curing wood for shafting

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doninkaliphornistan · #1 Post by **doninkaliphornistan** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 3:43 am

anyone know how long should douglas fir be cured before making aero shafts?

Tuffcity · #2 Post by **Tuffcity** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 5:43 am

Not sure on the time frame but don't make them "bone" dry. I had a bunch of 1/2 X 1/2 inch stock that I was gearing up to run through a shaft shooter and they sat around in a very dry spot in my house for about a year and they were very brittle. A bunch of them sheared off half way through the shaft shooter. I also had a couple that broke mid shaft when striking my target (a Stanley Hips foamy). The ones that appeared to be a little higher on the moisture content made excellent shafts though.

RC

#3 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 10:16 am

Don,

I can't say how long the wood must be left if it is green except make sure it is reasonably dry. In my part of the country (climate wise) the wood maintains a level of moisture which is about right.

Tuffcity,

Don't know the source of your wood but from what you described, is it possible that it was kiln dried before you got it? Some of the pines down here are kiln dried and sometimes they dry it to much and destroy the wood fibres. It seems to dry the natural resin in the wood and then it is no good. In fact it is down right dangerous if used for arras. It results in what you say happened to yours when you were trying to make your shafts. I'd hate one of my arras to shear upon release.

By the way Douglas Fir is called Oregon here in Australia. I have used it a lot for making my own shafts and really like it. I have sourced my wood from fence posts, parts of old beds, old window frames, from wood used in a wharf and have bought some new stuff. I have found it hard to get timber that will spine much over 65 - 70 lbs though. Also it can be hard to get wood that has good physical weight. The old fence post I used probably made the overall best shafts as it made arras that were 70 -75lb spine and weighed near 700 grains.

The very best piece I got was from an old bed and the shafts spined 90 lb but I never made an arra from them but I think they would have been around 800+ grains.

Have you fellas got any photos of your Douglas Fir arras to share?

Thanks

Jeff

Tuffcity · #4 Post by **Tuffcity** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:28 pm

Initially the wood should have been ok. It came from left overs from a log home operation and should have been only air dried at that point. Nice wood that spined from 75 to over 95#, and I should have rolled them earlier. I think it was leaving them to dry out in such small pieces for over a year that caused the problem.

I wasn't worried about it shearing off in my hand as the shaftshooter puts alot more torque on it than shooting does, also the shafts that snapped in the target hadn't had the bow tuned for them yet and they were going in a hair sideways. They didn't actually shear off in long slivers, just snapped in half

Here's an unfletched pic- they ended up as a footed unit with 3 para, black & white barred feathers.

RC

#5 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 7:10 pm

RC,

Thanks for the info and photo. The nocks look great. I wish I could get some wood that would make shafts of that spine. What diameter do you make your arras? I have had to make mine 3/8" in order to get higher spine. I do barrel taper them a little because of their being 3/8".

Thanks

Jeff

Tuffcity · #6 Post by **Tuffcity** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 1:17 pm

They were turned as 23/64 th's but probably ended up a little less after a pass or two of sand paper.

The middle nock was a pain in the crack to make

so only did about 6 that way.

RC (in the land covered with Douglas fir)

#7 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:19 am

Rc,

Thanks for the info. It would appear you like having PLENTY of Douglas Fir around (who wouldn't) and don't mind rubbing it in on us unfortunate fellas down here.

(in the land covered with Douglas fir)

Jeff (in the land with ALL year round hunting)

Tuffcity · #8 Post by **Tuffcity** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 2:53 pm

(in the land with ALL year round hunting)

Oh you're cruel... yes, I do have that 6 week period every year where I can't hunt at least one of the the big "14" but thankfully the salmon fishing is usually going great guns then.

RC

erron · #9 Post by **erron** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:33 pm

Let's face it, we all should travel more!

Like the avatar, BTW Jeff

Erron

#10 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:41 pm

RC,

Only six weeks, I thought it was for a lot longer than that. At least we don't get the cold and snow here in sunny Queensland.

Erron,

Thanks, thought I'd try one out but it sure was difficult to get the file size small enough. It's a photo of the old Trad Bowhunter buckles I had made.

Jeff

Tuffcity · #11 Post by **Tuffcity** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 4:00 am

Jeff,
Yes we're fairly fortunate here regarding seasons. There is something to chase from Aug 1 until June 15. It varies around the provinve as to species and openings/closures but if a guy had the time you could be on the go alot.

Nice buckle!

RC

erron · #12 Post by **erron** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:25 pm

Jeff,

if you (or anyone) has trouble, send it to me and I'll 'downsize' it

Erron

#13 Post by **Stickbow Hunter** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:37 pm

Thanks Erron.

Jeff