What are the toughest wooden arrow shafts #55-60 range ? Also why are wooden arrow shafts sooo expensive ?  It seems like Easton aluminum shafts are only slightly more $ then woodies.

donenanaarrow  by  paul_m_weiss , on Flickr

If you look at the process for making each I think aluminums are the ones that are too expensive. They can turn on a machine and fill a room with aluminums pretty quickly. But wood you have saw and split the bolts, then saw flitches, let them dry and season them, then run them through a molder/doweler, sand them, grade them, spine them, weigh them....after all this you have about 50% waste through this process that takes months.
Oh then the shaft manufacturers have to pay the excise tax on each shaft that is about $.40 (as I recall)!!! While the carbon and aluminum manufacturers have to pay this tax also it is a much smaller impact on their bottom line than for wood shaft manufacturers. Once again gov't making it easier to do business...NOT!

I will answer the question on why wood arrow shafts are so expensive.  As arrow shaft manufacturers we must pay the Government a Federal Excise Tax (FET)on every dozen we sell except kids shafts.  That fee is $5.52/dozen.  That is passed on to you and every arrow maker.  That Tax is the same on wood, carbon or aluminum.  Thanks Surewood Steve

Thanks for the answer..that really stinks!  I suppose the Govt would tax the air the arrows use to spin if they could! I haven't had to think about buying shafts for awhile that's what is bringing this to my mind. So I still like woodies and I enjoy the creativity off making my own arrows. Those in my pic look pretty nice to me !  But again, What are the choices for the strongest (least likely to break)shafts in the #55-60 range ? I've heard of polished bamboo, laminated birch, laminated fir but I've only used cedar so any expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

strongest I've used is ash.
They could really take a beating.
They were a pain to keep straight though...may have been a couple bad batches...

I shot cedars for a while and got tired of retappering them because they broke behind the head.  I wwnt on the search for the perfect shaft for me (straight, nice weight, strengrh and most importantly had to have nice looking grain when stained)  I settled on douglas fir from Surewood.  Gave me everything I was looking for and then some.

Hopefully that helps you.

I footed some douglas fir with osage up front and they seemed indestructable.......

Ash and Hickory are extremely tough and if you buy top quality they can stay pretty straight too. By far the best compromise today is Doug Fir-IMO. Pretty tough and straight-and stays that way. I always recommend buying the best wood available, after all arrows are the most important part of your kit.

Maple is the toughest I have ever used. However, Ash and white birch are extemely durable.

Toughest I have shot have been tapered ash and Don Stokes SuperCeeders(Magnolia). Thinking about trying some Surewood shafts this summer. I hear they stand up to the rigors of hunting and stumpin.

I haven't managed to break a poplar yet.

Sometimes I think that wood shafts are expensive, but then I think about what it would take for me to make my own shafts. Would I rather order a dozen for ~ $40, or locate a fir/spruce/cedar tree, cut it down, split into shafts, etc.? For me the answer is simple.

I haven't tried any hardwood shafts yet, but I've often been surprised by the durability of Douglas fir and sitka spruce. I've had plenty of direct tree impacts, and glancing hits without breaking my arrows.

Zane

As usual; a mixed bag....     I have very good results with Sitka Spruce. They seem very strong and are easy to straighten, probably due to the long fibers.

double post  

Hickory and ash, and birch, heavy and tough arrows.

Spruce is way tougher than cedar.

Spruce is siad to be stronger than Douglas fir though I can't confirm that as I've never dealt with fir.

Spruce is nowhere near as tough as ash....

Don't forget for the primitive archer, dogwood and river cane are almost unbreakable.

Nice thing with the Surewoods, is there is a gentleman here that builds quality arrows...

Snag is the man.

wildernesss custom arows

 

Hickory is the toughest I have found.  You end up doing a lot of straightening.  I like the toughness of laminated birch.  Makes a good stumping arrow, but almost every arrow in my shop is doug. fir from Surewood.  May not be the toughest but makes a real nice arrow.

The toughest wood shafting is by far the hardwoods like hickory, ash, laminated birch, and others the downside is they are usually way to heavy for bows under 50# to shoot without a rainbow arc and they can be hard to keep straight. A good compromise is bamboo or river cane with a hardwood point foreshaft or douglas fir.