# Privet Arra



## bam_bam (Mar 7, 2011)

I cut some privet shoots last December and put under the car port to dry. I got around last to finally straightening one and making an arra out of it. Well the problem is the blsted thing dont want to stay straight. I was wondering if anyone else has any exsperience with privet and if so how hard it was to keep straight for you. I know cane is better but I dont have a good source fr it here witho driving a goo ways and privet is everywhere. Tell you what though, it makes a heavy shaft. I got one in a 32" shaft with a little corner notch and it is a little over 600 grains.


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## Nugefan (Mar 7, 2011)

no clue brother but I want to see some pix of em ....


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## fishfryer (Mar 7, 2011)

We used to straighten canepoles by hanging them vertical with a weight on the big end.Reckon that would work on your next batch?


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## dawg2 (Mar 7, 2011)

I think you will have problems keeping privet straight.  It's not a really hard wood.  Plus when it gets humid it will start to twist and bend again.


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## bam_bam (Mar 7, 2011)

fishfryer said:


> We used to straighten canepoles by hanging them vertical with a weight on the big end.Reckon that would work on your next batch?



Dont know, never heard of that.



dawg2 said:


> I think you will have problems keeping privet straight.  It's not a really hard wood.  Plus when it gets humid it will start to twist and bend again.



Yeah its not too hard, but I thought I would try it. May try to seal it with something to keep some humidity out.


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## NCHillbilly (Mar 7, 2011)

I've made quite a few privet arrows, and the kind we have here is really hard, tough, wood. I never had any more problems keeping it straight than any other shoot shafts, if I picked the straightest ones I could find to begin with. Heat-tempering it makes a big difference. Sometimes you have to heat-straighten shoots a few times to get them to stay straight, and some never will. You definitely have to seal them really good, or the first damp day, they will warp. Here's a dozen shafts I made from a dozen different kinds of hardwood shoots planed down to 11/32", fun getting them matched. There's a privet shaft in there:


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## dpoole (Mar 7, 2011)

I would think Hillbilly is on to something with sealing them.


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## bam_bam (Mar 7, 2011)

Here ya go Andy. The fletchings are kind rough, I had to cut them with a knife on a board.


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## Nugefan (Mar 7, 2011)

I like em .....




would beeswax be good for a sealer ????


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## bam_bam (Mar 7, 2011)

NCHillbilly said:


> I've made quite a few privet arrows, and the kind we have here is really hard, tough, wood. I never had any more problems keeping it straight than any other shoot shafts, if I picked the straightest ones I could find to begin with. Heat-tempering it makes a big difference. Sometimes you have to heat-straighten shoots a few times to get them to stay straight, and some never will. You definitely have to seal them really good, or the first damp day, they will warp. Here's a dozen shafts I made from a dozen different kinds of hardwood shoots planed down to 11/32", fun getting them matched. There's a privet shaft in there:



Hillbilly mine arent as nice as yours. I just trimmed the limbs off and sanded it good. There are still some small bumps where the limbs where sticking out. On the more pronouced bumps I took a rasp and filed them down some. You need to come to south jawga sometime and get with all us like minded folks, I am sure we would have a good time. May even try to get a critter or two.


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## bam_bam (Mar 7, 2011)

Nugefan said:


> would beeswax be good for a sealer ????



I was thinking the same thing. I got plenty of it layin round here.


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## Nugefan (Mar 7, 2011)

bam_bam said:


> Hillbilly mine arent as nice as yours. I just trimmed the limbs off and sanded it good. There are still some small bumps where the limbs where sticking out. On the more pronouced bumps I took a rasp and filed them down some. You need to come to south jawga sometime and get with all us like minded folks, I am sure we would have a good time. May even try to get a critter or two.



fer sure , those are some nice arras ....
Bam Bam ole Wynn ( Amokli ) made some nice uns' out of dogwood , can't remember what he did to size em but they turned out very nice ....


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## NCHillbilly (Mar 7, 2011)

I'd love to get down there some time. The only primitive sealer I've found that seems to work really good is bear grease or other animal fat. Spar Urethane or Tru-oil work even better.


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## bam_bam (Mar 7, 2011)

I got tru oil. May try it.


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## chehawknapper (Mar 8, 2011)

Use "lightning grooves" on the shaft and then heat treat and straighten. You will here all kind of mumbo jumbo about the reason for the grooves. They are worthless if you put them in after heat staightening the shaft. Straight or wavy doesn't matter. The thin edges produced by the grooves harden up more than the rest of the shaft and act kinda like small stiffeners that are less likley to warp. But you still need to seal.


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## dpoole (Mar 8, 2011)

Chris hope you get to stick a critter with it. Good luck...


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## bam_bam (Mar 8, 2011)

chehawknapper said:


> Use "lightning grooves" on the shaft and then heat treat and straighten. You will here all kind of mumbo jumbo about the reason for the grooves. They are worthless if you put them in after heat staightening the shaft. Straight or wavy doesn't matter. The thin edges produced by the grooves harden up more than the rest of the shaft and act kinda like small stiffeners that are less likley to warp. But you still need to seal.



How would one go about  doing that?


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## NCHillbilly (Mar 8, 2011)

Bore a hole in a piece of wood the size of your arrow shaft, then run some screws in from the side so that a bit of the points are sticking out into the hole. As Chehawknapper said, they help some with keeping them straight if you cut them in before you heat-temper the shafts. I use them on dogwood sometimes.


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## TNGIRL (Mar 8, 2011)

Goodness Steve, those shafts sure turned out nice for you.....you are very meticulous aren't you!!!
Chris, I like the arra for sure. How did it fly for you?
I've heard of the "lightin grooves" before but wasn't sure exactly how to do it.....thanks Ben and Steve for that info!!!
Allen use to bring saplings home all the time that looked good to him, they always dried lighter than he wished tho and he'd have to add some weight to bring it up for him, except the occasional one that turned into mine!!!


