So since I recently got back in to shooting, I needed to make some new arrows. I had been shooting Chundoo up until my lay off 10 years ago, when I went looking for shaft material, it seemed that Cedar was the most economical option. Man, am I ever glad, I forgot how much I enjoyed working with Cedar, the smell alone makes it worth it. Since for now I only plan on small game hunting, the lighter weight is not an issue. At some point I may seek out some heavier shaft material, but for now I am having a great time with my Bitzenberger.

Cedar has it's place, I understand your message.I have used PO Cedar for over 50 years, it is special, as is real bowhunting.

PO cedar is special for sure. Jawge

I've made arrows out of a lot of different woods, both softwood and hardwoods. But cedar is my favorite.

Beautiful arrows.

Thank you.

I GOT SOME ORG. ACMES I MIGHT PART WITH?

Good times indeed. Wood arrows are therapy.

Cedar is wonderful. Always smells great.

I'd recommend you try Douglas fir next. That's my go to anymore.

I've used cedar, Norway Pine, chundoo, Sitka Spruce, German Spruce, Douglas Fir, ramin, and ash. I still will take Port Orford Cedar over any of them if I have access to them. They are time-proven and as mentioned, smell great when you're working with them.

I have some Douglas Fir shafts on hand,but they are spined for my 60# now that I am no longer shooting. I will use them to make up arrows for my son who will be shooting the heavier recurve. I can't tell a lot of difference between Chundoo and Douglas Fir, other than the Chundoo seemed to be easier to keep straight.

I like cedar for foam targets or deer but they're so fragile you really have to pick soft stumps when roving!! Doesn't take much of an impact at all to break them!! Ash is nearly bomb proof but little heavier than I like

Just picked up 60 Rose city cedar shafts from the Footed Shaft the other day while in Rochester. 5/16 and a 45# spine. Going to check the spine and weight and bundle accordingly.

Lots of respect for those of you who have the patience to make good wood arrows. I just don't seem to have the knack. It takes a lot of steps to make really good woodies. And like above I have shot a few different woods. The cedar seems to be a good go to.

-Bones

Cedar makes good arrows. It is easy to work, smells great, doesn't cost an arm and a leg, can taper with hand tools, and they are fun to build. If you break a few, you can make more. I'd bet you wont break as many as people say. I like working on arrows at night when I'm watching YouTube videos. It's a good way to pass the time in the off season.

Like many of you I have had arrows made from a number of different woods. I have always liked POC the best but if I want some bomb proof arrows for roving I love my ash arrows.

I don't worry much about the time and effort required to make wood arrows. I have always tried to just take my sweet time about making and finishing them. If it takes a few weeks to complete them no big deal. But it has been a long time since I ever needed to get any done in a hurry. I have plenty of arrows to shoot in any given session.

If you want to make fancy arrows, then it takes several steps. If you don't mind plain arrows, they are simple to make. I know that looks are everything nowadays but honestly, pretty ones don't fly any better than plain ones.

Buy the shafts; taper them; dip them and let them dry; use a little 0000 steel wool to smooth then fletch them. You can use a piece of pvc to dip them. Use Poly from Walmart..cut with thinner about 50/50. And you can use Duco to fletch them. That's about as easy and simple as it gets. They are easy to tune and will fly straight even if they have a little wobble in the finished product when spinning them.

When I first began archery in the early 80s, Cedar was the material, in the 90s I tried aluminum, but got tired of bent shafts, so I went back to wood, haven't used anything else since. I just prefer them, and know people who use carbon and aluminum, I respect their choice too. Watching my arrows fly where I want them to on the target is what I care about.

"pretty ones don't fly any better than plain ones. "

Aw come on, George. You know better than that. The better looking they are the more likely they are to hit what I am looking at. :-)

I've made them plain and fancy. But I do like the pretty ones. Specially when I built them. :)

Sure need some cedars in the 65/70 spine

Hint Hunt

I never liked POC shafts because they broke so easily. That changed once I bought some vintage Acme POC’s. They still break, but rarely. And the smell when you’re working them is a plus. I wish someone made an aftershave that smelled like POC.

wish someone made an aftershave that smelled like POC

Home improvment center Menards sells cedar oil spray lol smells good

I use in in closets,drawers and cologne when Im feeling frisky:)

Shot cedars for a long time. Then I started having a real hard time getting decent ones that were even worth straightening. Then it seems they were so fragile it was a waste. Went to aluminum 2117. Looking at making a set of douglas fir eventually

They definitely seem more fragile than I remember, have broken a few so far, mostly from misses that caused the shaft to flex in the middle. Even so, I am going to stick with them, I just love them to much.

A confession, I only stain and seal my hunting arrows, for my stomping and target arrows, they are naked shafts adorned only with feathers, nicks, and points.

