[Ansteorra-archery] Fiberglass

[Eadric Anstapa]

DO NOT BUY ROD FROM THESE PEOPLE

GBS411 at aol.com said:

> Gene Bolton Sales
> 800-426-5233
> 714-964-1192

This message came from GBS411 which I assume means that it is SPAM
advertising from Gene Bolton Sales.  I would appreciate it if the list admin
would verify this and block this spammer from the list.

DO NOT BUY ROD FROM THESE PEOPLE

As we have announced here before and as has been announced on the SCA Missile
Combat list but the Society Combat Archery Marshal we recommend that you DO
NOT buy fiberglass rod from Gene Bolton Sales.

The "generic" rod that they sell is manufactured to be inexpensive not strong
or safe.  Over the past couple of years their quality has apparently
diminished as they have changed suppliers to get a cheaper product.  Their
current product has a lot of filler in it which interferes with the bond
between the fiberglass and the resin.  It breaks too easily and when it does
break it does not hold together safely.

Of all the rod that we have tested the rod from GBS is absolutely the worst.

The rod from Tencom Ltd., a supplier for GBS, is also to be avoided.

Our archers in Bryn Gwlad (Austin, TX) have also recommended that you do not
order rod from MCS direct.  We do not yet know the manufacturer of the rod
MCS sells but the Bryn Gwlad archers had some problems with the rods
shattering when they were fired to seat the blunts.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BUY.

Currently we recommend that you use the "Extren" brand of rod manufactured by
the Strongwell Corp.   http:// www.strongwell.com  In my opinion this is by
far the best, strongest, safest fiberglass rod that we have tested.  You
basically have to bend it into a pretzel to break it (very hard to do) and if
you do manage to break it there is a nice long-fiber separation that hold the
two pieces firmly together.  You can see some results of some of my ongoing
fiberglass rod testing at  http://www.baronbows.com/scafiles/shafts.htm


Here are suppliers of "Extern" brand fiberglass rod in Ansteorra

Austin               Professional Plastics     512-833-9955
Austin               Ryan Herco                512-835-1770
Dallas               Ryerson                   214-637-4710
Dallas               McNichols                 214-349-3160
Houston              I.M. Pena                 281-442-8381
Pasadena(Houston)    Vee Industrial            713-472-5071

Oklahoma City        Cope Plastics             405-528-5697
Tulsa                Industrial Corrosion      918-493-2352
Tulsa                Ryerson                   918-428-3841


Even if these dealers do not have the rod in stock, Strongwell keeps the
product in stock at their warehouses and the dealer can get it from
Strongwell along with their next regular shipment.

Another acceptable manufacturer of fiberglass rod for combat arrows is
Maclean-Fogg.  I don't think it is as good as the "Extren" brand of rod but
it is still way better than the stuff from Gene Bolton/Tencom.  Sir Erika at
Northstar Archery http://www.northstararchery.com sells cut to length shafts
made from Maclean fiberglass rod along with other combat arrow building
components.

While we are on the subject of materials for combat arrows.  Many of the
above plastics and industrial supply dealers are also sources for 1.25" UHMW
rod used to make the UHMW cored blunts.  I know Cope Plastics, Ryan Herco,
and Professional Plastics all carry UHMW. Another good supplier of UHMW is
Laird Plastics  http://www.lairdplastics.com who has locations nationwide
with several in TX.


We are currently trying to find some guidelines for acceptable fiberglass rod
to use as combat shafts but this may be problematic.  Unlike other materials
(like "Sil-O-flex" PE pipe) there is not a single standard used in
manufacture that I can refer to that will specify a good quality fiberglass
rod that meets our needs.

Until we can (if ever) find a industry specification that we can refer to we
sill simply have to specify specific "Brands" of fiberglass rod.  Currently I
can only recommend the "Extren" product from Strongwell and the product from
Maclean-Fogg.  Fortunately, Strongwell is the worlds largest pultruder with
dealers all over the nation.  Anyone can call the Strongwell Corp Sales Dept
at 276-645-8000 and get the name of vendors close to them.

Always in Service,


--
Lord Eadric Anstapa
Kingdom Archery Marshal, Ansteorra
eadric at scabrewer.com