Talk to my buddy Wayne from true shaft archery. He makes Sikh spruce arrow shafting and its all old growth and "straight as an arrow!" WAyne also "speaks black powder." http://www.trueshaftarchery.com
Ramrod Dowels
- Thread starter tiriaq
- Start date
Man made materials are OK if you don't have traditionalist leanings. If you do, the only material to consider is wood and, personally, I would never go for a hardware store dowel. They are generally birch or some mystery wood and grain direction is immaterial in manufacture. In my opinion, a ramrod should be made of a limber, straight and closed grain wood. Oak doesn't qualify because it is open grained, somewhat brittle and, in my experience, is not sufficiently limber. I am not familiar with sitka spruce, but it is a softwood with a high stiffness to weight ratio and wouldn't think any softwood would be suitable for ramrods. Hickory, ash and most likely others such as osage orange are good choices. One source of hickory or ash might be a straight grained hickory or ash shovel or fork handle. With careful cutting, it would likely be good for about four ramrods.
Merry Christmas to All
Merry Christmas to All
- Location
- vancouver island
Have used aluminum arrow shaft for smaller caliber guns and works well. For larger cal .45/50/54/58 have gone to the phenolic rods and altho' they don't look right they are foolproof. Keep the wood ones for display and saves a lot of bother.
- Location
- West Quebec
I got brass rods purchased the correct size from a jobber and then cut to lengths for different firearms
There is a tool for making trennels (tree nails) in boat building.
It looks like a spoke shave with the blade tapered and at right angles to the handles. Sort of like a big pencil sharpener with handles. The idea of it is that it follows the grain of the branch that is being cut to the same diameter so there is no grain run out.
I wonder if a tool like that could be used to achieve the preliminary shape of the rod and then steam and roll to straighten the wood toward the final rod.
Just thinkin' out loud
It looks like a spoke shave with the blade tapered and at right angles to the handles. Sort of like a big pencil sharpener with handles. The idea of it is that it follows the grain of the branch that is being cut to the same diameter so there is no grain run out.
I wonder if a tool like that could be used to achieve the preliminary shape of the rod and then steam and roll to straighten the wood toward the final rod.
Just thinkin' out loud
- Location
- vancouver island
B-Noser- you have started back when good quality hickory was still available. I still shoot original pieces when appropriate and their ramrods as original still work fine. It's just on the modern stuff I'm more comfortable with an artificial rod-old enough to know how much a broken rod hurts. Cheers
check out some of the local garage sales; with a bit of luck you can find a worn out shovel or rake; the new stuff seems to be going to synthetic
cheers mooncoon
Just checked USPS website and TOTW; looks as if parcel length restrictions have changed. 108 inches combined length and girth, so a bundle of 48" ramrod blanks would be OK. There used to be a maximum length of 42" so blanks had to be shortened.
Hickory ram rods are easy to make, though hickory wood is tough to find.
"When" you find the straight grained hickory, you can cut it into different thickness for different calibre.
5/8" for 1/2" ramrod, 1/2" for 7/16" ramrod, and 7/16" for 3/8" or smaller ram rods.
Then take a piece of old mower blade, grind three "U" shaped groves in the edge of the mower blade, one grove 1/2", another at 7/16", and lastly one at 3/8".
Make the groves with one side ground sharp.
Cut your various pieces of wood to the oversized dimensions of "5/8", 7/16", and 3/8"
With a leather work glove on your strong arm (left or right ) pull the hickory strips through the desired grove.
Work on the corners first, as you pull the shaft through the groves, rotate the shaft, this will give you a very smooth and even ram rod.
My present description took longer to describe than it takes to do.
I have been making the ram rods for fifty years, and not one has broken with common sense use.
You can easily make a tapered ram rod if needed.
Make sure your piece of hickory is straight grained to begin with.
If the grain is swirled through, the result will not be too good.
Best regards!
Fred
"When" you find the straight grained hickory, you can cut it into different thickness for different calibre.
5/8" for 1/2" ramrod, 1/2" for 7/16" ramrod, and 7/16" for 3/8" or smaller ram rods.
Then take a piece of old mower blade, grind three "U" shaped groves in the edge of the mower blade, one grove 1/2", another at 7/16", and lastly one at 3/8".
Make the groves with one side ground sharp.
Cut your various pieces of wood to the oversized dimensions of "5/8", 7/16", and 3/8"
With a leather work glove on your strong arm (left or right ) pull the hickory strips through the desired grove.
Work on the corners first, as you pull the shaft through the groves, rotate the shaft, this will give you a very smooth and even ram rod.
My present description took longer to describe than it takes to do.
I have been making the ram rods for fifty years, and not one has broken with common sense use.
You can easily make a tapered ram rod if needed.
Make sure your piece of hickory is straight grained to begin with.
If the grain is swirled through, the result will not be too good.
Best regards!
Fred
