another wood question

[canadian]

I shoot a 55#@29" recurve.  I draw 29 or 29.5".  I am looking at trying the Hex shafts.  My question is, will I be able to get an arrow of 30 or 31" with a 125 grain broadhead up to 600 grains or more?  If so am I looking at an 11/32 shaft or will it be bigger?  Thanks, Jonathan

[Bjorn]

Never tried hex shafts; but you can get to 600 grains with cedar or doug fir. Just ask your shaft guy for heavier stock. Ted at  www.raptorarchery.com  can get you exactly what you want.
Hardwoods will easily put you over 700 grains at that length.

[canadian]

Thanks Bjorn.  I will look into it.  Jonathan

[Aeronut]

Like Bjorn said, most of the hardwoods such as Ash, Hickory, or Pecan will get you 700 grains or more with a 125 grain point.

If you want to get really crazy on weight I'm turning some 11/32 Ipe that is 900+ grains on a 36" shaft.

Dennis

[styckbow]

Hi Murph I have tried the pine hex shafts and was not too impressed. They were difficult to straighten and very difficult to keep striaght and I didn't think they were any tougher than cedar. You could  try laminated birch they will get you the wieght you need and are available in the length you require. I don't know if Bert sells just shafts but Fellow Tradganger Bert Frelink sells an excellent arrow and to top it off he lives in Canada so you won't have the problems of getting stuff across the border Good luck Delin

[zilla]

I too have a set of hex shafts.. Not real impresed either.. Weight wise they are a bit more than my comparable cedars. I also have a set of Sitka Spruce and they are a little heavier than cedar.  I also have a set of laminated birch, and they are much heavier.  The other arrows mentioned are running ~450-500 grains, finished.  The laminated Birch is 650 grains.  These are all in 5/16 except the Spruce which is 11/32"

All arrows are finished @28"

[SlowBowinMO]

I think you'll be right on the fence regarding 11/32 vs. 23/64 at the spine you'd require.  You can probably get there with POC since you'll need fairly high spine, Douglas Fir absolutely will get you there without difficulty.

I was a big fan of the birch for a while, but found mine horribly crooked a few months later much to my dismay.  They didn't stay straight for me and I felt I had them well straightened and sealed.

Whatever you do buy top quality shafts, wood arrow shafts are the last place to try and save a buck.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I had the same experience with laminated birch shafts....i straightened them, and put 4 good coats of finish on them, and they didn't stay straight long at all.....Seriously heavy shafts though....I found i don't care for the momentum loss, and serious drop after twenty yards an arrow takes exceeding 10 grains per pound. my long bow performs it's best with 585 grain arrows at 23% FOC at 57-58 pounds....i rand some 650 gain arrow though her last week and there was a huge difference in trajectory in my opinion....this was even more so with my new recurve with the lighter weight limb tips...That bow likes 8 grains per pound the best....Matching your arrows to your bow is critical for max performance and arrow flight i'm finding out....Every bow is a bit different too.....

I'll tell you another kind of wood to check out would be Poplar....I'm really liking that wood more and more as good arrow stock.... The down side to poplar is the increased diameter size needed to get your spine.....the fir is a stronger or stiffer shaft in comparable diameters, but harder to work with. i love the fir shafts though......Kirk

[aromakr]

canadian:
You will not have any problem achieving the 600 grains that you are looking for. I've been using the Hex-pine since they were first manufactured. I sell thousands of them a year, and they are better than ever, in my opinion there is no better wood shaft on the market. I can only say those that have had trouble straightening them don't know how to straighten a wood shaft and keeping them straight is just a matter of getting a good finish that seals the shaft well. Users need to keep in mind Lodge-pole pine's moisture is water unlike POC that is oil. When water is lost or increased wood will warp.

As Styckbow said you might try Bert Frelink, he is a long time friend of mine and will treat you right.
Bob

[zilla]

My beef aboout the Hexi shaft is that I see no performance gain over cedar or the Sitka Spruce I am using now.. I bought a set of hexi's , tried em and just do not care for them,, I broke 2 getting them straight. If Canadian can get them to his satisfaction then he should use them..

[Tilbilly]

Also, I've lived near Coalhurst for 4 years. That's a semi-desert climate. I had nose bleeds and dandruff from the painfully dry air. The hexshafts come from a more humid climate. Gotta let them dry out, straighten a few times and seal them pronto.

[aromakr]

Zilla:
Your not going to see a performance difference from any soft wood. All have advantages and disadvantages. Cedar and Sitka are excellent arrow woods. Sitka very strong, but light. Cedar quality has slipped over the years, but if your can find quality shafts there fine. Hex-shafts are much heavier than either of those two and very strong. Not difficult to achieve arrow weights from 9-14 grains per pound of bow weight. Maybe your manhandling them when straighting them. I find its best to use heat from a hot plate or heat gun, they straighten very easly that way.
Bob

[UK Bowman]

I tried the hexshafts and found them pretty fragile. I went back to the lam birch and fletched up a dozen 875 gr. logs but they really were too stiff for my bow. I just tried the tapered POC from Kustom King and they were straight and true from the packet. Possibly the best shafts that I have bought, but they are around 600 gr. with 135 BHs.