What is the best wood to make your own arrows from? Thanks in advance!
The one's that stay straight!
Really, several suppliers that have good quality shafts. Surewoods have great reviews.
I'll stick with cedar. Not as plentiful as it once was and I sometimes buy lots of 50 shafts to come up with 18 really good arrows. I guess I'm stubborn. :knothead:
Very happy with Doug Fir from Surewood Steve. Straight, close bare shaft weights and stain up real nice.
Doug Fir from Surewood....hands down.
QuoteOriginally posted by Homey88:
What is the best wood to make your own arrows from? Thanks in advance!
There really is no answer for this question, there are only opinions... and every opinion is right.
Guy
Another vote for Doug fir from surewood
Sitka Spruce from Hildebrand!
I was a big fan of ash from Allegheny Mountain Arrow Woods until he sold his business. Last year I bought some red balau from Forrester Wood Shafts and I would have to say those are the best shafts I ever purchased.
I think I'm gonna try some maple this year.
Darren
Good Old POC !
Anything not carbon :)
When I was making custom arrows a while back there were two woods that I really thought shot extremely well and were tough. On was called "chundo" (lodgepole pine) and the other was with birch. The birch was what Pope and Young used. The pine was the closet thing to POC I have ever seen. There are new woods on the market now that I cannot comment on since I have never used them. Reputable dealers are almost more important than the species of wood.
Another plug here for surewood shafts doug fir. Out of the box, they're straighter than the POCs I've purchased and seem to be more durable. I do like the way they stain as well with some interesting grain patterns.
I love shooting woodies and building my own arrows. It's really satisfying.
Lots of good woods to choose from. If you're most interested in durability, the hardwoods will be best -- birch, maple, ash, hickory, etc.
If you're more interested in speed, Port Orford Cedar, Sitka Spruce and Doug Fir will be better choices because they're generally lighter.
Doug fir is sort of in-between. Almost as tough as a hardwood, some would say it is as tough, and generally heavier than POC or spruce, but not quite as heavy as a hardwood.
There are several good arrow woods, but Douglas Fir has been my favorite for many years. It is a very "snappy" wood and I like the way it shoots. Sitka Spruce is my #2 choice. POC is good if you can find good shafts. Surewood Shafts is the best source for Fir; Hildebrand for Sitka, IMO.
I've tried cedar, hex shaft pine, and Surewood Douglas fir. The first two were okay, but the shafts I've been getting from Surewood have been consistent quality. I've purchased dozens of 75-80 shafts for about 8 years and they always shoot the same. There are never any surprises.
Another vote for Surewood Dougies !!
I'll second Fletcher's experience.
Surewoods Doug Fir they are fantastic.
I have used Rogue River now Wapiti Archery cedars for many years. I liked the 65 to 75 11/32" heavy for the spine cedars for my heavier longbows. They were tough, flew nice for me and straight and they stayed that way. Recently, wanting more weight for my lighter bows than the average cedar of those spines weigh, I tried doug firs from Surewood, very impressed. I see that Wapiti has doug firs now as well.
The Doug Fir from Surewood is unbeatable-I used to worry about my personal stash of old Cedar running low-it just does not matter now! :thumbsup:
I'm testing leopardwood for my new shafts, I'll tell you guys how it goes.
I have used POC for a long time and while I do have some very fine Surewood arrows I made up, I am still partial to cedar. I like working with it. I have used maple and ash along the way also and had some good luck and bad luck with the ash. I had a couple dozen that was awesome then got a dozen that was just junk. Moving down a little in bow weight the ash got a little heavy also.
QuoteOriginally posted by Flying Dutchman:
Sitka Spruce from Hildebrand!
I'll second this...
I should elaborate a bit on my post above. Much of what makes one wood "better" than another is what you want to do with it and get from it. POC is a proven wood that shoots well and is easy to work with. It straightens easily and holds its straight. Technically, it is a cypress, not a cedar. It is not as durable as most other woods, but if you don't miss this really isn't an issue.
Sitka Spruce boasts the highest strength to weight ratio of all woods. It makes a lighter weight arrow and has a fiberous structure that makes it quite tough. It's light mass weight makes it good for high FOC arrows. Unfortunately, spine availability fizzles out quickly above 75 lbs. Sitka straightens well and holds it once sealed.
Doug Fir also has a long history as an arrow wood. It recovers quickly from paradox and shoots very well. Mass weight varies greatly, as much as 150+ grains within a spine range. This makes it harder to weight match shafts, but also makes it usable by fans of both light, mid and heavy weight arrows. It also has a very wide spine availability, up to 120 lbs or more. It is much more durable than POC and when it does break, it tends to come apart so there isn't much question. DF straightens well, heat helps, and holds it fairly well once sealed.
Both SS and DF like to argue with the pencil type nock and point taper tools and do much better with a disk sander type tapering setup. A V type guide on a hobby size disk/belt sander combo works great.
JMHO