Cane arrow help

[Don]

Received  some cane from my brother in Mississippi.
Would anyone have any idea what they might be? I don't know and my bother has no idea. He says it grow up to 20' tall.


Now what I really need is a start to finish steps to get these to arrows.
Like do you sand the nodes down smooth and should I spine after staightening?
I did a search but didn't find answers to all my questions.
I've never made cane arrows before so this is a first. I do work with cedar shafts but there's not much to them.
Your help is needed. Also these were cut about one week ago if that helps.
Don

[El Destructo]

what you need to do is get the Pictures to load....so we can see what you have!!!

[Knocker]

Looks like the bamboo in my backyard to me, but I have no experience with cane or cane arrows.

Keith

[El Destructo]

Looks like the bamboo in my backyard to me, but I have no experience with cane or cane arrows.

Keith

You see pictures??? I have an X with a Blank space..........

[radius]

yeah, i see 'em too

[Pat B]

Don, I usually like to bundle up the canes until they are dry then straighten them and cut to size. Recently I cut a single cane to see how quickly I could get it to dry. I laid it in full sun for 3 or4 days then brought it inside for a few more days before I began the straightening process. Its been about 2 weeks and I am ready to complete the arrow now.
   On this cane arrow I did sand the nodes down a bit but usually I would heat and roll the nodes between a hard surface and a block of hardwood to compress them.   When straightening I start with the internodes first and straighten them all and let the cane rest and cool completely before before moving to the nodes. If you don't allow the canes to cool off first you will loose the straightening you have just done.
   I don't know what kind of cane you have but if it is arrow size after it has dried it should make good arrows.   Pat

[Don]

Well when I open this up I've got a picture.
I try it again , other wise I don't know whats going on.
Don

Pat , Thanks I 'll clean up the nodes and try rolling them smooth.

[kayakfisher]

Well I see a picture and a wild guess would say river cane
                                                               Dennis

[Knocker]

Wow, River Cane can grow up to 20' tall?  I had no idea...  Do you get multiple shafts out of a single cane, or does the dimensions taper too much for that?

Keith

[richpierce]

This is a form of bamboo that is not good for arrows in my experience.  Is one side of the cane flat?  The nodes are too big to sand down.

[Pat B]

I have made arrows with river cane(Arundinaria gigantia) that fly well but are noisy to draw because the nodes are so large. The shaft diameter is bigger than I like for arrows also with a great degree of taper. They do make good atlatl darts.       Pat

[Hillbilly]

Hard to be certain from a pic of cut stems, but that looks more like Chinese golden bamboo to me. It's naturalized all over the south. You can make good arrows from it, but you have to be picky cutting it to find shafts that are the right size , don't have too many nodes, and aren't really flat or sulcate on one side. Don't be afraid to grind those nodes down even with the rest of the shaft. I do it to all my cane arrows and haven't broken one yet. Knocker, native river cane can reach nearly 30' high and 3" in diameter under ideal conditions, but it's rare to see it that size. Most of it around here maxes out at about 10'-15' tall and about 3/4" in diameter. To get good shafts, you have to use the part between the ground and where the heavy branches start, so you usually just get one shaft per stem.

[Don]

This is a form of bamboo that is not good for arrows in my experience.  Is one side of the cane flat?  The nodes are too big to sand down.

Rich. Yes one side is flat. I'm going to give them a try as soon as I have some time.
If I could cut them myself I could be picky, but I live a bit to far away.

[cowboy]

Well I finally saw the picture . That looks identical to a bundle I've had drying for about a year, never tried to straighten em yet - found a source of river cane FINALLY and have had great success with them. Let us know how these turn out.

[JackCrafty]

Here are my steps for working with cane:
1. remove leaves and branches
2. clean off dirt
3. cut and sand down nodes (but not flush with shaft)....just the high spots
3. scrape off any dark or ugly areas on the outside of the shaft.
4. dry the cane for two weeks
5. straighten with heat
6. cut to size, weigh, spine, and put together matched sets of 3-6 shafts
7. cut nocks
8. add tips and arrowheads
9. trial shoot (without fletching) in order to make sure shafts match the bow
10. paint
11. add fletching

Tom Mills has a good series on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFxZ8D3Mya0

Also, I believe MarkInEngland (on this forum) has lots of experience with cane/bamboo.