some good Larch, but nothing yet. Our friend Pat Lopez in Idaho is also looking out for us for some good Larch.
Oh, and thanks Mr. Boice for the nice compliment....isn't that twice now in the last few days? Think Bubba!!!
Surewood Bob
Just giving credit to where credit is due Bob. Snag and I did some horse trading and I have 5 dozen of your Surewoods coming from the Wilderness shop all made up and ready to go. It just doesn't get any better than that.
Allen, Good for you! I have watched David at work and his attention to detail and craftsmanship are superb. Good to see you shooting woodies and it sound's like you will have a great supply. Hope to see you soon!
Any kinda' shafting from Surewood is gonna' be good! :archer2:
There is a thousand mile coastline from BC thru SE Alaska where every 4th tree is a western hemlock. Another one I had from the boys that was very nice was sugar pine. Larch has been the numero unto from Surewood and I hope they sort out a source.
I just posted a inventory of what we have in the Hemlock in 50 count bundles and matched dozens, on the Sponsors Classified. Take a look, thanks Surewood Steve
I Planed out some six foot atlatl darts from a hemlock board and was very happy with the results. It was a tiny bit too limber for six feet, but they worked out fine. Bought hemlock boards frome Lowe's. Most of what they had was pretty wide ringed though.
I just got back from "Snags" shop at Wilderness Custom Arrows where we at Surewood share the back tapering machine, and he was working on some spruce from Hildebrand. The spruce that he had looked almost identical to the hemlock in color and grain. Mixed together I don't think one could tell.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bjorn:
Any kinda' shafting from Surewood is gonna' be good! :archer2:
Yes Sir!!
Just updated the inventory on the Sponsors Classified page. E-mail, PM or call if interested.