Which arrow woods are least prone to warpage/whipping?

[Longbow_Gold]

Hey Guys

I was wondering if you guys know which is the best wood to use when making arrows, that are least prone to warping/whipping?

As most of you know, I'm using 5/16 ash arrows with a 30/35# spine, some of them have kept their straightness, but a few of them are a little bent and a few others are strangely snaked, where they are straight, the have a slight bend, then another slight bend in the opposite way and then straighten again? (wth?)

I've been contemplating on poplar or POC shafts, but I'm not too sure if any other woods out there are better or worse, and so I thought I'd ask you guys

Thank you guys in advance as any info/advice is greatly appreciated

Willie

[Et tu brute]

I'd say POC would be your best bet, though boyton pine shafts are absolutely excellent. Poplar is a very good arrow wood, however I think you'd probably have a tough time finding them in 5/16" size as most are at least 3/8" that I've seen. Have you tried straightening the arrows you currently have?

[Longbow_Gold]

I'll be doing that anyways, but I've gotta wait a little while for my hands to heel up, but saying that, I'm not so sure about the kettle method of straightening the arrows, as I don't want to wind up making them worse, due to inexperience.

In saying that, I'm looking to have better arrows that aren't as high maintainence as ash, I imagine something like maple would be a bit better and a little more sturdier for arrow wood, but still having that bit of flex to allow for good spine

Willie

[steve58]

Originally Posted by Longbow_Gold

I'll be doing that anyways, but I've gotta wait a little while for my hands to heel up, but saying that, I'm not so sure about the kettle method of straightening the arrows, as I don't want to wind up making them worse, due to inexperience.

In saying that, I'm looking to have better arrows that aren't as high maintainence as ash, I imagine something like maple would be a bit better and a little more sturdier for arrow wood, but still having that bit of flex to allow for good spine

Willie

On straightening them, you could try practicing the technique on any broken ones you may have? I keep ones that have broken an inch or two up the shaft for this sort of thing.
I have used pine, POC and sitka. I have made some very nice arrows with POC, although many people, including John from Little John arrows, have told me that it is not as good as it was.
Sitka was amazingly light, and I would use it for low draw weight bows, but not for the poundage I shoot, as I now believe that a set of very light arrows were not good for the bow (shot some good scores with those arrows though!).
Think I shall stick to pine now. I get mine from HiForce arrows and recommend them. Boyton's shafts are also very great and I've had good shooting with the sets I've built with those as well.

[Longbow_Gold]

What about Poplar in a 5/16 spine or is it more suited for larger spine like 11/32?

There are a few other woods that I had wondered about like those that can be used in bowmaking, surely if the wood has a reasonable amount of flex in it, then it can be cut and spined for arrow shafts?

Willie

[Et tu brute]

Unless your planning on making the shafts yourself, ie. planing them to being round from square stock you buy yourself your pretty much limited to POC, Pine, Fir (Merlin stock them) and Spruce. I've never seen any Poplar arrows in a smaller size than 3/8" myself, as it's often used as an alternative to ash for BLBS heavy arrows etc. though it's an excellent arrow wood in it's own right.

I suppose you could buy some 3/8" shafts and plane them down to being 5/16" or similar, but that's a lot of work and I'd doubt you would get as good results as with POC or similar. This would just be because there would be a bigger spine difference between the shafts, as it would be very hard to plane/sand them to being all the same diameter and equal throughout their length.

So in summary I'd say your best bet would be POC, Pine, Fir or Spruce, though Pine would be better for shooting from a heavier bow, 45# upwards I'd say. I've used all of these woods and they all fly very well, and I personally can't see any difference in performance apart from the fact I get better sightmarks with POC, Pine and Spruce, but that's just because they're lighter, plus I shoot a lighter bow.

Hope this helps

[Longbow_Gold]

Tanks ETB

I see what you mean as reguards the level of extra time involved in turning and spining the shafts, etc, and with having no experience in makig arrows (Yet) I'll leave that option on the back burner for now

I currently shoot that crooked firewood at the moment which I have got some of the draw weight back into it again, it's back to about 30/32lb and I've been looking at Sitka Spruce, since I currently use a lighter bow as well

I'll most likely keep shooting away with the arrows I have and just get a set of custom arrows and make my own from after I get the custom arrows, this way I'll be able to practice reproducing arrows to my own preferences

Willie

[Asafan]

Shafts of any diameter are easy for receiving, using only a drill and the simple adaptation. For the adaptation the board from a firm tree, an edge from a sharpener for pencils and a screw with a washer is required.