lockon
Registered: 08/16/06
Posts: 16
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Reply with quote | #1 |
I've found a guy that can get me "unlimited" supplies of mountain cedar and red cedar. My question is: Can you make arrows out of these? He has his own sawmill and makes wood slats for floors and closet walls and stuff. (Don't tell my wife about this or she'll have another project for me to do that doesn't involve making bows and arrows.) Anyway, if you can make arrows out of them, which one is best and what should I look for? Do I get it green or dry? |
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OkKeith
Registered: 05/16/06
Posts: 237
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Reply with quote | #2 |
Lockon,
Mtn. Cedar and Eastern Red Cedar are actually not cedars (like Port Orford or White Cedar). They are actually Junipers (Mtn. Cedar is also known as Ashe Juniper).
I have seen folks make bows out of E. Red Cedar and they held up pretty well, although both woods can be very brittle. I would think (at least I do now that I looked them up in my Wood Tech. manual) that if you could get blanks of all heartwood, they might make good arrows. You would really need to check and then group them by spine.
I wouldn't think a shaft with both sap and heartwood in it would spine well due to the severe differences in wood density.
Grab ya some and try it out. Let us know how it works. There are plenty around here as well and ranchers are happy to let anyone come and cut then down. Besides, the more of them you cut down there, the less my allergies are this time of year when we get strong south winds that carry pollen up here.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.
OkKeith
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lockon
Registered: 08/16/06
Posts: 16
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Is red cedar (juniper) also known as aromatic cedar? The boards I saw cut sure looked like the same stuff from a distance. I didn't get close enough to actually smell it to see if it had that "cedar" smell.
You're saying I need to look at red cedar and try to get only sap wood or heart wood sections but not mixed? (in other words, no mixed colors in the section)
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OkKeith
Registered: 05/16/06
Posts: 237
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Reply with quote | #4 |
E. Red Cedar is what most folks use for cedar chests and whatnot. Aromatic Cedar is what people call most any "cedar smelling" cedar.
I would stick to the heartwood. The sapwood is less than half as dense so would not be as desirable. So, yup... either red or white, not both.
OkKeith
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