Bamboo arrows (swear last question)

[Jakeemt]

Hey guys just a few questions more. I am so close to pulling the trigger on 50 bamboo shafts pre spined, weighed and straightened. However, I have just a few more questions. Will I see an accuracy degradation in comparison to my aluminums? Do they fly as well as people say? Do you guys think. Would be better off with wood shafts? Sorry for all the questions it's just that 90 bucks is what it will cost me and that is a good bit of cash to me and I would hate to waste it.

[Caughtandhobble]

That's all I shoot out of my selfbow. They fly great for me. I do not prefer the self nocks, I use the brown nocks and the match the arrow great. My ole buddy calls them "nature's carbon arrows" because they're so tough.

[Atennishu]

For Bamboo already sorted by weight and spine and straightened, Thats a great deal ,  way more durable than wood.

[halfseminole]

I tend to prefer carbon out of my horse bow.  Besides, where else do I get meter long arrows?

[swampdrummer]

I just bought a dozen 50/55 shafts. Spines,straightened and weight matched for $43 tyd. He even cut self nicks and point tapered them. Not the deal you found but not as big an investment either. I'll send the guys contact info to ight if you'd like. I'm super happy with them!

[Chester Thompson]

My experience with bamboo arrows, was I was neither impressed or unimpressed with them. They seemed to fly well, had several break, and one that twisted really badly. I think that I am just going to stick with wood arrows.

[iohkus]

I've been experimenting with them and find they are a lot of work and need specialized tools or technics to come to a finished arrow. So, are thus expensive to get started with. For instance, the tapers HAVE to be ground on; the total length has to be configured to allow for equal diameters at BOTH the nock AND front ends; if you want to reinforce the point ends, you'll have to drill and insert dowels .......... not trying to discourage you, but giving a heads-up.

          No big deal IF you like to tinker and enjoy DIY.      

[Jakeemt]

Thanks for the info guys.

Iohkus I was thinking of skipping the tapers and using screw in heads and self nocks or nock inserts. I hear you can do this as the inner section is hollow. I have saws, a drill, thread, and plenty of epoxy. My reading has lead me to believe that you cannot get equal diameters from both ends as they are tapered naturally. I also have read that in order to shorten them you must remove equal lengths from both ends because of the taper. I am understanding this correctly?

Jake

[Zradix]

I just started making my own from planting stakes.

I drilled out the soft center section of each end and glued in a 1.5" piece of wood dowel.

They all cut very well with a bear paw taper tool.
I ended up playing around with each shaft using some rubber o-rings over the shaft to get them to fit "just right" in the receivers.
Had to do this on each end.

Most of the ones I made needed to have 1/4" nocks.
5/16" nocks "hung over" the shaft too much for my taste.

[macbow]

I've been playing with bamboo shafts for some time.
My original shafts were pretty crooked and grown locally.
It is,a,lot of work to,get several to match.

Recently bought some of the spined  and straightened shafts.
These are great. I just used a wood chuck to taper for points.
Made self nocks with bamboo skewer inserts. Wrapped with,some sinew. Turkey feathers .

Very tough. Slammed one off a tree in Wi. Aluminum or wood would have shattered completed another 75 targets with this one.

My one concern is weight for hunting. Might have to,weight them a little.

[WoodsyDave]

I bought some pre spined, heat tempered and weighted shafts from China. They are really good! I made a couple to shoot and see how they did.  I was impressed! They fly really good and I can shoot them out of several of my selfbows of different poundage.  And, my recurves too...

Just finished making a dozen shafts. They look great and really penetrate. I like them.

WoodsyDave

[WoodsyDave]

You are right, however, they are a lot of work to build. You just have to be patient and do a little at a time. It will be worth it when you see how purdy they are and how quick they fly.

There are several build-a-longs on ytube to help you get it done. But, look at 2 or 3 before you get started. Some are not so groovy.

I used the one where he made the wooden block drilled to hold the shaft in a vice while doing the work. It's slick. And, I have a craftsman ban saw that has a groove perfectly aligned with the blade that you can slide the shaft down (slowly and carefully) to start the groove for the self nock and finish with the 3-glued hacksaw blades for width before finishing the smoothing, sanding and shaping. It's pretty quick once you get the hang of it.

WoodsyDave

[halfseminole]

I should have said "nature's carbon."  Teaches me to type too fast.

How long do they come?  I'm interested in these, but I need to know if I need to foot them to get them to 37".  Drawbacks of a huge draw length.

[macbow]

Mine were 33 inches but I think they also come in 39 inch.

[Ron Roehrick]

I bought some of the long shafts from china that were straight and shortened from both ends to desired length. Also inserted bamboo sticks bought at a food store they were cheap the bamboo was inserted in both ends for strength. I used 5/16th mercury speed nocks. The arrows turned out great. The quality of the shaft was very good to start with and the arrows flew like darts out of every bow I shot them out of. Mine were 40-45 spine and when shortened to 27" they stiffened up just right. Most of my bows are 47-50 lbs at my draw length. They take some work but there is something about bamboo it seems to recover very quickly, even bare shaft flew great. Ron.