Ash Arrow ?

[Tom L]

I am getting ready to order some Ash shafts from Raptor Archery. I want something heaver than cedar. I have used ash once before but had trouble keeping them stright. Did I do something wrong? I finished them just like I have always finished my cedar. Is there something I can do to help keep them stright?
Tom

[Killdeer]

You may try heat-straightening them, but I still need to tweak them every so often. Ted's a great guy to deal with, BTW.    

Killdeer  

[SCATTERSHOT]

I bought some a few years back, and the supplier recommended putting them in the oven at low temperature and then straightening them if they need it. I haven't had a problem with warpage, though. I live in a dry climate, so that may be a factor.

[Bowspirit]

Ash is just one of those shafts that need somewhat continual maintenance. I've got a set that I use for stumping. Sooner or later, I need to straighten them back up a bit. Worth it though...

[Whump]

Whump Sez; I agree with the folks above about heat straightening----The one thing that has saved me a lot of problems with wood shafting is to get it throughly dry before sealing. I made a shaft drier out of a stainless chimney liner, it is insulated and will hold full length shafting. You can use a heat proof  socket and a 277volt bulb on 110v service for the heating element, this will get the unit very warm but will not cause a fire hazard and the bulb will burn for ages.   Install a sheet metal bottom and a lid  to hold the heat in. It will take several weeks for it to dry the wood out completely but your shafting will stay straight for a long long time if it is sealed properly after this drying process. Like my deer stew recipe--you will not be disappointed .     Hunt safe.

[Joseph]

You also need to use a penetrating sealer like an oil or polyurethane.  Do at least 3 coats and steel wool or sand in between coats.  That should help but like others have said wood shafts need to be checked and re-straightened/tweaked occasionally.  Joseph

[Don Stokes]

The heavier an arrow is, the denser the wood. The denser the wood, the more likely it is to react to changes in moisture in its environment by shrinking or swelling, which is what causes warp. No finish is actually waterproof, just water resistant to greater or lesser degrees. The drier you can keep them on average, the more stable they will be. I recommend that the arrows be stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, like inside the house, when not actually in use.

I just made a set of mid-weight poplars, and I sealed them twice with penetrating sealer, followed by 4 coats of gasket lacquer. Experience has shown that this will keep them straight. Ash is denser though, and will be more sensitive to moisture changes.

The better your sealer and finish work, the more slowly the shafts will react to changes in the moisture environment, and the straighter they will stay.

[MikeW]

I have some ash one the way too from Ted, anyone try  Tompsons water seal first and then a poly?

[Don Stokes]

Mike, Thompson's beads water like crazy on your deck, but it's not really a very good wood sealer. Beading and sealing are two different things- for beading, the active ingredient mostly stays on the surface. For sealing, you want it to penetrate the wood easily. Minwax penetrating poly-based sealer does a good job, and comes with stain if you want it. The top coat should be rated for outdoor exposure for best results. Check the can labels.

I used to work for a company that manufactured wood sealers and preservatives, as the product development manager, one of my several incarnations in the business world. We did lots of test work on various formulations, including the competitor's (Thompson's and others).

[B4NZ41]

I use a can of Sterno to straighten them as soon as I get the order in. When I'm done, I do it again on the ones that still need more work. You can put the arrows through the flame real quick, but don't hold it there long enough to burn the wood. Once the arrows are finished, they're pretty easy to hand straighten without heat if you ever bend one later on.

[MikeW]

Don,
thx for the inside info. I've used poly on all my arrows for years. I was just thinking a light coat of poly first and then soaking the shaft in Tompsons and then finishing it off with multiple coats of poly might help.

Waste of time?

[Tom L]

Been useing Tru-oil on my cedar for years. Never had a proublem. The ash I did I used poly and they would get crooked in my quiver while I was shooting 20 targets. I like that they are heavy and tough so thought I would try again. Sounds like I need to build me a Hotbox.

[Adam Keiper]

The secret to keeping ash straight is to dry the shafts before straightening and sealing, and to use heat during the initial straightening process.  Toss your shafts in a hot box, hot car, for a week prior to straightening.  Heat them up over your stove burner and hand straighten while hot.  (They're much more prone to go back if you don't.)  Then get them sealed while still dry.  Ash is my favorite arrow wood.  It never will be quite as straight, nor straight for as long as good cedar.  But, they're heavy and bombproof, and if you follow those steps, the occassional bends that do reoccur will be minor and quite tolerable to deal with.

[WESTBROOK]

My ash and hickory I dip in a thinned Helmsman spar urethane, about 25% mineral spirits, 3 coats. 3 more coats of straight Helmsman after that. Good tough durable finish.

Eric

[Don Stokes]

Mike, you should use the penetrating sealer first, otherwise the first coat will block it from penetrating the wood.

Some technical info: Wood had molecular sites in the cellulose matrix that attract water molecules. When you dry wood below about 25%, you start pulling those water molecules out. When they leave, it's possible for some of the molecular sites to bond to something else, so water can't come back to that spot. The more times the wood gets dried, the less water it can take back up, and the more stable it becomes. When I manufactured arrow shafts, I developed a dehumidification kiln cycle with low heat that dried the wood to about 10%, then raised the moisture level back up, then redried a little drier, through several cycles, with a final moisture content target of 6%. I believe it made the shafts more stable in use, and less likely to absorb much atmospheric water. The cycle had the added benefit of stress-relieving the wood while working it through these hysteresis cycles.

That's how getting the ash drier makes it more stable, too.

[Whump]

Whump Sez; See- what did I tell you![grin]       Hunt safe