bowjo that red brush is beautiful. Each piece wood has its own unique character and you don't know what you will find until you start working on it. Some arrows have all the bark remaining others I have scraped and sanded out of stubbornness to make an arrow. For me you cant buy the perfect imperfections found in natural materials crafted with your own hands through trial and error... its a labor of love.
Three years ago I was super excited to get out and cut arrows from the woods around me. I went out and was able to find red osier dogwood and wild rose. The first year I went through and read every one of pats posts in the arrow section I could find and cut 500 shoots and made some arrows in 9mo. most what I cut was larger in diameter than necessary. You can reduce shafting a lot with a small thumb plane after drying, so there were arrows in there but I had a lot to learn.
here are some things ive found that may be helpful to you starting out. To me there was a notable difference in workability of the shoots after a full year of drying and again a difference after two years drying. they simply respond better to heat bending and keep those corrections better.
when cutting I love to find and cut a shoot that's to large at the base and to small 7' later at the top. now that's not what I cut every time those are special but you see the point... I know there is an arrow in there! What you cut will shrink, how much varies. I cut in the winter, leave the bark on, cut with extra length on each end, this all helps. Give some thought to your storage drying location too. I keep my shoots in my garage rafters. It can get over 100 deg in the summer up there but my shoots have already dried during the winter months while they were at their wettest. in winter they probably have less water in them than in summer or spring. I started off with twine but have come to love the Velcro strips for wires to bundle my sticks. so easy to readjust and reuse I don't mind the money.
I love to find a new area to cut that no one has... look for wet areas and thickets that are high so the shoots have to grow up tall and straight to get to sun light, lower branches often seem to die off or are less developed.
Don't pass the 10' thorn bushes. Even if you don't know its scientific name cut some and look at them. if the shaft is hollow and crushes... no good! if it looks wood like and hard maybe with a pith cut some, bundle and dry it.
The prof is in the shot! Spine testers & grain scales are great tools but the best question to answer when making a primitive arrow is " How does it shoot?" bows and more so self bows are unique creatures with variables. Learn what your bow likes through trial and error use those great tools and your notes to build another arrow with the same flight from that same bow. That's progress!
Take notes of your arrow builds for me it was educational and fun. It answered questions like How much weight does my finish add? Does it change arrow spine? Could I use extra finish to add spine? How much weight and or spine can I scrape and sand off a shaft like ive been cutting? How many arrows have I made? What weight/spine changes if I did 3 lightening groves rather than scrape and sand the entire shaft? What about 4 groves? The ezelap stone is for touching up the plane blade. if you have not appreciated the difference in a sharp blade and a dull one when working well its significant to me.
Post pictures! We love to see them and there is a wealth of knowledge here to help you along. I'm no expert but I'm excited about what ive learned. My second winter I cut 300 shoots, after they dried for a year I took down a bundle of 12 to work on. after cutting down to 36" and heat straightening I had 8 shafts that were the right spine/size and ready to continue with. The point being a year of cutting, making, shooting and asking Pat questions learns you a lot
I will throw up some photos because they are fun. Good luck to you!
