Hey everyone, I'm finishing up my first traditional bow and would like to start working on a set of traditional wood shaft arrows. I bought this <a target="_blank" href="http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=52401&cat=1,180,42288">dowel maker</a> and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction for what kind of wood to use. I don't have access to much other than what's available at lumberyards. Can I purchase a 2x4 and cut it down into 1/2 inch square dowels with my table saw and then feed it through the dowel cutter? If that's feesable what type of wood is recommended, and what does the moisture content need to be? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. <br><br>Thanks,<br>Brendon<br><br>
Personally I would avoid trying to split boards from a lumber yard.<br>1. They are kiln dried and really prone to warping when cut thin.<br><br>2. The mills do not follow the grain well in cutting and you will get a tremendous amount of cross grain in the lumber.<br><br>3. Unless you pay the extra for the clear lumber you will fight knots or grain around knots constantly.<br><br>My advise is to get wood in the round and split it along good straight grain lines. I don't know where you live or the sources you can get.<br><br>Good woods for splitting are:<br><br>Lodgepole Pine (Chundo)<br>Sitka Spruce<br>Birch (If you can find straight trunks with no knots)<br><br>I have heard that Ash and other white woods make good arrows but I have never used them. (They don't grow around here!)<br><br>Where I live in Montana I can get permits to cut dead standing Lodgepole. I cut trunk pieces about 4" to 6" in diameter (36" long) and split into quarters using the heart as a guide. Once I have straight grain split, I can run them through the band saw and get 'squares' that are pretty true. If the tree has been dead standing a year or more they seem to be dry enough (naturally) to work into arrow shafts.<br><br>I have not bought a doweling machine yet (thinking about it) So far it has been planing and rasping and sanding into shape (using a planing jig made from 5/16" angle aluminum). These are for the arrows that I make with stone points or trade points in the native style that I sell at Mountain Man Rendezvous. I also use natural round stock like cane, or rose wood or dogwood or Ocean Spray for these as well.<br><br>Making a shaft from square stock is interesting, but I get a wide variety of spine, which does not matter that much for 'show arrows', but a lot of work to get a dozen to match the bow weight I would shoot.<br><br>For that I pretty much stick to my Port Orford cedar shafts.<br>
Thanks for the advice there's a lot of ash and cedar around here (northeast Iowa) I'll have to drive back to my parents woods and scout for some good looking trees.<br>
<P>Doug fir will make some very nice shafts through a doweller. I have a home made one and it is the only shafts I use now. Look for straight and clear wood.Best bet are usually in the 2x6 dim. and usually the best stuff is in longer lengths so ya might have to buy a long board and have them cut it down for ya. Most lumber yards here carry 2x6 in "rafter lengths" some up to 26 feet long. Growth ring orientation is not all that much of a worry as I've run boards with 1/8 rings, to rings that look like yew wood. The spines will all vary from different parts of the board. </P>
I'm working on some Aspen shafts at the moment from a straight grained board I got from Lowes. So far it looks like they should spine around 40# at 11/32 diameter. They are now slightly over 23/64 and spine a little over 60#. Douglas fir is great for arrows but it tends to spine pretty heavy. I used some red cedar once and came up with a 23/64 shaft that spined just over 25#. Sitka spruce. good stuff, tears out a bit if your blades get dull.<br><br>My personal favorite...all of the above and all the stuff I haven't tried yet.<br><br>No, my real favorite right now would be the Sitka Spruce. AKA lodgepole pine and chundoo.<br><br>Start experimenting, Good Luck.<br>
<P>I make a lot of arrows from doug fir. I try to select boards that are clear, dry and heavier than the average boards, finding straight grained doug fir is no big challenge, it tends to grow pretty straight. Steve</P>
I found two cedar 2x4s at the local menards. They are 6ft in length. One is absolutely perfect, the other isn't as good but will still be able to produce quite a few good arrow shafts. I'll post some pics tonight when I cut them into 1/2" square dowels. And if I can whip up a dowel jig for the dowel maker I bought I'll probably run a few through and post the results. <br><br>thanks for all the suggestions<br><br>
Brendon,<br> That is the same cutter I bought awhile back. Look here for some of the results.<br><A href="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/bowyersjournal/vpost?id=1379722" target=_blank>http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/bowyersjournal/vpost?id=1379722</A><br><br>I have about 2 dozen of the popular shafts lying around. Now I just need a taper tool!!<br><br>It works well but requires alot of sanding to get it smooth.<br><br>You will have to play with blade adjustment and find what works.<br><br><br>Good luck!!!!<br>
onemississipp did you use the 1/2" square drill bit adaptor to turn the wood or did you do it by hand?<br>
I tried a adapter/socket. I found the best way it to do one end by hand and then place that end in the a 3/8 drill chuck and run it through this way.<BR><BR>Cut your blanks a little long so you can cut the part you chucked in the drill off.<BR><BR>Hope that helps, if you do it by hand wear a glove.<BR>