bamboo garden stakes vs. dowels

[arachnid]

I've only make dowel arrows. Since the most important factors for me are accuracy and consistency I'm trying to find a better shaft material.
Which is better as arrow shaft considering these factors? Bamboo or dowels (the only ones I can get is beech)?
How hard it is to make a set of bamboo arrows tuned for a my bow ? (I've read some where that bamboo has a more "forgiving" spine , meaning it does'nt has to have the perfect spine to fly straight).

Thanks

Dor

[Pat B]

Dor, both can make great arrows. Cane is probably a bit more trouble to make arrows but IMO cane makes a more durable arrow with faster recovery.

[Buck67]

I have been messing about with different shafting material.  Dowels are nice.  You do have to sort through them on a rate of about 10 to 1 to find good ones.  I bought a batch of 500 Tonkin bamboo stakes to experiment with bamboo shafts.  About 40% of the batch are too crooked or too stiff to make a usable arrow.  The thing with Tonkin bamboo stakes is that they seem to be bred to be strong, so a shaft that is just barely 5/16" may be 40#, 50#, 60# or 80#.  I have found any number of bamboo in my selection that spine out way over 125#.  At this point I do a rough spine test on the bamboo before I do anything with them.  There is no point in making up a good looking arrow that has a spline weight of 85# if you are shooting a 45# bow.

I think the River Cane is probably the best, but it doesn't grow in Indiana.

The advantage of the Tonkin bamboo arrow is that it is tough.  Shoot into trees, rocks, dirt, plywood.  Pull it out, it's still good.

[Fred Arnold]

No doubt about it bamboo or cane will make a better arrow shaft if you willing to add the work to it.

[Salvador 06]

Too bad you can only get beech, poplar dowels make some of the best arrows. 

[hedgeapple]

I love garden stake arrow shafts.  I hit up Lowe's, sort through about 100 bamboo stakes and leave with 15 or 20 that I think will make an arrow.  At $1 a shaft, that ain't bad.  It takes me 20 to 30 minutes to straighten a shaft and flatten and sand the nodes.  I've had these tomato stake arrow that would shoot equally well in a 35# bow and a 55# bow.  And you can shoot them into a concrete wall or "iron fox" a TN Classic target and they don't break, maybe a little bent, but 5 minutes with a heat gun and they're good as new.

[arachnid]

No doubt about it bamboo or cane will make a better arrow shaft if you willing to add the work to it.

Sorting through a pile of dowels, especially Beech, is a pain in the *** ! Beech grain is very hard to read
so I have to use the "flaks" to try and read the grain, with medium success. So, I don`t mint the extra
work (and the second thing I love to make besides bow, is arrows... it keeps my hands busy at during the
evening when I can`t make noise).

The question is, HOW MUCH BETTER are bamboo arrows?
If it`s just a matter of durability- it`s not worth the time for me since I tend to keep my arrows in good shape for long periods.

[ThomasJ2352]

Just my 2 cents worth.....made about 60 arrows about which a dozen are bamboo.....bought a bag of em at Lowes found roughly  20% were
straight enough to give a go....my experience is that they all turned out to be too stiff....they all wave back as they go down range 
I took my latest batch, including the bamboo group to a range yesterday, numbered em all, and kept track on how they flew....dang if only
about a third flew relative straight...as apposed to waving....the good ones turned out to be the most flexible....was thinking about taking a good
representative to lowes and go through the batch of dowels they have on hand and pick out the straightest then try to match flexibility as
close as possible......will see how that goes....sure is fun to see a home brew arrow fly straight  ......then to work on em flying straight to where
I want them to 

[Pat B]

Thomas, keep the boo arrows long. Mine are cut to 30" for my 26" draw...and they fly like darts! 

[ThomasJ2352]

Thanks Pat....my draw length is 28" and most of my boo arrows run about 31.5"....maybe add some tip weight or start over with 33"+ lengths

[Newindian]

i see a few of you guys mentioning that some of your bamboo isn't straight enough to make an arrow, which i have to say is not something I've ever encountered. you can take a 30" shaft and bend it into a circle with a few minutes of heating. Bamboo is very easy to straighten.

[Dakota Kid]

^^+1

The stuff bends like spaghetti. I found a company on amazon that had 500 3/8" dia. bamboo stakes 36" long for $70. I've been able to use about 80% of the ones I pulled from the box so far. Ranging in spine from 40#-80#. I think the name of the company was Bond supply or inc. If you can't find where to get it and would like to PM me.

[Danzn Bar]

I'm a boo and cane guy.......
DBar

[ThomasJ2352]

A bit off topic but bamboo related...if the group doesnt mind....my son picked up his first bow, a compound one that allows him to participate with his
handicap (CP) and was very excited that he finally gets to come shooting with his sister and dad. I mentioned that we should make a batch of arrows, as I really enjoy doing that with my LB. So I picked up a batch of bamboo from the local tractor supply hardware store and picked out the straightest/stiffest for
 him. Well we made a handful and he took em and the carbon ones he got with the bow to the range today. A couple guys there saw that he was shooting
bamboo and just about had a coronary....they said he should in no way be shooting wood with a compound and should only use aluminum or carbon.
Ok...finally my question....is shooting bamboo with a compound ok or, for safety sake, should he stick with aluminum/carbon?
Thanks
Tom

[jeffp51]

It seems to me it would all depend on the spine of the arrows and the poundage of the bow--FG , trad, or compound. If his handicap prevents him from pulling a heavy bow, then I would think well constructed bamboo arrows should be fine.

that is just my opinion-not based on ever shooting natural arrows from a compound bow.