anyone ever heard of sour wood?

[1/2primitive]

Cool, show us pictures of the arrows when they're done!
    Sean

[recurve shooter]

ill try to borrow a camera, and as i progress ill be askin more questions, i apreciate the help.

[Hillbilly]

Yep, sourwood is one of my favorite arrow materials.

[greenbean]

Sourwood is also called Black Gum and Tupelo Gum. It has really straight shoots good for making arrows. Also it has an interlocking grain much like elm or HHB, in other words if worked right it can make a decent D style bow.

[Pat B]

Chris,(greenbean) The sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) we are talking about and black gum/tupelo(Nyssa sylvatica) you refer to are two different trees(family, genera and specie). The word sourwood could easily be a common name(colloquialism)  in your area for a black gum tree. This is why knowing the botanical name of a specific plant(or animal) is necessary when trying to identify it. Like talking about  ironwood. Are we talking about HHB, Am. Hophorn, mesquite, ipe, ligna vitae, etc. Without the botanical name, no one knows which tree we are talking about. Another cool thing about botanical names, they are universal...everyone around the world know exactly what tree we are talking about...unless the taxonomist have changed their minds again.       Pat

[recurve shooter]

yeah, what he said. i caint wait till i can start workin mine. i also found a small patch of cain yesterday while hunting sourwood. got that to. how long should i let stuff dry before starting to streighten it? 2 weeks to two months right?

[Pat B]

At least a month with the bark left on. . The stuff you peel will dry quicker if it doesn't check. Thats why I recommended you strip a few and see how they fair.     Pat

[recurve shooter]

yeah, i did. got 3 striped and 18 not. just waintin now. fun. (not really) same time for cane?

[Pat B]

Pretty much the same with cane but you won't strip them. The cane will dry a light green color but after a few days of sunlight they will turn a nice tan color.    Pat

[recurve shooter]

oh, cool. it seems like i got the two best materials for arras growin all around me. looks like all i got to do is go get it. thanx alot for the help and inspiration guys. ill be postin more questions and such as i progress. but it looks like all i can do now is wait on stuff to dry.

[Kegan]

I've gotten sourwood arrows done in about a week. I peel the bark off and hand straighten them. Let them sit in the sun and wind (on a rock outside works if it doesn't rain). Go back the next day and straighten them again. Repeat. Takes three or four days. Afterwards they shouold be nice and sstraight and should be easily planed into perfect arrows. It requires lots of attention though (watching for rain, signs of checking, daily straightennings, etc.)- especialy when you have a bunch to do. Half a dozen or so at a time like this will be enough to keep you pretty busy. If you want arrows in a hurry, give it a try on a few.

[recurve shooter]

will do kegan. good idea. once ya get the things reasonably streight (ya do that with vegie oil and heat right?)? how do ya get them consistant diamiter and spine?

[Pat B]

I don't make mine consistent diameter but will reduce the diameter with a thumb plane(Tru-Value, $8) and a board with a "V" groove down the center, lengthwise. Take a curl of one side, rotate 180deg and take another curl and rotate 90deg and take a curl and rotate 180 and take another curl. This will give you 4 flat sides and 4 corners. take a curl from each of the 4 sides and you will have 8. Now, with sand paper make the shoot round.  You can reduce the spine by sanding the middle of the shaft.
   With shoot arrows you can subtract about 10# from the static spine weight for the taper(50# static spine weight will be 40# spine. Anything over 28" arrow length you can reduce the spine weight by 5# per inch).    Find the stiff side of your spined shaft and cut the nock perpendicular to that plane.
     Pat

[recurve shooter]

ok, slightly confuseing, but i got it. next question, how do i test spine?

[hawkbow]

Easy... make arrows .. shoot them .. if they fly crooked give them to your hunting partner..    if they fly straight keep em.. Hawk