What is the best wood for traditional arrows?

[Longbow_Gold]

Hey Guys

I have been wondering, what is the best choice wood (Ash, POC, BSP, etc) for longbow arrows?

I currently have 32" Ash arrows spined for 35lb @30", but I can't help wonder if other types of types of wood may be better to shoot with

What are your thoughts oin this?

Thank you all in advance,

Willie

[jb.68]

Originally Posted by Longbow_Gold

Hey Guys

I have been wondering, what is the best choice wood (Ash, POC, BSP, etc) for longbow arrows?

I currently have 32" Ash arrows spined for 35lb @30", but I can't help wonder if other types of types of wood may be better to shoot with

What are your thoughts oin this?

Thank you all in advance,

Willie

I guess it's just personal preference. For my lighter bows I have POC, for the others I have a mixture of Oak, Ash, Pine and Poplar. I want to try Birch, as I have been told that it makes very good arras.

[Longbow_Gold]

Thank you jb , I'm wondering who would be the best arrow maker to approach to see about possibly having a few tester arrows made with the various different wood types, just to see which I feel happiest with?

I imagine that there are many skilled bowyers and craftsmen that make great quality arrows, and so any recommendations are most very welcomed and appreciated

Thank you once again jb for your reply, I really appreciate it buddy

Willie

[Kae]

If you want to find a good source of arrow smiths then try war bow/longbow forums. There are a few out there that have their favoured arrow smiths. If you want top quality arrows though, be prepared for prices matching/exceeding top end recurve arrow prices!

Kae.

[Longbow_Gold]

Thanks Kae, I really appreciate it

I'll check out the englishwarbow site and see what's flying high over there, as reguards the recommended arrow smiths

As reguards the pricing of top quality arrows, I wouldn't expect anything less, after all, one gets what one pays for

Willie

[Kae]

Very true, and I'm by no way saying that the price isn't justified.

A lot more human effort and time is put into a decent set of wooden arrows (many more than any other).

Kae.

[jb.68]

Originally Posted by Longbow_Gold

Thank you jb , I'm wondering who would be the best arrow maker to approach to see about possibly having a few tester arrows made with the various different wood types, just to see which I feel happiest with?

I imagine that there are many skilled bowyers and craftsmen that make great quality arrows, and so any recommendations are most very welcomed and appreciated

Thank you once again jb for your reply, I really appreciate it buddy

Willie

No probs mate. The only person I know who makes and supplies shafts is Chris Boyton. I'm sure there are many others, but he's the only one I know of. Actually he supplies half the retailers.

[Longbow_Gold]

I've noticed that there are a few arrow smiths on evilbay that are selling arrows on a regular basis, and they offer a custom service as well, one of which uses Boyton Scotts Pine for the shafts.

I had thought that it would be a case of just trying out various types of wood, etc, to see what suits my bow and shooting form best

Any other help and advice is greatly appreciated, thank you everyone so far

Willie

[jb.68]

Originally Posted by Longbow_Gold

I had thought that it would be a case of just trying out various types of wood, etc, to see what suits my bow and shooting form best

Yep I pretty much took that route. I used lots of poplar which is fine, but found that it really don't like taking the brunt when it hits something hard under the ground and have plenty broken arras to show for it. Where as the ash is that bit tougher and also has a bit more weight to it which can be useful at times.
Half the fun though is the making and experimenting with different arras, seeing how far they will or wont go and why.

[Longbow_Gold]

Yeah, the only trouble is, there is a huge park litterally at the end of my street, but I wouldn't be able to shoot any arrows there because of all the bloomin dog wakers, etc, that roam the place, but yes it would be brilliant to be able to test out various arrows, just to see what suits me best, but I imagine that this is something that would be worth doing, when getting a new bow, especially when switching to a heavier draw weight, oh well, I guess that makes it all the more fun in trying the arrows out, space and/or time permitting

Willie

P.S. I'll be glad when I move to oxford as there'll be a better chance of finding somewhere to be able to shoot a few arrows, without any dog walkers stepping out from nowhere lol