Who Grows Their Own Shoot Shafts?

[richardzane]

very nice looking shafts hillbilly.

seems my own ancestors used to prefer split hickory for shafts, but i've yet to try splitting any wood for shafts.
still stubbornly bent on making shoots work,for now anyway!

[Dan K]

Either here or another forum, someone mentioned a doweling jig you can buy to make dowels from scratch. Anyone familiar with it? I have some white pines in the yard & eventually 1 or 2 may have to come down. I understand white pine is a fairly good shaft. I could cut some 30 or 36 inch sections and make a lot of shafts from them.

I bought one of these and it works really well.  I haven't tried it on shoots yet but have some oversized ones that have been drying now for several months and plan on runing them through to see how they spine out. 

[Swatch]

The best arrows I ever made was from a hickory board that I bought to make a bow with. After cutting the bow portion off I was able to cut the remaining piece in half. Then I cut them into 3/8" squares 36 inches long. Since the hypotenuse of 3/8" right triangle is 1/2" I created a jig with a set of 1/2 flat washers mounted on with small screws and glued in place. I can mount this on my router table. I then take a 1/4" to 3/8" socket adapter and put in in my drill motor. I turn on the router and using the drill to spin the squares through the holes I end up with a round shaft. Some sandpaper and a few strokes up and down and the shaft is done. I heat straightened it and made some arrows from it. They were the toughest arrows in my quiver. I shot them straight into rocks and had them just bounce off. They are really good arrows. They made my POC and Ash arrows look like balsa wood when compared with durability and strength.

Steve

[Crogacht]

Maybe me if I can figure out what this shrub in the back yard is.

I've seen a few of them around the neighbourhood with some really nice perfectly straight arrow sized shoots anywhere from 4-8 feet long on the real big ones, but I'm not sure what it's called. It's just some everyday garden shrub. I'm not even sure if the shoots are suitable, they are fairly bendy when still attached to the plant, but so is 1/2 inch green bow wood, so I definitely want to give them a try.

Anyway, my point was, I looked out my window the other day and realised I've actually got one of these shrubs on my own property  , it's just a bit hidden by other plants. The shoots on it are nowhere near as nice as the ones I've seen, but probably good enough for testing before any surprise neighborhood complimentary pruning jobs 

I'll get a picture of it tomorrow. I'm in New Zealand, but it's not native, so maybe someone knows what it is.

[richardzane]

Crogacht
I'd like to see it.
I made a bowstring from the native flax that grows in NZ.(muka korani) that stuff is incredibly strong.

[Crogacht]

Crogacht
I'd like to see it.
I made a bowstring from the native flax that grows in NZ.(muka korani) that stuff is incredibly strong.

I have messed around with NZ Flax a bit too, extracted the fibres, but never got as far as making a bow string. What did you think of it compared to B50 for example.

Here are a few pics of that shrub and the flax in my garden

It is midwinter here, but the shrub has still got a few leaves on it. Also, this is the most pitiful speciman of this plant I've ever seen, the shoots don't look impressive at all... I'll get a picture of the one down the road next time I go past, they look very good.

[Crogacht]

The shrub actually has a couple of flowers left over from autumn/fall, I think, so here's a picture of them also.

And I took a photo of the same shrub down the road that is pretty much all shoots from 3 foot - 7 foot long. Picture is not great, but most of what you can see are perfectly straight arrow sized shoots.

Also, can someone yell at me if this is too off topic, I don't won't to wreck your thread.

EDIT: Have looked at a few pics of flowers... it actually looks a lot like a variety of Vibernum... wouldn't THAT be awesome

EDITEDIT: Maybe Prague Vibernum? Getting excited about this 

[richardzane]

I'd definitely bundle some shoots up and season them for a year with the bark on.

The flax string i haven't put on a bow yet...but it's VERY strong fiber...stronger than dogbane i've used.
put 6 long fibers in your hand and pull..it was used for fishnets and ties on ocean going Waka (Maori canoes)
Maori have taught me there are different varieties of flax. the fiber kind is the one i mentioned above.

[Crogacht]

Ok, I'll cut some shoots soon

Yep, it's definitely strong. I'll have to try it sometime.

There are lots of varieties of flax, but there are a couple of ones used traditionally for weaving and other things, but I'm not sure there are too many of those around, at least not that I know of. I'll try some different varieties and see if some work out better than others.

[Pat B]

Looks like one of the viburnum to me. Give it a try. The viburnum I've used will check easily if the bark is peeled too soon so let them dry for a while before peeling the bark.

[Crogacht]

Awesome, I think it's Viburnum too. What variety I'm not sure, there are nearly endless types, and the ones around here were planted on purpose, so some garden centre variety I guess. Man the shoots look nice on some of them though. I'll post a pic once I've cut some.

[richardzane]

Crogacht.
The best way to learn about recognizing the right flax is talking with Maori weavers. here are two very different kinds i saw Maori weavers using there in Aotearoa.
also they can teach you how to strip the fiber easily from muka Korani flax.
I can try.
split a long green flax leaves till they're about a half inch wide. in the very center of the leaf score across the leaf (be careful NOT to cut through the fibers.)
take a clam shell and with leaf held against the sharp edge and thumb (start at the crease) and pull the shell down with careful pressure.
it will take a few attempts, but the fiber will be laying there bright and white. Then do the same from the other direction at the crease.
you will have long fibers from which to twist a string.

[docmann]

Growing some Red Osier here on the Great Plains of Western Oklahoma. Started out beautifully with the fire red shoots emerging like text book. Recent drought has sure backed them up over the last two years though. Rains this past month is helping, but I'm thinking I'm still a year out on harvesting any real quantities. I'm suspecting better luck in northern regions. Open to any suggestions on growing this. In the meantime, I suspect I'll continue ordering in my favorite shaft material, Sitka spruce.

[richardzane]

yeah, i've planted some red osier too, but was able to plant it along our spring flow...its growing full and bushy and just started flowering. It does seem to like damp soil

[Pat B]

You should be able to harvest 2nd year growth each year without affecting the plant much. After the 2nd year the stems begin to turn a darker reddish gray and all gray after that. To keep nice reddish stems for landscape value just harvest the 2nd year growth each year.