does any body remember, or have used the forged/compressed wooden arrows- originally made by Sweeney out of Oregon
not talking compressed thru a compression die, these were really compressed about 3 times the density up front and twice the density at the rear of the shaft- a kind of an internal taper.
i believe they were pretty tough- and could get pretty high spines with them
any feedback or ideas
check Alaska frontier archery. I bought some last winter.
Sweetland is who you are thinking of I believe. Forgewoods and Battleshafts. I have a few (just a few) in my rack yet to be used. One day. . .
ChuckC
yup yer right- Sweetland!- thanks
very good arrows i believe
tough!- and with the "internal taper"
Yes, I was lucky to find 5dz of Sweetland shafts. Very good quality for sure.
I have used the Frontier Archery hemlock forgewoods extensively. They are virtually indestructible and HEAVY.
yup , i believe that frontier took over the business from sweetland ( maybe with a few hand changes in between)- same setup.
Jack. B Harrison and two colleagues bought the equipment from Sweetland and moved it to Alaska about 15-20 years ago, where they made compressed shafts with an Alaskan softwood. May have been some kind of hemlock as already suggested. Yielded an even heavier shaft than compressed POC. I believe Frontier was selling out its remaining stock. Isn't making anymore that I know of. Last I heard, the equipment was for sale.
Terry Bannit at The Footed Shaft had come across a good number of lower poundage original Sweetland POC Forgewoods recently. I believe he still has some for sale.
I've been hunting with them for years. Excellent shafts. The compression process enabled a higher spine and physical weight at a smaller diameter than regular cedar. Also, because the cedar billets/boards were often tapered before they were compressed and cut into squares for doweling, it yielded a naturally weight forward shaft which was also stronger behind the point than regular POC.
Harder to find than hen teeth nowadays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8oUCNE4ulQ
Boy, Dave was just a young pup!