what we don't do!
We NEVER cut down a living, old growth tree.
Even though we recognize that premium quality, old growth trees make the very finest, and most resilient arrow shafting, we only pursue windblown trees and salvage the aftermath of logging operations!
We NEVER kiln dry our wood.
Kiln drying is very efficient and is a significant cost saver in mass production. However, it has been irrefutably proven that kiln drying wood, will damage the wood on a cellular level.
When we expect a piece of wood to perform the most strenuous and arduous of tasks, to tolerate repeated flexions, and to withstand high impacts, we need to do everything in our capability to ensure that the resilience and longevity of that piece of wood are not compromised.
Even if it comes at the cost of high productivity and cost efficiency.
Some things should just not be compromised on!
We DON’ T use high-speed molders.
High-speed molders are very productive and cost-effective. However, the finished product can vary in the final quality.
Dowel molders are essentially a top and bottom gang of knives that will transform a simple board into a pile of dowels in a very short space of time.
The issues with molders, is that if the knives are not aligned properly, or have become dull, or worn through normal, everyday use, even by only a few thousandths of an inch- they will produce dowels that are quite oval in cross-section.
Now, this will unfortunately directly affect the flight characteristics of the arrow. Essentially, with a shaft of varying diameters, the spine will vary dramatically around the shaft. This has a detrimental effect on flight and paradox recovery. It will also wreak havoc on a cresting machine when the shaft is out of round. Points and nocks won’t fit nicely. The overall quality of the shaft is compromised
We have chosen to rather use the slower, but more accurate, process of a rotary spinning head containing cutting knives, something akin to how a turning lathe would work.
This means that we need more machinery, and more staff to run them, but a rotary cutting head will produce a far superior end product!!