Sitka Spruce shafting

[AWPForester]

I am thinking about using wood for the romance of it out of my longbows. I have used POC and poplar and like the polar, but they are extremely heavy. Finished arrows in the 600-620 grain range. Real heavy for 51#'s. I really don't like the cedar. Can't seem to keep them straight in the past.

So what I am asking is this. I would like to know how the sitka rates in weight per lenght versus the two. I would also like to know the characteristics of it. odes it stay straight, resilent, and durable? I would be looking to shoot the 50-55 pound range shafts.

Help a brother out fellas.

[bjorn]

I have found Spruce to be just like good POC-maybe a smidge lighter. Spruce is a good choice if you can't get good Cedar. Hildebrandt is a good supplier of Spruce.

[bjorn]

Ooops! A really great source of Spruce is Raptor Archery!

[lil' longshot]

The Sitka shafts I get from Ted at Raptor are as good if not better than any of the wooden shafts I have purchased in the last thirty years of arrow making and buying .
Ted is the Man !

[kanati]

waiting on mine from Ted,will let you know,will post pics

[Plenty Coups Archery]

I use spruce and like it. It is one of todays best arrow woods. Why? The consistency of quality out matches cedar by far. It is light and tough for it's weight. It straightens easily. Barring economic disaster it will be readily available for years to come. It takes a finish very well for those of us who like to "jazz up" their arrows.

Kent

[kanati]

Ted,I want to let you and everyone else know how pleased I am with the tapered spruces you made for me for my self bow.The service was second to none,by educating me on the dynamics of spine for traditional selfbows.You went the extra mile with your communication and getting them to me in the short time frame that I wanted to have them for a bow building seminar that I attended,when I finish i will be back....

[dhill1520]

Here are some Spruce shafts I bought from Ted at Raptor. My first attempt at arrow building in many years. Thanks for the help Ted... Had a lot of fun building these!

[wood]

I made up some doug fir shafts which is supposed to be fairly heavy wood and with 160gr points they finished out to 530gr by my grain scale. I was a little disappointed as I was hoping for closer to 600gr. I have to say that the doug fir came really straight with only 1 shaft needing straightening before I started working on them. Those spruce arrows look nice. I may try some of them next.

[wood]

I finish my arrows with 4 coats of spar varnish. I wipe it on with a cloth. Do you think extra coats using my method would still add a significant amount of weight. I don't have the dip tubes.
I have been thinking of trying to make a nail footing jig like the one 3Rivers sells or just buying theirs. The batch of doug fir I bought was a little stiff so I had to leave them long and I really don't like a bunch of arrow hanging out past the bow when I am at full draw. If I can add that weight at the point, I may be able to cut them the way I like them.