Arrow weight/Material

[IrishJay]

What woods are you guys using for arrows? In the past I've always shot aluminum with my FG recurves, but shooting a modern arrow from a primative bow just doesn't seem right. I'm currently shooting some cheap chinese made arrows that are some kind of pine. The problem with these cheap arrows is that with my 31" draw by the time I get enough spine on that long of an arrow I have a phone pole. My current arrows are 625 grains. So I'd have to hit 63lbs to get to 10gpp.

[silent sniper]

I use surewood douglas fir shafts as well as bamboo shafts purchased off of ebay. The surewoods are definitely the highest quality shafts I have ever used,  there consistency and straightness is almost unheard of for wood shafts. 

The bamboos work well also if you take the time to get them straight and get the nock alignments good.

With both arrow materials my finished weight for my arrows comes out around 525-600 grains with 160 grain points. I shoot shafts from 50# - 70# spine depending on the bow. 

I have had great success with both.  The surewoods are more expensive but the bamboo shafts take more work to get a really well tuned shaft. 
Cheers,
Taylor

[bradsmith2010]

I like maple for heavy arrow,,
cedar for lighter arrow
douglas fur and sitka spruce are good too
sometimes dowels that are straight are good,,
I have some birch arrows that are nice as well..
I think if the shaft is good and straight any good arrow wood is good,
I have some mahogany that is straight and shoots well,, have had some good hickory too,,

you could use a lighter tip to increase spine of the arrow
you could shorten your draw,,probably if you face a bit more forward ,,,or simply dont pull the bow so far,, put a mark on the arrow where you want to draw too,,

[IrishJay]

Brad I've tried to shorten my draw in the past, completley wrecks my form. The joys of being tall I guess.

[Chuck.e.b]

Hickory. Really durable and heavy.

[bradsmith2010]

Ok I understand,, but you can have more than one form,,
if you are making a bow that draws 24 inches,, you can learn to shoot it,
then go back to your long draw form as needed,
just takes a bit of practice and confidence,,
but do what is best for you, I have just made so many bows that were Native Style,, that I learned I could shoot more than one draw length,, including longer draws than I normally shoot, when I would make a bow for someone like you,,you just have to have fun,,

[Todd Mathis]

Great question!  I would love to see some of these wooden arrows.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a douglas fir arrow.  Are they tougher than cedar?

[Pat B]

For doweled arrows I've used POC, Sitka spruce, Doug. fir but the toughest I've ever used was poplar(Liriodendron tulipifera). Poplar is about the same weight as POC, maybe slightly lighter. Sitka spruce and Doug fir are both slightly heavier and both are tougher than POC.
My other go to shafting is either hill cane or Sourwood(Oxydendrum arboreum) shoots and sometimes red osier dogwood.

[Strelets]

I agree with Pat about poplar. It is very much stronger than POC or pine but no heavier. Ash is stronger still, but will add about 60 to 100 grains in weight over poplar.  When I used POC I used to break about one arrow per week, with poplar it is one every few months but with ash it is less than one a year.

Ash and poplar need heat to straighten them, but once you have got them straight they will usually stay that way. POC and the other softwoods are easily bent or broken by glancing off a target boss or 3D target.