ash arrow shafts

[nc recurveman]

Im on a mission to make and hunt with wood this year dont know much and ive been pestering the devil outta with questions here is another one. I had a fella offer to sell me some ash shafts he says they straight pretty easy and dont require much work keepum straight. What yalls exp. Withum?

[wooddamon1]

Nice and heavy, depends on the seal/finish for staying straight. I have some I made a few years ago and used Bohning fletch-lac on and they're still straight.

[Killdeer]

Depends on the shafts. Ash is notorious, like hickory, for being hard to straighten and keep straight. But good shafts will straighten well and when sealed, stay straight. I have found that heated shafts tend to stay straighter. Seal them well,and eyeball them before your shooting session. They are tough, durable, and have enough weight to them to make any target, stolid or sentient, sit up and take notice.

Their performance in the hunting field makes them worth the effort.

Any wooden shaft in poor condition, or with excessive runout or "noodliness" is better off in the kindling pile. I have gotten wonderfully straight, tapered shafts from Ted Fry at Raptor Archery.

Killdeer

[Pat B]

I have a set of fully tapered ash shafts that have been in my hunting quiver for the last few years. Dick Bernier from New Bern tapered them for me. I do occasionally have to straighten them but that is part of using wood arrows.
 Magnus(Matt) has matched sets of Poplar that are very nice shafts. You might consider poplar for your hunting arrows. I have a few that I'm shooting now and I can recommend them for staying straight and toughness. They have good physical  weight too.

[jsweka]

Ash makes some very durable heavy arrows.  There may be some work in straightening, but I haven't had one yet that I couldn't get straight just by hand. Just keep an eye on them and give them a tweak every now and then.

[Overspined]

I would avoid ash until you have gone through 3 dz cedar.  Learn to straighten, repair, and make them. I have seen horrible grain run out with ash too.  I don't know if that matters.  It is also VERY HEAVY.

[joe skipp]

Take Killie's advice. I shot barrel tapered ash for years with excellent results. In fact, I'm going back to them. I like the weight, durability, toughness and after sealing them, a tweak here and there will take care of any small bends.

Penetration on big game is awesome 20 yds and under and they hit very hard out to 40 yds.

[Bill Carlsen]

My experience with ash is that the straighter the grain the easier the maintenance. So, just be sure your shafts are very straight grained and you will fine.

Joe, I need to reset my tapering jig...need to do it this weedend and I'll get the shafts you want on the way.

[dnovo]

I've shot ash quite a bit in the past. I had a couple dozen that I was amazed at. I thought this is the best arrows I have ever made. The next couple dozen was the worst I have had. Inconsistent flight, wouldn't stay straight. All these shafts from reputable shaft makers. I've shot wood for 35 years and made almost all of them so I'm experienced with wood arrows. When you get good ash shafts they can't be beat but if not they are lot of work.
If you are starting out with wood, work with cedar or douglas fir at first until you gain some experience.

[joe skipp]

Bill...please PM me so I can give you the specifics I'm looking for and if this is possible for you. Thanks........

[LPN]

Ash can be hard at times to get straight but I've been lucky to get real good straight grained stock and it's never been that big a deal. I've got some that are 7yrs old,,they're what I use to stump with,,,tough as steel,,mine have stayed straight pretty decent,,great looking shafts also as they take stain well. I get mine from a fellow in PA.

[Red Beastmaster]

After tapering both ends of 100 ash shafts with a hand held tool I broke down and bought a Woodchuck taper grinder. I thought my wrists would fall off!

I used ash for a few years, good ones were for hunting, but most ended up as stumpers. Man will they take a beating!

[SuperK]

I agree 100% with Dnovo.  Cedar and Douglas Fir are LOTS easier to work with and make great arrows.  After you "get the hang of it", have fun and experiment with different woods if you want to.  My only experience with ash wasn't positive and I don't plan on buying any more.

[Bjorn]

Like others have said really good ash is amazingly good! Crappy ash is just like any other crappy wood. If you want good arrows always buy the best shafting you can get.
The last batch I got was from Raptor Archery never straightened them at all they were that good.