Salt cedar shafts.

[Tim B]

I found a bunch of salt cedar growing in the wash near me and cut several shoots in hopes to make some arrows. I dipped the ends in glue and put them in a shady dry place to season them but noticed that most of them had several splits down the sides.
Any ideas why this might have happened? I left the bark on and they started splitting within two weeks.

[Pat B]

Cut them long and leave the ends unsealed. Any checking should occur on the ends and you can cut them off. Leave the bark on them too until they are dry.

[Mesophilic]

Salt ceder splits really bad for me, too.   Back home in AZ it has taken over the local river and tributaries.   

In the warmer months , back home, it will split over night.  And many split far enough down the shaft to render them useless.

Best I've done is leave the bark on, seal the ends, bundle together, and put in the coolest, least drafty, place you can.  Dried extremely slowly they do ok.  I've also had issues with it cracking where the little branches were trimmed off,  so I started sealing those spots as well.  The wood is extremely hard and tough once it dries.  I found  it difficult to straighten and hard to work so I lost interest in it.  I hear it's neigh on indestructible if you can get it to work out.

[Tim B]

Pat B I cut them 4-5 feet long and left the bark on but sealing the ends didn't let the moisture escape I think and that's why they split.
Dieselcheese I had them in a very cool place to dry slow but I think sealing the ends is what killed me.
I'm going to see if there are any more useable shoots left and try it again.

[Mesophilic]

Post back what ends up working for you.  Next time I go visit my folks I may give it another go.

Word to the wise, there's  a beatle larvae that's being introduced in places in the Southwest to destroy salt ceder.  Being that it's become invasive. 

[Pat B]

Something I've heard of but never tried is remove all the bark except the last inch or 2 at each end of the shoot. Supposedly it allows the moisture escape without checking. I don't know if it was salt cedar or not but it would be worth a try.
 Even with checks some shoots will still make good arrows and the checks, like lightning grooves helps to stiffen the shoot and helps to keep them straight. I made a viburnum arrow years ago that had checks almost the length of the shaft. That arrow shot well and remained straight.
 Living in a very dry climate probably affects the way shoots dry which causes checking.

[JEB]

I ,tried salt cedar a few years ago. The few that didn't split was a pain to try and keep straight. I also gave up on them.

[Mesophilic]

Something I've heard of but never tried is remove all the bark except the last inch or 2 at each end of the shoot. Supposedly it allows the moisture escape without checking. I don't know if it was salt cedar or not but it would be worth a try. .

I tried this method and they split pretty bad.  I tried a second batch and rubbed them with a little oil to slow down the drying a little bit and they still split. 

It was mid summer in Arizona,  so maybe it'd work under other conditions.

[DC]

You might try putting them in a plastic bag. Actually a paper bag might work well too. Maybe better, it would let the excess moisture out.