wood arrow compromise??

[Cottonwood]

I will be buying my first wooden arrows for my traditional bows.  Currently I have a self longbow, and a Bear Kodiak recurve which both are 45# bows.  I will be buying another traditional bow, but have not decided wether to get a longbow with a shelf or a nicer recurve with a bit more poundage of about 55# to 60# range.

The 45# bows have been great to use, since I had left shoulder surgery back in Nov 08.  I have another bow that is not traditional that is set at 58# that is just great to shoot but have shot it at 70# with no problem.  But I'm shedding the training wheels.

I know there are modern traditional arrows that I could use, but don't want to even though these work fine.  But they are not made of wood, but metal or carbon.  This is not what I want to be using with my traditional bows at all as I want a solid wood shaft to be released from my bows.

I had been thinking about the Port Orford Cedar, but after seeing the link for The Feathered Shaft, it seems that these would be even stronger and since I like heavy arrows already I figure what is the harm in getting the best wooden shafts to start out with.

I think I'm on the right road here.

[James Wrenn]

You can get heavy cedars and spruce shafts if you ask for them.I like the spruce because they are tough enough to barrel taper with out breaking points like with cedar.Most other woods are too heavy for my taste and my bow weights.

[Fletcher]

MT, I think you're on the right road, too.   :D

Cedar will vary quite a bit in weight, fir even more so, but spruce is always light.  I've gone thru a few hundred sitka spruce and the most I've seen is a 50 grain spread within a 5 lb spine group.  Fir can vary 150 gr.  I've had 60 lb fir from 350 to 520 grains for a full length shaft.  There aren't many at those extremes, but they happen.  Of the three, fir will average the heaviest and, IMO, shoots the best.  I'm making up some for myself right now (finally!).    

Obviously, cedar is a fine arrow wood.  It was at the top of the pile for a long time and is still the wood that all other arrow woods are compared to.  I've shot a bunch of it.

[tkytrac]

Once in my early years I went through 400 3/8" Ramin dowels at the local hardware store to find 100 that I thought could be made into arrows.  Spined and weighed most turned out a finished 31" arrow at 750 to 800 grains.  A bit heavy for me and my weight bows.  However, they were tough to break.  Could shoot cement blocks w/ the things.  Never found a recipe that made blocks taste decent though.

[Aeronut]

Poplar.  I've shot hundreds of them and don't have any complaints about them.

Dennis

[Orion]

Deerdog:  If you don't like the lightness of cedar, then you probably won't like Sitka spruce either, because it's generally lighter.  I concur with those who have recommended Doug fir as a good compromise between cedar and hardwoods. They're heavier than cedar and nearly as tough as hardwoods.  And, luckily, Surewood shafts is probably making the best Doug fir shafting that has ever been made.  Good luck.

[DesertDude]

I just want to say this.. My Cedars are 625gr w/160gr point. Great grain, striaght, lasted a year, shot a bunch, easy to work with, and fly perfect. But most of all, they smell oh so nice when you are making them or when they break. I still love Cedars......

[Rob DiStefano]

give a dozen surewood doug fir shafts a try.