Wood arrow options

[Tim Reese]

Folks I have always used cedar for my arrows I make. I wanna try something different but still wood. What is a good option that’s heavier but not to much heavier. Also prefer tapered. I was given hickory’s once but man I could Not get them straight enough for my taste. I’m only shooting 43-46 pound longbows so don’t wanna get crazy heavy. Any recommendations? And where to buy?

[Maclean]

Hey Tim,
I switched from cedar to doug fir several years ago and I'm really happy with the results. They are slightly heavier and in my experience much tougher. Easy to straighten and pretty much stay that way. I buy my shafts from Carson at Surewood Shafts and I've never been disappointed in a single bundle from him. Spine and weight matched to tight tolerances, and very straight. He will tail taper for a nominal fee. Highly recommended.

[Terry Green]

I've had Douglas fir also, they seemed a little tuffer than cedar to me....

Did you find them to be McClean?

[two4hooking]

Look into bamboo. Fairly heavy, very durable, and naturally tapered.

[M60gunner]

I second Doug Fir from SureWood.

[Maclean]

I've had Douglas fir also, they seemed a little tuffer than cedar to me....

Did you find them to be McClean?

Yes, I found them to be much tougher on hard hits. I really like doug fir.

[Possum Head]

Try these!

[Jim Wright]

Every single shaft I've gotten in the dozens of Douglas Fir from Surewood and Sitka Spruce from True Shaft Archery have been straight as an arrow!

[Walt Francis]

I built 5-6 dozen wood arrows every year, mostly for donations.  Always use Surewood Shafts from Carson

[Stumpkiller]

I also switched from P.O. Cedar to Douglas Fir about 20 years ago.  No looking back.  I taper the last 10" from 11/32" to 5/16" to shave off a little weight (and a few other benefits).

[Deno]

Douglas Fir from Surewood for me. 

[Tim Reese]

I will try the Doug fir from Surewood for sure. Thank you guys.

[Tim Reese]

Just ordered two dozen tapered Doug fir shafts from surewood. Thanks everyone for your input.

Cedar have been good to me but wanna try something differant and maybe a small up bump in weight so these should be good.

[Stumpkiller]

If you do any roving/stump shooting you will love the durability vs. cedar.  They still break, occasionally.  But much less often.

[A Lex]

Yes, another recommendation for Douglas Fir from Surewood Shafts here.

Have made and shot many many dozen Douglas Fir arrows over the years, with not a single issue.

Minimal if any straightening necessary, they stay straight, more durable than cedar, and they have good weight, and they finish nicely. Douglas Fir makes a good looking great shooting arrow that no doubt shoots way better than I can 😁

I've shot 10" tail tapered, full "Rat tail" tapered, and parallel, and honestly, I guess I'm just not a good enough shot to tell the difference. They all shot great for me. So I just shoot them all parallel now, and we get along famously.

I've used wood shafts exclusivly in my 55lb,  65lb and 75lb longbows (never ever used anything else actually 😉) and at least 90% of those have been Douglas Fir from Surewood.

The only reason I'm not using Douglas Fir in my 75lb'er at the moment, is the difficulty getting Doug Fir shafts with a 105-110# spine. Using Forester Wood Shafts Red Balau in the 75lb'er. That stuff is extremely strong durable wood, but it's very heavy.

Might be a tad too heavy in a mid 40's bow for some.

But I don't reckon you'll be disappointed with Douglas Fir shafts, nor will you be disappointed dealing the good people at Surewood Shafts.

Best
Lex

[Mad Bear]

Sitka spruce and douglas fir are great options. Straight grain and strong. I make my own wooden shafting as a hobby.

Here is a short video on my process.
https://youtu.be/YJ2bSeRuukw?si=HVp09WUgc759iJFj

[Phil Magistro]

I have had a love affair with cedar arrows for more than 60 years. Fortunately I love making arrows too because I would often make several dozen arrows a year to keep up with what I broke.

Douglas fir is a great arrow wood and very durable. I still use it but my problem is what A Lex mentioned - having to drop to the low 40s because of health issues it’s hard to build a fir arrow that is under 12gpp. Many are closer to 13 and that’s higher than I want to shoot.

[LookMomNoSights]

Doug Fir from Surewood,  all the way!  And here's a tip.   Grind the tapers,  do not taper with the pencil sharpener style tool.  The grain of the Doug Fir and density of this wood in general doesn't allow for nice clean tapers with the blade pencil sharpener style taper tools.  You will get a notchy unsightly, uneven taper.   Grind them on a disc sander or belt sander.  Disc sander is best.  Buy the angled taper block from 3Rivers to use with a sander,  or attempt to make your own, routing a 5 degree and a 10 degree channel in a block of material.   Place that block parallel to the disc on a disc sander. Feed your shafts into the sanding disc while riding in the groove you need,  while rotating the shaft as it is being sanded.  You will get smooth clean tapers that you'll be very happy with.
Doug Fir can't be beat for a wood shaft in my personal opinion.  Only downside is no good smell if they snap,  like a cedar shaft has.

[Tim Reese]

Just got my 2 dozen to try. Even got one extra which I don’t know
If that’s normal but there is 25 in the box. They look great. After the holidays I will
Start making them I hope. If not then soon after. Thanks everyone for the tips and input. Cedar have been great for me but I seem to be breaking them more
Than I used to so not sure if it’s just lower quality cedar than years past and I wanna go up in weight a bit. Not a lot but a little will be good.