Crepe Myrtle for arrow shafts

[Eric Krewson]

I am about to prune my crep myrtle and noticed some really nice straight sprouts a little bigger than 3/8". I think I will bundle up a few to dry and see if they make good arrows.

I know some folk have made bows out of the wood but don't remember seeing anything about arrows.

[mullet]

I'm curious to see how it works out, Eric. The city plants them all over town and prunes them every year. There are piles on every street corner or a month when they do it.

[Pat B]

The wood is pretty heavy but that's not a bad thing. I'm curious to see how they work for arrows.

[Springbuck]

Cool, I want to see!

 I haven't seen a straight woody shoot that just wouldn't work as an arrow, but, they all have their little idiosyncrasies.  I bet they could look beautiful.

[stickbender]

     As my Brother would say, that stuff, is harder than the knobs of hell!  But it will crack while drying, if the ends are not sealed.  I have some big pieces that I am going to carve on, and it has split quit a bit.  If you want to make a nice war club, that will do it!  Interested to see how they do as arrows.  As a side note, the leaves, are good for diabetes.  The Herbalists sell the powdered leaves as a herb called Banaba.  It doesn't taste bad.  Well, get some shoots.  ............

                                    Wayne

[Eric Krewson]

I did my pruning yesterday, turns out the sprouts were a lot bigger close up than when viewed from a distance. I threw back one shaft for a test but it will have to be whittled on to get it down to arrow diameter.

[le0n]

on trad gang: http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=1;t=114739

i too grabbed a few from the pruning this year. i left them bundled outside though. it's been over a month and the unsealed ends haven't split.