I done some snooping around Home Depots website and found their dowels are made by Waddell Dowel Company. I went to Waddell's website and snooped around and using the bar code numbers from the tag on the dowels I bought found that the wood is Eucalyptus. Native to Australia but has been passed around the world to other countries. It is a distant cousin to our gum trees.
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
A bit heavier than sitka spruce. They straighten pretty easy just by hand. No heat needed. I sort thru them at the store to get the straightest ones , then I sort of flex 'em to check spine. Once I get them home I spine them and sort that way. The bulk of them run 50-60 #. I then mark off from each end a 28" shaft (or whatever you need) I then grab the still 48" shaft at the 28" marks and flex it some. I have had 3 out 24 break when I do that. Better then than later. If it passes that test I pick out the best 28" and cut it off. Are they as tough as ramin ? No, but every bit as tough as cedar. What ramin is out there will be the last. Seems the ramin we been getting the last few years was poached logs and the government down there has ended it's exportation. What HD had been selling was ipe shafts. I made up some arrows for the grandkids from those and they are super tough. Just hard to find straight stock. These dowels from HD (Eucalyptus) take stain very well and they come pretty darn smooth. I just rubbed them down with a Scotchbright pad and stained.
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I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life.- Hank Rearden
