Though more than some will disagree, IMO wood arrows can never be as consistent (read that: accurate) as man made material arrow shafting. There's just so much to go wrong with both making and using wood arrows. Really.
That said, I do love wooden arrows and have been making and shooting them since '55. It's a nostalgic thing, go figure.
The most aesthetic and prolific arrow wood, to me, is Port Orford cedar - it's got the right vintage odor.
Whatever wood shaft you select, get the bestest and straightest - you'll pay lots more for it but it will be less frustrating when it comes time to build and tune 'em. I like hex pine shafts - they're laminated the same way as fine bamboo flyrods are created, and the hex wedges do a very good job of distributing the spine ... literally, no spining of the shaft is really required.
For all other single species arrow wood material, the shafts need to be spined. You can buy shafts that are pre-spined, with a mark for the stiff side. Other than that, you need to buy or make a spine meter. Here's one I made ...
First, I like to add the nock taper to the shaft, using either a pencil type tapering tool or an angle guide for a sanding disc.
Then I like finishing the raw shaft. There are lotsa methods and finishes but I typically opt for wiping on MinWax Wipe On gloss polyU. After 2 or three coats are on, with 4/0 steel wool buffing between coats, I tape off the last 9" or so of the shaft's nock end and wipe on some MinWax Polyshade stain. Allow to dry, remove the tape.
Glue on the nock (I use Duco cellulose cement), taking care to align the nock properly so that the stiffest side of the shaft will face in to the bow's arrow plate.
Drive a small finishing nail into a narrow board, measure out the length of yer arrow from the nail and put a mark on the board, insert the nock end of the shaft into the nail, mark the shaft where it meets the arrow length on the board. Add 1" to the shaft.
Cut the shaft by rolling the shaft under a very sharp knife, or just saw it off. Taper the point end. Glue on yer point with hot melt or epoxy - I prefer epoxy.
Fletching - buy pre-shaped fletches, chop or burn yer own from full length feathers, or make yer own fletches from gathered bird feathers during the June molt. Get a fletching jig - I use two different kinds, an old Hoyt Tri-Heli fletch from the late 50's and a modern plastic single vane Bohning fletcher. For gluing fletches I use the Hoyt since it does three feathers at a time, and for taping feathers I use the Bohning since each feather takes less than a minute to secure to the shaft. Take yer pick - glue or tape, they both work equally well IMO.
Here's how I typically crest an arrow ...
http://www.tradgang.com/woodies/
During this entire arrow making process, one can pay particular care to both the arrow's spine and weight, in order to best statically match the arrows. If I want to get anal about arrow weight, and make for the best match, after the set of (6 or 12) arrows has been completed I weigh each on a digital grain scale, noting each arrow's weight in grains (each arrow is numbered for identification). Each arrow is then balanced to determine the precise FOC. