Last shoot I thought I would give my woodies a chance... So I changed from GT traditional to Hildebrands Sitka spruce 11/32.
All I can say is Wow! Both are bare shafted to the bow, almost equal in weight, FOC and dynamic spine.
They seem to have the same speed, but my woodies have soo much more rest in the shot and seem so more stabile.... I think there is no alternative for a well tuned wooden arrow...
I think I will stay with my woodies for a while now...
I also tried my Caribow Peregrine today with another set of woodies. A pure joy to shoot and soon targets at 35 yards were too easy to hit...... Yihaaaaaa
There is something to say for a longbow, backquiver and woodies.... It really really felt good!
I like woodies too but the durability of footed carbons in an area filled with rocks has won me over. It isn't fun loosing 6-8 arrows to rocks when small game hunting/stumping for a day.
I wonder if I'll ever go back to carbon from wood shafts. I can't imagine now that I would, I love wood arrows too much. They can be a pain, and pricey, but eh, so can the whole affair. Nothing against carbon or alloy, just my thing.
I love the look of wood but they are not as straight and forgiving (sorry to the trad Gods)
When accuracy counts I think Aluminum is the best option for the general bowhunter.
Just my opinion.
Again nothing beats the beauty of a well crafted wood arrow.
In the past I struggled with getting woodies straight too.... Until I found this tutorial, very easy to do and you end with shafts as straight as your carbons: http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000060
As for forgiveness, I found that woodies are the most forgiven from all shafts.... But YMMV of course....
QuoteOriginally posted by GDPolk:
I like woodies too but the durability of footed carbons in an area filled with rocks has won me over. It isn't fun loosing 6-8 arrows to rocks when small game hunting/stumping for a day.
You must be shooting POC's ???
Once I went to Dougfir from Surewood about 10yrs ago I have bounced them off of accidentle rocks, green trees and a few hidden objects not seen. Very, very rairly do I ever break one or have to straitened them. Maybe I'm just lucky!
I'm shooting #54 to #57 most of the time. JMHO!
Tracy
I'm with ya on this Dutchman and K.S. Guys just need to try some Surewood Shafts and see what really good arrow wood is like out of their stickbow. They are durable and forgiving. I accidentally shot over a target and hit a douglas fir tree with my doug fir arrow. Direct hit! No damage, no need for straightening.
I found out that Sitka is pretty durabele too.
There's a learning curve to straightening shafts, at least for me.
Been at it (building/ maintaining woodies) a few years now. In fact, Dutchman, I've appreciated your own wood arrow build-a-long posts!
But about straightening... using a spin tester of some kind - however simple - has made it a lot easier for me. Also using a compression straightener. As time goes on, it's becoming easier, and more intuitive. Just another aspect of how rewarding it is to learn and grow with our sport and equipment. I now get a lot of satisfaction in getting a troublesome shaft back to a perfectly straight spin, and get a little quicker with it all the time. Knowing when I can give just a little bend by hand, taking a bend out of the fletched section, etc., are now kinda fun.
Big fan of Doug Fir myself, too, as I've noted in several other posts.
Dropping down to low 40's bows, I also use sitka spruce, to keep the arrow weight where I like it.
Ad, I bought a test set of wood shafts and got the spine narrowed down pretty well, but just never got around to building a dozen. I pretty much left aluminum's behind too and have been shooting just 1535s and 3555s with everything from 145 gr to 300 gr up front.
I did buy 1/2 dozen woodies, all completed, at a trad shoot for my J D Berry Morning Star, but have been working mostly with my RER longbow/recurve combination.
Today I broke out the Morning Star and the woodies and took them up to my little range. I shot high on nearly every one, until I got the mental picture down. I then shot some of my full length 1535s with 175 up front and shot low. I really started watching those woodies fly and they seemed to float on a flat plane. Granted, I only have 15 yards available to me at home, but I swear the woodies just flew flat as a stretched string, while the carbons had a noticeable arc to them. Then I got out my 46# RER LX and tried the woodies (big, thick 11/32 shafts and all) and got the shock of my life. They flew just as well out of my RER as my carbons and even faster and flatter than out of the "D" type longbow.
I can see why you like your woodies, especially at the distances you shoot.
Ron, since you are shooting 1535's as well, do yourself a favor... Buy some Sitka Spruce, spine 56-60, a 100 grains point, shorten around 30" and see how they fly...
Be prepared for a shock! :eek: :scared:
I can believe that. Guess I need to get working on a set. Carbons are great and I probably won't stop using them for hunting, but with 3-D season cranking up, I'll have a chance to try them at longer range. My hunting range is normally 12 - 20 yards (I site my blinds for that kind of shot), so the weight forward carbons I've been playing with are very interesting. I have a set of 5575s, 32.5" with 100gr inserts and 300 gr points that shoot through a tree lengthwise, but I think I have been missing a lot of fun by not shooting more woodies.
