Poplar shafting

[Moose]

I've been reading a bit about poplar shafting, but i can't seem to find out exactly what kind of poplar people are talking about. I'm from northern British Columbia so what we call poplar is actually an aspen, Populus tremuloides to be exact.  Is this similar to what is being used/sold, or is it completly different. The poplar we have here seems like it could be somewhat decent as it grows pretty straight and clear, but i don't want to start running around the countryside cutting down trees if this wood has been tried before. Thanks for any info. AM

[Pat B]

Thye poplar I got from Stringstretcher is yellow poplar(Liriodendron tulipifera), a pretty common treein the Eastern US. Yellow poplar is in the Magnolia family.  I'm not familiar with the aspens but I would imagine quaking aspen should make very good arrows. Art Butner(Artcher1) considers aspen his #1 choice for arrows but I don't know if it is quaking aspen though.

[artcher1]

Aspen I used for my arrows came from Lowe's is about all I know about the wood Pat. You can get 40-50# from a 11/32" shaft on average. A bit more spine with larger diameters. Growth rings are really had to see. If you cut your own wood I would suggest you split timber it out and re-saw from there. Air dry your wood for about a year before shafting out.  And as your shafts seasons out further the better they'll shoot. I know I was really disappointed at first but after several years they turned into the finest shooting arrows I've ever made.

[Fred Arnold]

I''ve only dealt with one supplier on poplar and it is (Magnolia) yellow poplar. All but the 40-50# spine have been 23/64" barrel tapered to either 5/16" or 11/32". the 40-50 spine were 11/32 barrel tapered to 5/16".
A random check of what I have remaining shows between 410 to 450 grains. Those weights are full length either 31" or 33" in 65-70, 70-75, and 75-80 spine.
I kept back 1 dz 40-45 spine that average 380gr @31".
They are an excellent choice in a wood shaft.

[madcrow]

I have several dozen poplar shoots drying now.  10 grains per pound is fairly easy to get.  Some, depending one taper and the end diameters can go lighter. 

[cdpbrewer]

Moose,

Here's a comparison of the properties of aspen with port oxford cedar taken from http://www.woodworkerssource.com/wood_library.php:

(1) = Aspen (Populus tremuloides)   (2) = Port Oxford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
Property                            (1)     (2)      Unit
-----------------------------  -----   -------  -----
Bending Strength              8400  12700    psi
Crushing Strength (Perp.)   370     720     psi
Max. Crushing Strength     4250   6250    psi
Impact Strength                   21      28    inches
Stiffness                          1180   1700     1000 psi
Work to Maximum Load          8        9     in-lbs/in3
Hardness                           350    630     lbs
Shearing Strength              850   1370    psi
Specific Gravity                 0.38   0.44   
Weight                                26      29    lbs/cu.ft.
Density (Air-dry)                  26      30    lbs/cu.ft.
Radial Shrinkage                   4        5    %
Tangential Shrink.                 7        7    %
Volumetric Shrink.               12      10    %

Numbers don't tell the whole story but, the relatively low stiffness and shearing & bending strength would warrant being careful.   The low hardness coupled with the poor machining properties listing on the above web site leads me to suspect it's difficult to get a good finish.   There's also a blurb about aspen distorting as it dries.

That said, maybe cut some second year shoots (they'll have small branches), dry them (binding the shoots with twine would be wise) then play around with them.... and post how it goes.

Finally, Aspen would make good arrows for vampire hunting- per Wikipedia: "An aspen stake was believed to be one of the few weapons suitable to kill a vampire or a werewolf." :-)

c.d.   

[Moose]

Thanks for the info everyone. It looks like aspen might be a bit soft for the bow i'm shooting right now ( a Bear Super Grizzly; i've only just started getting into making my own gear. Hopefully i'll find some suitable wood around here to start building my own bows). I might cut some aspen and let it dry for a bit to see how it works out, but i think i might be better off concentrating my efforts  on lodgepole pine (very common around here) or birch( fairly common, but hard to find straight grain). Red-osier dogwood might be another option, although it is difficult to find stands that aren`t heavily club browsed (Dogwood is like candy to the moose around here). Thanks again! AM