Spineless Rose Shoots

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We as archers, are continually experimenting with our arrows.  They are the final projectile to complete the process and we admire their power and swiftness of passing .  The mind gives the order to' release' and almost immediately the arrow is driven into it's intended target .  (  0025 .jpg )

Living on the west coast of Canada gives me access to shoots of Wild Rose , Dogwood .   Nine bark   , Willow and Ocean spray which is not included in these pictures.  ( 0020.jpg )

 The shoots I find in my area have a soft pith center and are a little spineless for my 55# bow . With the aid of a bamboo skewer ,the spine weight and strength of both the self nock end and the arrowhead end of all the shoots can be increased considerably . ( 0010.jpg  )

 When the shoots are dry I cut them all to32 inches .   Holding a shoot in one hand I slowly force the drill bit into the soft pith center of each end of the shoot , to the length of the skewer being used .  In this case I am using  10 inch bamboo skewers .  ( 0019.jpg  )  and  (0015.jpg  ) I can feel the drill bit as it passes into the shoot and when it is removed from the shoot  .  I liberally coat the  skewer with hide or carpenter's glue and push the sharp end of the skewer into the drill hole at each end of the shoot and leave to dry .  When the glue dries I am  ready to haft or self nock the ends of the shoots .   ( 0001.jpg ) 
   

   'Broken Arrow “


                                                        Photo Captions

                      0025.jpg---------  Well used Wild Rose and Willow with skewers installed .
                      0020.jpg---------  Drill bit And skewer are at bottom of picture
                      0010.jpg---------  3 Shoots before they are self nocked or hafted .
                      0019.jpg --------  12 inch drill bit , shoot and skewer .
                      0015. jpg--------  Drill bit is1\8 inch by 12 inches
                      0001.jpg---------  Tools and materials required


               

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[part Cherokee]

Cool. When you say willow are you talking about a weeping willow with the limp branches?
Matt

[D. Tiller]

Say, can you show some pictures of the Wild Rose you are using. I'm on Whidbey Island here and I use a lot of that stuff. Wonder if its the same!

[broken arrow]

HI Matt,
No this is not the weeping willow . This is the Pacific Willow common to the west coast of British Columbia and Washington State as well as Oregon and southern Alaska. It is one of our largesr native willows. It is tall slender shrub or tree to 12 meters in height. Two smaller willows also appear in our area. The flowers of the Pacific Willow are pale yellow and hairy . If you are interested in knowing more about the  plants of the Pacific Northwest a good field guide is published by 'Pojar & Mackinnon. The scientific name of this willow is  'SALIX LUCIDA'.
Winston

[broken arrow]

I would guess the roses you have on Whidbey island are the same. We call them wild roses but looking in my book the are called Nootka rose. There are 5 large petals on the beautiful pink flower. They are found from Vancouver Island where I live to California according to the Pojar&Mackinnon plants of the Pacific Northwest >

[Sparrow]

The wild rose that grows over in eastern Washington has almost no pith,when dry,it gets a very good spine to it,I was spining arrows to my 64 lb. bow with no problems.Might be growing in the drier climate makes a difference or it's another type of wild rose.  Frank

[TRACY]

I use multi flora and swamp rose(super spiny ) for shafts and don't have a problem with a pith or spine(64#). I also get pretty selective when cutting shoots, mainly 3/8 ths dia. I like the idea of adding the bamboo to stiffen the spine. Looks good!

Tracy