Tonkin arrows, processed or unprocessed?

[Davesea]

Tonkin cane, usually sold as arrow shafts, is straighten sanded to remove node bumps and carbonized.

WIll tonkin that is not processed, and only straightened using heat, fly the same?  Will it hold up the same?

Anyone ever shoot both?

Dave

[iohkus]

Have only expeirmented a little with processed cane, but I ordered spine weights according to the draw weight of my bow and believe that MUCH stiffer spine weights are needed, at least in my case. Your results may vary.

[AkDan]

if you really want to shoot them and get the feel for a completed cane shaft...look in the back of primitive archer mag (or I think 3rivers sells it).  Thomas Duverny (forgive my spelling) has a video of a master arrowsmith doing just this from start to finish.  

I would knock the nodes down some of it will depend on how big they are....if they are small you can knock them completely off without worry of cutting through too many power fibers.    Judicious use of a file, or a 1' strip sander works well for this.

[JEFF B]

i think river cane is the best for arrows and you guys have heaps of that stuff.

[tippit]

Check with Benjy as he has worked tonkin caine a bunch.

[Benjy]

I have only used the "non processed" stuff. I buy it in bulk for tomato stakes. The stuff is as tuff as any arrow material out there. It just takes alot of time to get them straight (well worth it if you have some time)

[snakewood3]

I bought 100 "processed" tonkin shafts a few years ago from a dealer in china who sells at the auction site. They had a wide range in spine and mass weight. At least 20 percent of them had compression folds from the straighting process and were unsafe for anything but tomatoes. True tonkin makes a wonderful, heavy, arrow with less taper then native river cane. All that being said I try and stick with stuff I can harvest myself anymore.