home depot has some dowels the oak is really heavy the maple isnt quite as heavy but some look realy straight, just wondering if any one has used either and about what diameter would spine where at 30"

Ya need to be careful about turning dowels into arras - if the grain ain't dead straight, and feathers off to one side, the resulting arra won't be a safe one to shoot.

JR: I use wood oak dowels from Lowe's.Haven't found any at Home Depot for awhile.They went to Ramin.I've had good luck with the 98 cent dowels.However the spines and weights very widely from 300 to 900 grains and spines from 30 to 100 pounds so be prepared to buy a bunch to get a matched set.  

QuoteOriginally posted by Rob DiStefano:
Ya need to be careful about turning dowels into arras - if the grain ain't dead straight, and feathers off to one side, the resulting arra won't be a safe one to shoot.

Rob,

Can you post a picture of a dowel that would be unsafe to shoot because of the way its grain is oriented? I have been struggling with this same subject of turning dowels into arrows.

What I have been doing to test the dowels strength is bending them in all directions to see if they break then I put them on my spine tester and sort them.

Thanks,
Tom

Jr:T.J. Conrads has some good info on arrow construction with diagrams in his book Trad Bow Handbook.PT

Thanks Paul.

No problem.By the way, when you throw one of those oak logs out there with a 190 Grizzly, If they ain't duckin' they're fallin down.PT

QuoteOriginally posted by Gatekeeper:
 

QuoteOriginally posted by Rob DiStefano:
Ya need to be careful about turning dowels into arras - if the grain ain't dead straight, and feathers off to one side, the resulting arra won't be a safe one to shoot.

Rob,

Can you post a picture of a dowel that would be unsafe to shoot because of the way its grain is oriented? I have been struggling with this same subject of turning dowels into arrows. ...

[/b]

I don't have pix nor dowels.

Just look at a good wood shaft (POC, hex pine, etc.) - rotate the shaft and you'll see the grain lines are relatively straight from one end to the other.  

Now look at some wood dowels (birch, maple, oak, etc.) and you'll probably find more than a few where the grain lines don't run from one end to the other, but feather off to one side of the shaft.  Under a load, the shaft may break (literally explode) at the feather line and wind up in yer bow hand or bow arm.

Okay I understand, thanks Rob.