Ozbow

I just finished these Forgewood arrows for Danny Rowen over in Guam. It took me a tad longer than I planned but here they are...




And I sent 'em out in a hard case for care and safty...





Now to finish off the other dozen for him!


A.K

When are you going full-time, Al?

That's real craftsmanship, right there!

Pardon my ignorance, but what is forgewood? How heavy is it? What's the spine-range?

Ben

Had a go at running arrows full time mate. Too many orders, poor arrow suppliers and Id rather spend my spare time hunting!

I only make 'em for people now that pay me large sums of cash!!!

I just forget the sine of these, but I think danny is shooting 'em out of a 60-65# curve. I'm sure He'll chime in here...

Oh and there real heavy, over 700 grains. But from all accounts there not made anymore.

A.K

Thanks for the pics, you do very good work.

What animal won't want to be shot with those lol.

Good Morning Alan

They look exquisite. Superbly done.

Beautiful arrows and I love the fletchings. Congratulations. Your customer should be delighted.

I can see you've spent a lot of time and effort on those beautiful arrows Al. They look magnificent indeed. Almost too good to shoot.

I was under the impression that Forgewood arrows were a thing of the past. I can remember them being around in the 1970's, but I haven't seen them advertised anywhere since. I've never actually tried them, but I know they were highly respected by many archers.

It's always nice a look at creative and beautifully finished arrows.

Mick

Mate great arrows.

Beautiful work Al, but could you tell us more about "forgewood" please?

No doubt Al will correct me if I'm wrong, but by (a fading ) memory, Forgewood shafts were basically Port Orford cedar shafts that were compressed in some way that reduced the diameter by about 30% or so. Of course the weight of the shafts increased dramatically, but that made them good hunting shafts that penetrated well and it also made them very strong.

Mick

Again Al, wonderful, Thank you for your artistry.

Originally "forgewoods" were made by Bill Sweetland and were made from POC and were compressed using a method he developed . Basically the wood was cut into a block like a 2x4 and compressed way down under pressure. Then the shafts were cut out of the result. The compression resulted in a heavy shaft that was very dense. The very best arrow shafts ever made, but have not been made since the late 60s or early 70s.

Then a man in Alaska bought all of the original Sweetland equipment in the mid 70s and moved it all to Alaska. He could not find good sources of POC logs so he used Alaskan Hemlock. Using the same process these shafts were the second best arrow shafts ever made. Very heavy and dense. Alas, they also are no longer made, since the mid to late 80s or early 90s.

Sweetlands are almost impossible to find and if you do you will be paying big bucks for them. Alaskans are getting the same way.

I have two sets of original Sweetlands in my stash and with this set of Alaskans that Alan just sent me and the other set he is working on I have about 7 or 8 sets of them. About all I shoot or hunt with anymore.

This set is 70/75 spine and as Al said over 700 gr in weight without points.

Hope I did not boor you with my little history lesson,LOL.

Danny

thank you Danny, I hope you enjoy those beautiful arrows.

We'll need to see some "Hero" pics too when in a quiver out hunting Danny!

G'day Al, i liked the look of the arrows you were using in the latest edition of bowhunder down under, what sort of arrows are those ?

the ones here are quite beatiful, i'd be fearful of shooting them in case they got lost or broke

jayden

G'day jayden,

mate those arrows are footed arrows from a mate of mine in Montana. A gift when he stayed over my place last year. So no, I did not make those but have stood up to lots of work.

Thanks for that Al,

you use some beatiful arrows, maybe oneday when i get good at making them ill be able to give it a fair go,

yeah thats hunting for you but at least you didnt feel comfortable with not finding it, many people would have just walked off,

jayden

Hi Al,

I've always liked this feather design and shape... Are you still shooting this design or are you on Banana cut now...?

Cheers Guy