Arrow shafts.

[Markus]

Does anyone have experience using Ponderosa Pine dowels for arrows? Thank you.  Markus.

[Pat B]

I don't have any experience with Pondarosa pine but most of the pines will make good arrows.

[Mark Anderson]

I've used some ponderosa pine Made some decent arrows. The growth rings were bigger than I would have liked and it gets pretty knotty but if you can get enough of the hard ring in there and have a straight enough piece of lumber that is knot free it should work fine.
Mark

[Markus]

I happened to find an American firm who sells Ponderosa Pine dowels in many sizes. 3/8" x 36" sells for 215 dollars for a thousand pc. Even if you had to throw away half of them it would still be a good price. The draw back is that the minimum order is 14000 pc. But if the price is right one could always think long term I guess.   Markus.

[Pat B]

Now that I think about it I believe that Pondarosa pine shafts are called Chundo in the trade.
  You should be able to sell or trade raw shafting or matched sets of Pondarosa shafts if you do buy them.

[JackCrafty]

I've made some and they work great.  I like douglas fir a little better, but you can't beat the price of pine.

[Traxx]

Pat,
Chundoo,is another name for shafts made from Lodgepole pine.

[Pat B]

I knew it was one of those western variety of pines, Traxx. Thanks for setting me straight. 

[LEGIONNAIRE]

Personally Id be worried with buying so many dowels. take into consideration grain runnoff spine and many other things and you will potentially have 20-30% good dowels and the rest crap. best case scenerio 40% which may be good but not guaranteed spine. The reason I tell ya is because I checked out the packs of dowels at lowes, homedepo and at the lumberyard and found this to be the case, so perhaps think twice. Plus bad dowels can cause an arrow to break and go through your hand, so just my two cents. on the other hand if they turn out good then you are set.

[Markus]

Thanks for the advice, I have decided to leave the Ponderosa Pine dowels where they are.  Markus.

[Pat B]

Marcus, go to Lowe's or Home Depot, next to the red oak is poplar and white pine boards. These are relatively expensive per board but you can make a bunch of arrows from one board. You will need a table saw or band saw and a hand plane to work the boards to shafts.  George may even have info on "how to" on his site.