I use this primarily for hardwood shoot shafts to reduce their thickness and to adjust spine. I have used it with white pine and yellow poplar square stock to make them round and to reduce the thickness so it is appropriate for arrows.
Start with 3/8" square stock and remove the four corners, then remove the resulting 8 corners. At this time the stock is almost round and that can be accomplished by sanding.
It is quite simple but more time consuming that a dowel maker but I think I have only $8 invested in the thumb plane.
You do have to hand pic your stock to insure good grain but you also have to with a dowel maker.
If I'm not mistaken, George Tsoukalas has info on his website for hand making arrows and I think white pine is one of his choices for arrow wood.