Dogwood for arrows

longshadow · May 11, 2011, 03:21:00 PM

I found some Dogwood in the woods behind my house. It looks like Red Osier Dogwood, I have heard it makes good arrow shafting.
How,what and when do you harvest, also how do you dry the shoots, with or without the bark on?

Would like to try them out but need how-to information.

Thanks, Al

Living_waters · May 11, 2011, 03:46:00 PM

Just like bow wood you can harvest it when you need it. I leave the bark on while some say it is easier if you strip it. either way you do it bundle the shoots up as straight as you can get them and let them dry. After they are dry you can strip them and straighten them. I like to steam them, for me it is easier to work, dry heat will also work, When they are fairly straight you can finish plane them. That is about all there is to it, they make some good shafts.
If you have some decent shoots you are lucky. I looked all turkey season and didn't find any shoots really straight enough to harvest. May be the weather, all the shoots were short and limby.

Pat B · May 11, 2011, 11:55:00 PM

Red osier makes very good arrows. I prefer to cut shafting during the dormant season from late fall until early spring but like L W said cut it when you can.
Be sure to cut mature shoots. Ones with just leaves are immature. Ones with small branches are at least in their second growing season and they and older is what you want to cut. Take along a 3/8" open end wrench to measure the base of the shoots. I make up bundles of about 15 shoots of similar diameter and let them dry a month with the bark on. After that you should be able to remove the bark and begin heat straightening. I use our kitchen gas stove for straightening shoot and cane shafts.
Work on the worst bends first, heat straighten and lay flat until it cools. Work on the other shoots while the first cools then work the next worst crooks and let it cool. Once you get them relatively straight you can cut them to length. You may need a bit more straightening. At this point I temper the shafts by holding them over the flame and rotating the shaft. I work my way out the shaft, rotating as I go. I also add bits of color by scorching the wood. When you get to the other end be careful of the steam that can come out. It WILL burn you. When tempering is done and the shafts are straight lay them flat to cool but give them a few days before stressing them.
Another trick I heard about and have tried is when you cut the shoots scrape all the bark off the shoot except for two inches on each end. The shoot will dry quicker and, in theory, they won't get drying cracks(checks). Experiment with a few to see if it works for you.

SEMO_HUNTER · May 12, 2011, 07:11:00 AM

I just saw a bunch of small straight dogwood the other day and thought about cutting a few. Maybe I'll go back now and get a half dozen or so just to mess around with. Would these be anything close to the sourwood shoots like Art uses? I know it's a different species altogether, but would working with the dogwood be akin to the sourwood?

I just looked up our state dogwood species and it is (Cornus Florida L.)
I don't know squat about dogwood except when they bloom and I can readily find them even when the leaves and flowers are not visible, but I assume this isn't the red osier you all are talking about?

Art B · May 12, 2011, 08:02:00 AM

I've been messing around with some red osier lately and I noticed it has a heavy pithy core Chris. These pithy core shafts really hold on to their moisture more readily that sourwood with it's much smaller core.

Even after being cut for 6 weeks I was getting checks form heat straightening.

No need to get in a big hurry making your arrows after cutting any particular species. Takes at least a year for any hardwood shoot arrow to come into it's own.....Art

2fletch · May 12, 2011, 09:41:00 AM

Anyone tried hazelnut? I understand it's popular for arrow shafts and bows in Europe. I have a hazelnut "grove" in my back yard and it has dozens of shoots that are suitable for shafts and a few long bow staves of just over 1" diameter. It would be neat to have a longbow and arrows from the same wood. Anyone know how large the diameter should be before making a longbow? The hazelnut that I have doesn't seem to grow much larger then 1 1/2" in diameter.

I haven't tried dogwood shafts yet but I have a dogwood bow that I made after Hurricane Hugo. It was much harder to process then Osage but makes a good shooting bow.

Rik · May 12, 2011, 10:11:00 AM

I have a bundle of Red Osier shoots that have been drying for two weeks now.

While I was gathering them, I found a few perfectly straight wild rose shoots and added them to the bundle.

The wild rose were straight enough to shoot without any straightening at all. It will be interesting to see if they hold that straightness as they dry.

longshadow · May 12, 2011, 03:09:00 PM

Thanks guys, with this info, I will cut some this weekend and start drying a bundle and see what happens,

Thanks again, Al

Pat B · May 12, 2011, 07:33:00 PM

Don, the dogwood your bow is made of is probably the tree form(flowering dogwood/ Cornus florida) and redosier is a multi stemmed shrub type dogwood(C. sericea). I'm sure flowering dogwood would make good, heavy arrows if you could find a shoot long enough.
I bet you could make a good longbow with a 12 1/2" hazelnut shoot. Give it a try.
Semo, the redosier arrows I have made were from well seasoned shoots and they made as good of a arrow as sourwood but I still prefer sourwood. I don't have redosier growing here but I do have silky dogwood a similar species...but I still prefer sourwood. d;^)

Living_waters · May 12, 2011, 11:13:00 PM

The wrench idea is sooooo simple, and would solve me bringing home some unusable shafts.
Our flowering dogwood shoots are hard to find straight, but when you find them they are some good, tough, hard shafts.

Seen some multiflora rose shafts that were some nice looking arrows.

2fletch · May 13, 2011, 10:07:00 AM

Pat B, I didn't understand what you meant with "I bet you could make a good longbow with a 12 1/2" hazelnut shoot." I was hoping that you would suggest that I bring a 1 1/4" dia. hazelnut stave to Hickory,NC later this month, and that you would be willing to make a bow from it. I'd be willing to contribute the stave to hear how it worked out as a bow.

The bow that I have is from flowering dogwood. I didn't realize that we had more than one native dogwood. Anyone know the range that they grow in? I would be interested in trying to grow Red Osier for future harvest.