beech shoots?

[youngbowyer]

Well as the title says wil beech shoots work cause i know a place where i can get hold of it.

[adb]

For what? Arrow shafts? Or staves? I think beech is good carving wood, but I've never heard of it being used as bow wood.

[jb.68]

Dunno about beech shoots for arras, but certainly Hazel shoots make good'ns. I imagine that being shoots, the beech should be OK, depends on how stiff they are and what you are shooting them from. 

[Yeomanbowman]

Natural bob-tailing too!  Make sure not too much of the shaft is pith and you should be fine but they will be very heavy.

[youngbowyer]

owh okay thanks ill try it, i went to the forest but couldnt find anything that would suit me for arrows but I aqquired a knotty and snaky stavt that I will TRY to make a little fun shooting snaky flat bow out of. Thanks for your help. Right now I have some birch shoots that are seasong, im hoping to make some shafts out of those. Its a pity i cant find a hazel tree anywhere! Thanks for your help!

[Pat B]

Tom, you should have red osier dogwood around where you live. They makes very good shafts. Google Red Osier and you should get info of growth habit and see what it looks like in the wild. Also viburnum, both wild and cultivated, make good shafts.    Pat

[youngbowyer]

thanks Pat, any idead if there is any hazel where i live?

[Pat B]

There should be. Try Google for that too and see.  You might also check your state's Cooperative Extension Service for a list of local plants.

[youngbowyer]

Cooperative state... what's that?

[Pat B]

The Cooperative Extension Service is affiliated with your State University and deals with agriculture and horticulture in the state. They should have a list of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that are either indigenous or naturalized in your state.   

[youngbowyer]

Ohw okay thanks! Right now i am going to order some ash shafts fro my new bow.

[Pat B]

Have you tried Allegheny Arrow Wood for shafts? They are located in Penn I think and have all sorts of shafting.

[youngbowyer]

No i haven't tried them yet usually i order from 3riversarchery but now i need ash shafts for this 45 pound bow. Im ordering from richard head longbows as i want medieval heads and i order from historic enterprises to get a couple of handforged type 15's and 16's. But ill have a look at their site.

[stevesjem]

Hi Youngbowyer

I would hold off on the ash shafts for your 45lb bow, they will be way too stiff, these would be 3/8" from RH and would spine in the region of 90+lb, you may find they come out of the bow sidewards, I would suggest a diameter of no more than 11/32, see if you can find some dogwood.

Steve

[Marc St Louis]

I've used Beech for arrows before.  They work quite well but you do need to straighten them once in awhile.  I made mine from some Beech I had cut for bows, it also worked well for that.  The wood is fairly easy to split so you could split out blanks from a board

White Ash makes a much better arrow.