river cane

[luke the drifter]

my biggest thing against rivercane is the nodes.  i tried grinding them off but i am leery of doing that.  heating them up and trying to press/roll them out either does not work or i am not doing that right, probably the latter.  my main concentration has been to shoot/make light arrows.  i have been lucky on some smaller diameter rivercane and was able to work around the node problem to my satisfaction.  the nodes make for some rough takeoff from the bow.  is that to be expected and do need to not worry about the node problem.  because i am thinking that as it leaves the bow it will/might correct itself eventually in the arrow flight.  i can make a pretty good arrow regardless but am always looking to improve.

[Marlin]

I hear ya man. None of my cane arrows have ever come out laser straight. As for the nodes I just try and smooth them down a little bit without thinning the wall of the cane. And on the accuracy I hung a coke can from a tree and hit it twice from 15 yards. They do fish tail but tend to straighten out in flight. What I love about river cane is it's free . And there is just not a whole lot you can get for free anymore.

[sadiejane]

the cane arrows i received from hillbilly61 are some of the best shooting arrows i've ever had.
that said, i too have had a helluva time getting em straight enough.
but i keep trying...

[rover brewer]

just reading some of the older posts trying to get a grip on makeing arrows and came to this one and maybe if we get this arround again we might get more answers so come on arrowsmiths out there help us out , what is the best way to even out the nodes, I too have tryed to heat and row them out and I have sanded them out this works best for me but have read this isn't the best way to do it, the other thing is at the top of the shaft the nodes step down kinda , thanks for any help.I got lots of river cane cut and dryed.

[Pat B]

I generally heat and compress the nodes and know others that sand them smooth. Both methods work well to reduce the size of the nodes.  You have to do this after the cane shafts have been straightened or they will break at the node while straightening.   If your arrow is tuned to you and your bow it should go around(archers paradox) the bow on release and not touch the bow at all.   I also leave my cane(and hardwood shoot) arrows longer than my draw length. I cut them 29" to 30" for my 26" draw.

[HoBow]

Best I can tell, they don't have to be "arrow straight".  Like a character bow, if the ends line up, you should be good   

[El Destructo]

PatB gave me some River Cane starters...but the Texas Heat...and Wind...seems to have done them in...but I am still watering...and hoping!!

[aero86]

i like my river cane arrows.  ive filed them down.  not all the way flat, but, pretty close.  no breakage yet.  and thats from a 55lb bow.  course, i dont make pretty arrows, because i end up shooting them at stuff that i shouldnt shoot at.  so when they break, i peel the feathers off and re use those  lol.

[Pat B]

Mike, that is hill cane(Arundaneria appalaciana) I gave you and not river cane(A. gigantia). The hill cane is closer in appearance to
switch cane(A. tecta).
  River cane has very pronounced nodes where the nodes on hill and switch cane are raised but only slightly.
 Arrows don't have to be "straight as an arrow!" Like HoBow said as long as the point and nock line up there can be some deviations along the shaft and the arrow will still fly well.

[El Destructo]

Yeah...believe Me...they don't have to be Straight...because I am too lazy to get them like Cora Knight does...When they are close...they get shot!!!

[rover brewer]

Thanks to all, I knew ya'll would give us more insight on the nodes matter, and how does Cora do it I bought a dz from her last year they're better than my carbons, of course she use tonkin cane that could be part of it.Just thinking they say the plant stakes at lowes and home depot are tonkin anyone out there use them and are they easier to straighten compare to river cane,but of course if they don't have to be perfectly straight to shoot good river cane is free. thanks again to all.

[crooketarrow]

   I do as PAT said straighten then I file the nodes off I file mine down all the way. I guess I did'nt know you should'nt file them all the way. Never had any fail but I'VE ONLY MADE A COUPLE DOZZEN. Not local to my area so I perfer shoots. People are right they don't have to be perfectly straight but I trive to get mine that way. The straighter the arrow the better it will fly period exspecially at longer ranges. If your going to stay 15 yards and under then you can shoot crooked arrows fine. Plus they just plain look better straight.

[Lee Slikkers]

OK, so while we are on this subject of Hill Cane and River Cane...which would grow better in lower western MI and does anyone have access to shoots or rhizomes that they would be willing to send to a guy wanting to grow his own? 

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I generally heat and compress the nodes and know others that sand them smooth. Both methods work well to reduce the size of the nodes.  You have to do this after the cane shafts have been straightened or they will break at the node while straightening.   If your arrow is tuned to you and your bow it should go around(archers paradox) the bow on release and not touch the bow at all.   I also leave my cane(and hardwood shoot) arrows longer than my draw length. I cut them 29" to 30" for my 26" draw.

You nailed it right on the nose Pat. If the arrow is spined right for your set up they should fly great. The one can arrow that I made shoots like a dart, but I chose a section of cane that was a bit more spine than what I would need for my bow and left it a full 30" long. I just sanded the nodes down enough to make them smooth and turned the cane shaft where the natural groove was facing away from the side of the bow, arrow point and nock are perpendicular to the groove. Try that and see if that helps ya any.
I'm not an expert cause I have only finished one cane arrow, but  have more in the works.

[JackCrafty]

I scrape all the outer coating off my rivercane and that takes the nodes down a little.  I spend a good amount of time straightening and I find that I don't have to worry about the nodes hitting the bow during release.  If there is a big lump somewhere, I usually sand it down, though.