Tell me the basics of wood shafting

[jhg]

I want to try wood next year. I have always shot carbons. All the aluminum arrows I ruined my first six weeks of trad (and couldn't hit a barn) don't count.

I can do some searching, but a general outline of how to approach getting into using wooden shafts would be helpful. Like which species. Fir vs cedar. tapered vs straight. Compressed? (what are those?)
And last but not least: what am I getting into?
\\
Thanks

Joshua

[Friends call me Pac]

Here are several links that I pulled up when I 1st started making my own.

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=101090

[Jim Wright]

Quality Cedar is hard to come by, very good Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir readily available, and heavy shafting available in Fir. They are soft woods and will break on HARD impacts but they come straight and I find them easy to keep that way. I will leave hard wood shafts to others with experience, but notice many rave about them but an equal number point out how hard they are to straighten and to keep that way.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Ive used ash shafting with great results.  I use steam to straighten, but rarely have to restraighten them after I get em good the first time.

I find wood arrows extremely satisfying when completed, but can be aggravating at the same time!

[Richard in OK]

You might be interested in T.J. Conrads' book The Traditional Bowhunter's Handbook. He does a thorough treatment of wood arrows.

Richard

[snag]

Joshua, take a deep breath and let it out....ahhhh. From someone who shot aluminums and carbons I can tell you wood is fun to shoot. But like aluminum they will bend/break if you hit something hard. I have done a lot of stump shooting without breaking a wood shaft...but if a root or a mean ol' rock jumps out in front of my arrow it has been known to cause terminal damage.

Try Surewood Shafts (douglas fir) they are more durable than cedar and these guys make great shafts! They have tester kits so you can try out different spine weights. There is a lot of us who will walk you through this or even build you some to try out based on your bow's specs. "Try 'em, you'll like 'em".

[Roadkill]

Patience. Don't get a hurry to stain or fletch. Straighten and leave them overnight and do it again I have a glass tabletop. Roll them on glassuntilthey roll withoutwobble. Stain roll again    
Spine em again and then applynocks. Tune as you apply points so you ca cut shafts then fletch. I just finished a dozen for my Enlish by Boice's. Started then 2 weeks ago
Patience

[Roadkill]

I am no expert and second TJ's book

[Spectre]

He sed tell me the "basics" of wood shafting...      

[helo]

One of the basics is this nothing in the world smells as good as a cedar shaft yet with that said I agree with snag surewood shafts are tough to beat.

[Mike Most]

Wood shafting, comes in these basic sizes 5/16, 11/32 and 23/64.

Most guys IMHO shoot 11/32,    

Tapered shafts usually mean the last 10 inches or so of an 11/32 shaft is tapered down to 5/16.
It puts most of the weight forward in the arrow.

There is a taper tool which is commonly sold which grinds the nock end and also the point end.
I use fletch tite which requires heat to put on the points and usually duco glue for the nocks.

Fletching them your self is rewarding, buying feathers full length by the hundred count will save quite a bit of money, with an investment in a feather chopper (style your choice) of course there is the straightening, and sealing and painting the shafts which all fills the bill for me personally.

Also the tighter the grain generally the higher the spine.    

These are a few of the basics but by no means all. Have Fun

[snag]

Basics---you need to determine the proper spine weight for the poundage of bow you shoot, what the shelf is cut to, string type, your draw length--the same as any other arrow shaft material.
     ---then you need to make sure they are straighten them (this is where buying the best shafts you can saves you time and headaches!)
     ---nock taper(some like to just cut them to the length they want to shoot at this point and tip taper), stain, glue on nocks, crown dip (if you want this), crest, seal, fletch. During this process I will continually check for straightness between steps.
Then you get into cut them down to length, tip tapering if you wanting to bare shaft tune or paper tune them. That's a whole other subject.

[Bjorn]

I have tried the other materials and only shoot wood-not because I think it is better, it is simply that I enjoy working with it more. One of the basics is orienting the grain; make sure that the grain is at right angles to your string and nock. And consider getting a spine tester as part of your essential tool kit.

[Rob DiStefano]

i've tried almost all the diff'rent flavors of woodies over the decades, starting in the mid 50's.  back then, the poc was superb (acme!) but these dayze it's rare to find truly good cedar.  i've settled on surewood doug fir as my go-to wood shafting and i recommend you at least try them out.  

----> get a surewood test shaft spine kit! <----

this will save you tons of time, money and grief.  and you can use the kit with any future bows you'll acquire.

then check our how-to resources forum for lotsa info on woodie building.

enjoy the wood arrow ride.