I have not personally used ash but a friend of mine did and he and I both spent some time getting them straight. It did take some work and depending on how they are stored, they might need it several times over their lifespan but usually just a tweak.
My personal favorite for a heavy, strong shaft is maple. I've bought a few times from Silent Pond but it's been several years since I've used them. They varied quite a lot in the amount of straightening required and I usually had about 2 out of a dozen that were only good for flu-flus. They are heavy too. I have a very long draw and I was ending up with nearly 800 grain finished weight arrows. They were super tough though. I shot one square into a piece of angle iron on a target frame once and it bounced back real hard. When I looked at I was shocked to see that the tip had actually mushroomed somewhat. Usually, I'd had tips get a flat spot or push back farther on the shaft but this thing caved in the tip and started to roll back behind it! The shaft was just fine. Shot the arrow as it was for a year or more before loosing it somewhere. If I ever go on a moose hunt, these are likely what I'll carry.
What I shoot now is a compromise. I shoot POC but footed with a single point footing of either ramin dowel from the hardware store or black walnut dowel from a wood supply store. Someone else either here or on the *********** posted about this years ago so I can't take credit for the idea. I did a build along on this at one point quite a while back but I just did a search and couldn't find it so it must have been dropped out of the archives.
Basically, I use my point tapering setup on my table saw. I have a jig set with two grooves. One angle is for point taper and one for nock taper. To do a single point footing, all I do is locate the bottom side of the arrow based on nock and grain orientation and then put the shaft in the jig groove with that side facing the sanding disc. Then, I simply feed it in like I would to make a point taper but I do NOT rotate the shaft. On a 23/64" shaft, I end up with a single taper to a feather thin point that is about 3 or 4 inches long. Do the same with your footing material of choice and then use some Tight Bond 2 or 3 glue on both pieces. (type 3 is more water proof but the strength is about the same as 2) Lay the two pieces together and wrap with thread from one end of the splice to the other and back with about 1/4 to 3/8 inch spacing between wraps. I use waxed B50 bowstring material. It peels off nicely without sticking to the glue very much. You can put nice even pressure on the joint this way and still have a little working wiggle room for final positioning. Rolling the wound shaft on a flat surface like the table helps get things aligned nicely. Let sit until dried well. Overnight is best. Remove thread and sand lightly to remove glue residue and smooth transition areas then cut and taper like a normal shaft. I chuck the point end up in an electric drill to sand the footed area before I taper. Tapering removes and indentations caused by the drill chuck.
These shafts are VERY strong. I was skeptical of the single taper splice until I tested several by shooting into a rock wall at about 10 yards. This was from a 65lb at 32" bow and while the front of the arrow did shatter (Like duh!) the splice was intact. I shot the untipped shaft into the same wall and it splintered more shaft and got up into the spliced area but none of the splits/damage followed the glue line! I'd like to try something like hickory, maple, purple heart or osage as a footing but like I said, I've only done it with ramin dowel and black walnut. Black walnut is not super strong or heavy but it sure looks pretty. Purple heart, bloodwood, ebony or other tropical hardwoods would be much stronger, would help increase FOC and would be drop dead gorgeous.
By the way, this is a great way to salvage arrows that get broken behind the point too.
Maybe I'll do another build along if anyone is interested?
Topic: The most durable wood shaft (Read 2201 times)