Well no wonder they are fragile High Desert Hunter, if you're stomping on them and adorning them with nicks. Great googly moogly Mr. ;)

I shoot cedar, doug fir and poplar I like them all but poplar has become my favorite. It is easily worked, easily straightened and is as tough or tougher than the Doug fir.

George, I would like to say that is a typo, but after a few weeks, nicks and abrasions are part of the equation! Probably the longest I have had an arrow last, 8 or 9 years, was a blunt I made from a 357 Magnum case I couldn't reload again, I dropped about an 1/8" of hot melt glue in before I put the very slightly tapered shaft in, secured it with some stab crimps, I refletched that arrow, which was Chundoo I believe, several times before a glancing blow to a rock sent it sideways into a 6" fir tree and snapped it in half. Mostly use Judo and rubber blunts now for stumping and small game. Building arrows for me is like reloading cartridges, very therapeutic, have to focus, and can't really think about much else beyond the task at hand, so I don't mind breaking a few here and there.

I couldn't resist that Dave. I've been known to beat up some arrows over the years. I try not to think too much about it, but I suspect I could take a nice vacation on the money from all those years of arrow 'bustin. It is what it is though. I likely will break some more this year as well.

George, I have very thick skin after serving in and around the Air Force for the last 32 years, I like a good ribbing now and again. If I am not at least busting a few arrows a year, I must not be shooting in the woods enough.

Cedars the best all around shaft material in my opinion And yes I’ve shot most wood you can shot off a bow If you want tuff get some maple sounds like what you want

Or the key to not breaking any wood arrows is to hit what your aiming at,,,just saying

MM, hit what I am aiming at? That is just crazy talk! Who knows, maybe subconsciously I aim at hidden rocks! I appreciate the levity, not enough of that in this day and age!

Dave

Even though they break more than some other shaft materials, I seem to shoot a lot more when using POC. Don’t think I’ve ever broken or lost a cedar arrow and rubber blunt.

MP

Here are a few cedars I built for hunting this year. They shoot great off of my 1972 Bear Super Kodiak.

Nemo, those are beautiful! Yesterday was a rough day for arrows, 2 broken (they were old, from before my hiatus)and three that need new nocks or fletching. This Martin Hatfield must have a bit more speed than the Kodiak, same target stump, same distance, one pops the nocks off, the other does not. Fun day afield, looking forward to the next outing.

Just use them just for hunting, use the other stuff for practice or roving.

Like I’ve said everyone is different I shoot nothing but wood,,90% cedar,but some folks dont like to maintain wood arrows but nomatter the shaft material there’s always a certain level of maintenance I enjoy make by arrows and shoot quite a bit and in my opinion wood is not in anyway a inferior shaft material Nothing flys like a good tuned cedar arrow they have there own soul

The tuffest wood shafts I have found for breakage etc is maple Much denser then cedar or Douglas fir,,tryn new woods is an opinion Don’t give up on wood arrows switch it up and find the wood that works best for you I made these for a fellow leatherwaller recently and he’s getting great flight with a little tuning

Campfires are made for fooling with your arrows...sharpening broadheads and tweaking a wood shaft with a thumb and fingers. The older I get the more I like them...again..so I got a good supply now to work on. Yep...cedar.

I mentioned above I picked up around 60 older Rose City shafts from the Footed Shaft. Turns out there were 55 shafts and they all came in from 45# to 50# draw weight and I didn't run into one of them that was crooked. These shafts turned out to be really top quality shafts. They had been stored like I store them and that was laying down in a bin. The weight of the shaft did vary but not enough for me to care.

I’ll play with any type of wood shaft I do prefer cedar When I see Jim Curlee cedar breasted shafts pop up I grab all I can get

As a long time shooter of just about anything that propels a projectile, I will say in the grand scheme of things today, the cedar shaft is an amazing bargain. Even if I broke every shaft, every time I shot, it would still be less expensive than one of my rifles that I reload for. I very rarely break an arrow the first shot out of the gate, in fact most last hundreds if not thousands of shots with simple routing maintenance, a very good return on the investment.

Got to love that cedar.

High Desert Hunter said: "When I first began archery in the early 80s, Cedar was the material, in the 90s I tried aluminum, but got tired of bent shafts, so I went back to wood, haven't used anything else since. I just prefer them, and know people who use carbon and aluminum, I respect their choice too. Watching my arrows fly where I want them to on the target is what I care about."

Ditto - but my aluminum phase was 1980 to 1982. Been wood since.

Yes. They do break. Break your heart. Someone's heart, anyway. An excuse to make more!

I haven't made any myself in a number of years but I've been toying with some traditional mild r/d longbows lately and I just feel like they need cedar..lol. My older ones were made for heavier bows so I may need to get some shafts spined for they lighter weight bows

Mountain Man, Nice arrows.

Thanks Frank I’m getting there I made arrows for years but never really crested them to much but I been playing lately

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