Best wood for making arrows

[Bjorn]

The Doug Fir from Surewood is unbeatable-I used to worry about my personal stash of old Cedar running low-it just does not matter now!  

[halfseminole]

I'm testing leopardwood for my new shafts, I'll tell you guys how it goes.

[dnovo]

I have used POC for a long time and while I do have some very fine Surewood arrows I made up, I am still partial to cedar.  I like working with it. I have used maple and ash along the way also and had some good luck and bad luck with the ash. I had a couple dozen that was awesome then got a dozen that was just junk. Moving down a little in bow weight the ash got a little heavy also.

[Drifter]

Originally posted by Flying Dutchman:
Sitka Spruce from Hildebrand!

I'll second this...

[Fletcher]

I should elaborate a bit on my post above.  Much of what makes one wood "better" than another is what you want to do with it and get from it.  POC is a proven wood that shoots well and is easy to work with.  It straightens easily and holds its straight.  Technically, it is a cypress, not a cedar.  It is not as durable as most other woods, but if you don't miss this really isn't an issue.  

Sitka Spruce boasts the highest strength to weight ratio of all woods.  It makes a lighter weight arrow and has a fiberous structure that makes it quite tough.  It's light mass weight makes it good for high FOC arrows.  Unfortunately, spine availability fizzles out quickly above 75 lbs.  Sitka straightens well and holds it once sealed.

Doug Fir also has a long history as an arrow wood.  It recovers quickly from paradox and shoots very well.  Mass weight varies greatly, as much as 150+ grains within a spine range.  This makes it harder to weight match shafts, but also makes it usable by fans of both light, mid and heavy weight arrows.  It also has a very wide spine availability, up to 120 lbs or more.  It is much more durable than POC and when it does break, it tends to come apart so there isn't much question.  DF straightens well, heat helps, and holds it fairly well once sealed.

Both SS and DF like to argue with the pencil type nock and point taper tools and do much better with a disk sander type tapering setup.  A V type guide on a hobby size disk/belt sander combo works great.

JMHO