dowl rod arras?

[huntertrapper]

yeah nice arrows there kegan... most of my arrows are red oak dowels, they do work well and the spine does seem okay, i shootem out of a 25 pound bow and a 50 pound bow and there doesnt really seem to be difference, also i shoot ash dowel arrows i bought from a company in northern penn., but dowel are easier just maybe some straightening put on your points cut out nocks and fletch and maybe spine...

[recurve shooter]

great. i THINK im finally gonna get to try it this weekend.

[Kegan]

Thanks. These birch dowels shoot fine from my 80# longbow, and only break when I abuse them on trees and large rocks. I really like them.

As for spining- just make it easy on yourself. Step back 50-100 yards and shoot at the target. Those that land in line with the target, around it, or hit it will work. Those that skew to the left are too stiff, those that skew to the right are too light. Farther out and the pickier you get will help tune them better,but if they can hit the target or come pretty darn close at 70 yards, you should be able to peg a deer/turkey/rabbit/hog at 20. More fun anyhow .

[david w.]

i want to try that spine testing way you described but do you shoot the bare shafts or fletch them first?

[Kegan]

I fletch them. I check for bad grain and give it a bend by hand to cull the weak ones. The rest I make up and shoot it. Actually, out to 50-60 yards I've found I can shoot with some variance and spine and weight fine. Well, the arrows shoot fine. I need some work !

[Stonedog]

Well......I use dowels for all of my small game arrows......

I am also that weirdo that brings in his homemoade spine tester into Lowes, HD or WoodCraft and sits there for an hour to get 20 correctly spined shafts!

But in the end......it's worth it and the arrows are as about as cheap as I can make them......I use dowels, .30 or .38 brass, banding material for the blade......about the only thing that I have to buy thats expensive...are the feathers.  I buy them 100 at a time and only one color....usually white.....and mark the cock feather with a black dot with a sharpie!

Will flat knock the stuffing out of a skrill or cotton tail!

[JackCrafty]

Birch dowels (3/8" and 5/16") are my favorite if I can't get natural wood shoots.