[Archers] Making arrows

[Garth Groff]

M'Lord Ivarr,

Short answer: As good as you can make them ;-) , but they do have problems.

Long ago I experimented with 23/64" ash shafts. Talk about heavy. With 
that much mass, they flew like a magnet to the center of the target with 
my 40-pound bows--at 20 yards. Beyond that, they sunk like a stone. When 
I quite messing with ash, my Royal Round scores jumped about 15 points. 
I think if I had been shooting 5/16" ash, they probably would have flown 
just fine.

Saphir bought the last of my unused ash shafts. He seems to like ash, 
but his bows are heavier than mine, and that can make all the difference.

Just recently I cut down the last of my 23/64" ash arrows to make 
crossbow bolts. It will be interesting to see how they fly. I've been 
shooting some 3/8" poplar bolts, and expect that the ash will weigh 
about the same.

I've tried a lot of woods and walked away from most of them: ash, 
hickory, poplar, oak, birch and pine. Every one of them has problems, 
usually mass, but ash, birch and oak are all very hard to straighten, 
and ash and oak are both prone to shattering.

Most cedar shafts are now fresh-cut and kiln-dried instead of those 
wonderful 100-year old sinker logs salvaged from old mill ponds Acme 
used to use. Either the salvage wood is all used up, or it has become 
too expensive for arrows (think artisan flooring or indoor house trim). 
The kiln-dried cedar bleeds pitch, which requires an extra step to 
remove before you sand. If you don't take it off with acetone, your 
stains and sealers won't soak into the wood properly.

So my solution? I've become very partial to Sitka spruce. It is now 
about the same price as cedar, weighs just a bit less, and is very 
strong. I can't tell the difference when cedar and spruce arrows are 
mixed in my quiver. It is lovely wood to work with. My only gripe is the 
grain is so fine it is hard to see for aligning the nocks.

I've also tried some German spruce from Kustom King, but I think it is 
much too light. I haven't shot those arrows yet, and probably won't 
until my current set of Sitka spruce is all banged up.

Yours Aye,


Mungo

On 11/28/16 11:46 AM, thaduck wrote:
> Greetigs.
>   Hope all had a good Thanksgiving.
> Question. How good are arrows made from Ash shafts?
>
>  Ivarr