Thoughts on wood arrow types.

Don Armstrong · September 08, 2010, 08:15:00 PM

This is just what I've found over the last few years and could be in error. The different woods, I have used for arrows, have left a little to be desired but I still like wood better than alum or carbon. I have found hickory to be the strongest but hard to stain and very hard to get and keep straight. POC is easy to get straight, doesn't take stain well but is easy to break. Ash is tough , heavy like hickory but A bear to get straight. So far, doug fir has been the best shaft I've found. It take stain OK, is easy to keep straight and is fairly tough. Stika spruce is almost as good as doug fir but seems ,to me, to be a litle harder to keep straight. Please give your thoughts on these woods or others. Any tip that might help would be great. Thanks, Don

warbird · September 08, 2010, 08:23:00 PM

Saw a post a few years back where someone used dymondwood shafts for an African hunt.

Bowspirit · September 08, 2010, 08:39:00 PM

Well, I have to agree with most of that. My findings on hickory have been a little different from most. They straightened easy for me initially and stayed straight for a good while. Once they developed a set it was hard to work out, but still doable. I also think doug fir is GREAT at taking a stain. Sinks in real well and the grain is just beautiful. Starting to think the best wood hunting arrow would be a quality doug fir shaft, footed with some kind of heavy hard wood.

UnderControl16 · September 08, 2010, 08:43:00 PM

If you aren't to worried about having a grain i shoot poplars and they are very easy to get straight, look great when finished/done correctly. They are also very cheap to get, coming in all different sizes, and are very easy to work with.

Don Armstrong · September 08, 2010, 10:10:00 PM

UnderControl16, Where do you get your poplar shafts. A guy on here use to sell them but he quit. Don

Big Riser · September 08, 2010, 10:34:00 PM

I have found old growth stika to be the best. Easy to keep stright if you seal them.I like bobtail shafts the best.

September 08, 2010, 10:42:00 PM

We have had some success with laminated birch, if a heavier arrow is the goal. They worked better out of different bows for some reason than others. I used to special order extreme heavies from Rogue River. Not only were these much heavier than other cedars, they were also tougher. Been thinking about trying to work out an arrangement from Wapiti to see if they could set aside the super heavies for their spines, enough to make up full sets of arrows.

bigbadjon · September 09, 2010, 11:28:00 AM

I still prefer cedar if quality shafts can be found. Unfortunately straight grained cedar is rare. I think sitka spruce is the next best shaft as I think it most closely emulates POC. Personally I do not care for many other substitutes because the weight difference is sometimes substantial. I do like how straight the grain runs on pine and fir and they straighten very easily, but also think these are the worst for holding their straightness.

Orion · September 09, 2010, 11:38:00 AM

I've been hand selecting cedar for the last 30 years so have some fairly good stuff, though a lot of what is available now isn't very good. It's my favorite arrow wood. Doug fir is also excellent, tougher and a bit heavier. When I want real heavy shafts, I use birch, ash or hickory. I like birch the best -- nice combination of strength and weight. Ash is about the same weight. Hickory is the heaviest. I've never found hardwoods difficult to straighten or keep straight, though I do use heat to straighten them before staining and sealing. Think they take staining OK as well, though birch and hickory don't have showy grain. Older cedar ACME shafts, which were highly burnished, don't take stain very well. The Rose City shafts now available aren't burnished as much and take stain fairly well. Alcohol based stains seem to penetrate best. When I use oil based stains, I just apply several coats until I get the depth of color I want.

snag · September 09, 2010, 05:18:00 PM

I like the old ACME POC shafts too. Just hard to come by them.
Then I found Surewood shafts (douglas fir, not the laminated stuff). Straight grain, takes stain great, is a little bit heavier than cedar, and is very durable. Then I found Great Basin Footed Shafts. Kye does a great job with footing these Surewood shafts.

These are footed with blackwood. Pretty spendy. Not my everyday shooters! But for hunting arrows they are great.

Ed Q · September 09, 2010, 05:51:00 PM

Well, I realize it's not technically a "wood" and more of a "grass", but what about bamboo? I've read marketers claim it's "nature's carbon," which I mean to take is more tough and durable? I realize making bamboo arrows can be more time consuming than wood arrows, though. I only ask since, as a beginner, my poor shooting skills managed to leave my once beautiful wood arrows splintered and broken in a short period of time when missing the target and hitting hard tree stumps, concrete, etc., and I figure bamboo may be a bit more durable.

Don Armstrong · September 09, 2010, 07:55:00 PM

I forgot about bamboo. Pappy gave me a few at the Tennessee clasic two years ago. They take a little work but are fine arrows if you get them straight. Don

snag · September 09, 2010, 08:06:00 PM

The upside with bamboo is if you can't straighten them you can make them into flutes!

jsweka · September 09, 2010, 08:37:00 PM

I've tried cedar, douglas fir, and ash. In my experience douglas fir isn't any stronger than cedar. I went to douglas fir because I wanted something a bit lighter than ash for one of my bows and I was really impressed at their straightness and the way they fly. However, if you miss at a 3D shoot, chances are that the arrow is toast. I think I'm going to go back to ash for it's durability. The bit of time it takes straightening is much less than the time it takes putting reparrows on the ends of all my broken douglas fir shafts.

Drummer@Home · September 09, 2010, 09:27:00 PM

Have you tried chundo? Its a type of pine, I love um. Best of all worlds if you ask me

Gray Buffalo · September 09, 2010, 10:17:00 PM

Is there anyone making Maple shafts any more? I had some a while back and they made good heavy hunting arrows

levibear · September 10, 2010, 01:41:00 AM

I have used many different woods for shafting since the shortage of good POC shafts began many years ago.
I make my shafts on a router jig arrangement of my own design, then using heat in a two step process compress the shafts. With this process in mind here are my thoughts.

Doug fir is a very good shaft material, strong, a little heavier and more shock restiance than POC. Poplar also works well compressed or simply sanded, not as durable, good for "bunny busters". My favorite wood is Alaskan yellow cedar hard to get sometimes but really worth it. Most of my hunting shafts are Alaskan yellow cedar or doug fir with a few old ACME POC shafts thrown in.

UnderControl16 · September 10, 2010, 07:23:00 PM

Don i just get my poplar from mernards and straighten them by hand and then cut them ot lenght.