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## bam_bam (Mar 8, 2011)

dpoole said:


> Chris hope you get to stick a critter with it. Good luck...



Me too, who knows I may wind up givng it away. I can always make more. You needing aymore hunting points Donnie?


NCHillbilly said:


> Bore a hole in a piece of wood the size of your arrow shaft, then run some screws in from the side so that a bit of the points are sticking out into the hole. As Chehawknapper said, they help some with keeping them straight if you cut them in before you heat-temper the shafts. I use them on dogwood sometimes.



Now that is plum slick. Thanks for sharing that.



TNGIRL said:


> Chris, I like the arra for sure. How did it fly for you?
> I've heard of the "lightin grooves" before but wasn't sure exactly how to do it.....thanks Ben and Steve for that info!!!
> Allen use to bring saplings home all the time that looked good to him, they always dried lighter than he wished tho and he'd have to add some weight to bring it up for him, except the occasional one that turned into mine!!!



I aint shot it yet. May do that tomorry


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## SELFBOW (Mar 8, 2011)

bam_bam said:


> you needing aymore hunting points ?



I do


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## NCHillbilly (Mar 8, 2011)

I like that Eastern Woodlands two-feather fletch a lot, too. I find myself using it more and more.


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## Son (Mar 8, 2011)

I agree with heating em. I've used oak, and they have to  have attention from time to time.


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## bam_bam (Mar 9, 2011)

buckbacks said:


> I do



Yes you do dont ya. I done slap forgot about that. I will work on it. My bad


NCHillbilly said:


> I like that Eastern Woodlands two-feather fletch a lot, too. I find myself using it more and more.



Seems to be the only fletch I can get half right. It is no place for children around me when I go to 3 fletch a arrow by hand. It whoops me every time and I am too hard headed to use a jig.



Son said:


> I agree with heating em. I've used oak, and they have to  have attention from time to time.



Nice points on them arras Son. Bet they would do the job.


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## Whiteeagle (Mar 9, 2011)

Bam Bam, I debark and scrape my privet blanks and hang with weight to dry. After drying for several months I moisten outside areas with wet rag and use heat to straighten. This helps remove memory from blank. I wipe down with boiled linseed oil and let dry couple of days before fletching and mounting points. Hope this will be of help, Doug.


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## bam_bam (Mar 9, 2011)

Whiteeagle said:


> Bam Bam, I debark and scrape my privet blanks and hang with weight to dry. After drying for several months I moisten outside areas with wet rag and use heat to straighten. This helps remove memory from blank. I wipe down with boiled linseed oil and let dry couple of days before fletching and mounting points. Hope this will be of help, Doug.



Thanks Doug. I will try more in the future.


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## dpoole (Mar 9, 2011)

Chris this has turned into a very helpfull thread !!


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## Son (Mar 9, 2011)

About the two arrows I posted, with stone heads. The top one has done it's job a few times, and had to be resharpened couple times too. The black point was so thin very little had to be removed to shape it, it's not been used.
Both certs came from the Tampa Fl area.
I learned to knap back in the late 1960's, and then just as an interest so I would know how it's done. Helps in determining features on ancient points that would otherwise be missed.


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## chehawknapper (Mar 9, 2011)

Bam Bam, on your fletching: Try turning the inside of the feather (on the bird) to the out side on the arrow. Line up the back section where it is in the same plane as the string. The flight characteristics will improve drastically. On the lightning grooves: stone age - just grab flake (a burin is best) and run the groove down by pressing in; quick and modern - very similar to NCHillbilly, cut a u or v shape groove in a 1" stick and tap in a small nail or drive a screw in until the depth will cut a reasonable groove. Two feather fletch - I have been using it for my personal arrows for 19 years.


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## NCHillbilly (Mar 10, 2011)

chehawknapper said:


> Bam Bam, on your fletching: Try turning the inside of the feather (on the bird) to the out side on the arrow. Line up the back section where it is in the same plane as the string. The flight characteristics will improve drastically. On the lightning grooves: stone age - just grab flake (a burin is best) and run the groove down by pressing in; quick and modern - very similar to NCHillbilly, cut a u or v shape groove in a 1" stick and tap in a small nail or drive a screw in until the depth will cut a reasonable groove. Two feather fletch - I have been using it for my personal arrows for 19 years.



Totally agree, it will lay much flatter and fly better. You can really tell a big difference when using wing secondaries. I like to put a good bit of helical on them, too. A lot of old Cherokee two-fletched arrows had nearly a full turn of helical on the fletchings, and the height of the feathers trimmed down low.


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## bam_bam (Mar 10, 2011)

chehawknapper said:


> Bam Bam, on your fletching: Try turning the inside of the feather (on the bird) to the out side on the arrow. Line up the back section where it is in the same plane as the string. The flight characteristics will improve drastically. On the lightning grooves: stone age - just grab flake (a burin is best) and run the groove down by pressing in; quick and modern - very similar to NCHillbilly, cut a u or v shape groove in a 1" stick and tap in a small nail or drive a screw in until the depth will cut a reasonable groove. Two feather fletch - I have been using it for my personal arrows for 19 years.





NCHillbilly said:


> Totally agree, it will lay much flatter and fly better. You can really tell a big difference when using wing secondaries. I like to put a good bit of helical on them, too. A lot of old Cherokee two-fletched arrows had nearly a full turn of helical on the fletchings, and the height of the feathers trimmed down low.



Thanks guys!! My arra making lacks alot.


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## bam_bam (Mar 10, 2011)

dpoole said:


> Chris this has turned into a very helpfull thread !!



Yes it has. I had learned a great deal on this thread.


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