Need to correct that :)
All the materials work and have their proponents. I have shot carbon and aluminum and they both work extremely well. But wood is what I like the best-sure it is a bit more fragile-and that's why Reparrows were invented. Wood is quiet, warm and great to work with! :thumbsup:
I just shot doug fir shafts in a 3D shoot this last weekend. I did end up breaking the points off of two of them. Just retapered and put a new point on. Now I have two arrows to shoot at grouse, etc.!!!
Yep. I've only shot cedar shafts. I may have to try some other wood ones sometime. I prefer wood for the look and sound but just can't overlook the value of a footed carbon here in rock country.
There is no doubt about it; carbon is way more durable then any wood! And a carbon shaft doesn't need all the TLC wood needs.
I shoot them trough each other, trying to find out what gives me the best flight.
On the other hand, a wooden shaft doesn't cost a lot. And a wooden shaft isn't as sensible for shortening as a carbon shaft is. So when a point breaks of, I re taper the shaft and put a new point on. I don't notice much difference. Only if the shaft is broken just behind the point!
I do my best to get them very much the same. So the same FOC, same weight and same spine. Adding a wheat-eater line into my 1535's gives them a weight of 450 grains, being the same as my woodies. That's around the 9.5 gpp. FOC is around the 10%. As for dynamic spine, I may need to shorten my carbons with an inch or so for my recurve. For my longbow they are perfect.
Since I only shoot 3D, I have no need for a heavy FOC, 10 % is ideal.
Need to do more tuning, but since I have some left shoulder issues, I will wait with that.
My training range is between the 12 and 55 yards.
You go, Ad!
Happy you're happy with woodies. As for cost, here it seems till you weed out the funk from woodies, or you buy shafts already matched up, they're comparable in cost and still a lot more work.
But what's cool is that in this game, each to his own...if we all liked the exact same thing, supply and demand would make it I couldn't afford anything! :scared:
Sitka spruce shafts only cost 2.80. For that amount I can't buy a carbon shaft....and there is something magic shooting with your own made woodies.... :)
QuoteOriginally posted by GDPolk:
...I prefer wood for the look and sound but just can't overlook the value of a footed carbon here in rock country.
Ditto. I'm at 8500' in an area that is largely red granite so GT traditionals work for me. If I lived on a farm in Iowa though, I'd be all about woodies.
AJ
QuoteOriginally posted by Flying Dutchman:
Sitka spruce shafts only cost 2.80. For that amount I can't buy a carbon shaft....and there is something magic shooting with your own made woodies.... :)
If they're straight and no run-out, that's a steal.
guess it's sorta like tying your own flies and catchin a big fish!
Wood is GOOD!!!!!!!!!! :bigsmyl:
Wood is GOOD!!!!!!!!!! :archer: :archer:
I don't find even cedars to be nearly as fragile as many would have you think. If they fly true they seem to hold up pretty well, in my experience.
Reparrows make it possible to re-taper your broken shaft and make it the length it was before breaking. They are quick and easy to use and save an arrow for a little over a buck.
Jim Davis Reparrows (http://www.reparrows.com/) (http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Ironwood/images/completedwalnut.jpg)
Was going to add this earlier in the thread when they were mentioned, but I've just used up my first set (dozen) of Reparrows. Will definitely get another set - that first one did give a second life to a dozen arrows broken off behind the tip (stumping, you know).
Went from woodies to Easton 24SRT's five decades ago. That's when we could buy a 100 premium shafts from Rose City for $40. Thinking 'bout going back from carbons to woodies this summer for the fun of making them. Just bought a new fletcher so have to keep it busy to justiy it with my wife.
although I do shoot carbons regularly, I also enjoy shooting woods. I went to a 3d shoot yesterday and was shooting my carbons and decided towards the end to shoot some woodies I had in my quiver. It always surprises me the "quietness" they have. Its a different sound then my carbons...Amazing
QuoteOriginally posted by Flying Dutchman:
In the past I struggled with getting woodies straight too.... Until I found this tutorial, very easy to do and you end with shafts as straight as your carbons: http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000060
As for forgiveness, I found that woodies are the most forgiven from all shafts.... But YMMV of course....
Aluminum is the most precise ,shaft to shaft. After 40 years I've come to believe good quality, matched, wood shaft is the most forgiving. IMO
I have tried carbons a couple times. Shot them most of this past winter trying to give them an honest try. I just prefer wood arrows. Don't argue the merits of carbon and aluminum, but I just enjoy shooting and building wood arrows more than any other material. I will keep a few carbon and aluminum arrows around for others to shoot, but I don't see myself shooting anything but wood arrows for the most part.