My first cane/bamboo arrows

[GregB]

Pat, I tried to slot the nock such that the slot was located 90 degrees from where the shoots came out of the nodes. I tried to have the cock feather in line with where the shoots came out also. That make sense?

These arrows should all be within 50 grains or so of each other, but I did not spine test them all.

[Pat B]

Generally flipping the cock feather in will do the trick when you have a problem with cane and shoot arrows. Sometimes you get one that just doesn't want to cooperate.   I make flu flu squirrel arrows out of them.      Pat

[Ranger B]

Pat, should the node (stiff side) be facing away from the bow or into the bow?

[Pat B]

The nodes alternate up the cane so some on one side will be against the bow and the other will be away from the bow. As long as they are perpendicular to the string it shouldn't matter.      Pat

[GregB]

Jimmy,
Sorry to take over your string, but maybe you'll learn something from some of my questions since we're both in the same boat here.

Out of the first 16 cane arrows I've made, exactly half of them flew good. Okay, I'm goin' to take the optimistic view and say that my cup is half full. I'm hoping I can work with the 8 bad ones and get them to flying. I'm going to go through them and check them for straightness again compared to the good ones.  Also I've barely sanded the nodes, so maybe they're causing some of the problems. These arrow's weren't just high or low, they were usually off to the side as well. One of them flew really bad and shot high left over the top of a 3' square target at about 15 yards.  Any other idea's that could come into play? Have yall found this to be typical of new cane arrows, or do you have a higher percentage of success? Remember these are my first cane arrows, so I'm sure a learning curve is playing a part as well.

Thanks!

[FlintWalker]

I didn't know the node side was the stiffer side of a cane shaft   I put all the nodes on mine on top of the arrow. But then I also matched the spine from that position also.
 Greg, normaly when I have an arrow that hits high left, it's pretty stiff.  You cant your bow some which would cause an arrow that would normally hit left if it was stiff, hit high and left. A weak spine would hit low right.   Try shooting it without canting your bow any and see if it still shoots high.
  As far as the nodes go... if the arrow is spined right, they should never touch the bow.  Saw Filer

[GregB]

Thanks Shannon, I'll give it a try.

[Pat B]

Greg, Some cane(and shoot) arrows just don't want to cooperate. If no good for squirrel arrows it is fun to watch them fly over the tree tops.
   I usually make all my arrows longer than needed. For me 29" for my 26" draw.This might help with controll.
I never spine my cane arrows. Art Butner, on the other hand makes all 4 sides spine the same by scraping the shafts. Thats too much work for me so I pick the best shooting arrows and go with them. I also try to keep the process as simple as possible. You might be putting too much into each cane arrow.  I usually make them one at a time. Sometimes I will straighten a few at a time but not as a regular rule. Cane usually makes a very forgiving arrow.      Pat

[cheapshot]

 Greg, I build mine pretty much like Pat B. says. Leave them a little long. I try to get them pretty close in weight, but i don't spine them. Be sure they are really straight near the nock end.
Just a little bend toward the back of the arrow, can really make for some strange flying arrows.  8 out of 16 is not bad for your first batch. After awhile you get where you can tell which ones will "probably" make a good arrow. Even then for some reason certain ones just won't work. They can be a lot of work but it's a sweet feeling when they shoot where  they are suposed too.

[GregB]

Thanks for all the comments, reading the little details really help when you're wondering what you might have done wrong in a process like making cane arrows.

I didn't have much time yesterday other then giving the 8 bad arrows a good looking over. We got a good rain Monday for the first time in over a month at my house, and I had been waiting on that to disc my food plot. Going to try and get some clay pea's in the ground in the next couple of days.

I think I might have gotten into too big of a hurry on these arrows on the straightening process. Most of the eight look like they could be straighter, so I'm going to work on them some in that regard. I might take the nodes down a little also, especially the one nearest the tip...it might make some contact prior to the arrow flexing during the shot. Don't know for sure...just searching for answers here.

Thanks again Jimmy for letting me share your thread!

[El Destructo]

OK....I am seeing all kinds of finished Arrows with sinewed nocks and sinewed feathers.....but How do you put Field Point or Target Points or Field Tips on a Cane Arrow???Or do I have to make my own Points to Target practice with?? The Cane seems to be too big for Points

[Hillbilly]

Mike, 23/64" field points usually fit my cane shafts. If the shaft is a bit big, you can make a long taper to reduce the last inch or so a bit. If the walls are thick enough, you can just taper them with a taper tool as they are. If the hole is a bit big, you can plug it with a short piece of dowel or bamboo skewer and then taper it. Or if it's just plain too big, bore the end out and put a short 11/32" wooden foreshaft on it.

[El Destructo]

I think that most will take a slight taper...but some will need to be dowelled....I guess I will foot them....

[GregB]

I'm putting dowells in both ends of mine. It might be overkill, but makes me more comfortable knowing the stresses are shared by a dowell. It really isn't much trouble or expense. You can buy these different size dowells for next to nothing then usually a slight amount of drilling the core out to fit the closest size dowell. You can have a dozen canes done in 20 minutes or less which in my opinion isn't much time for an arrow that could last you years.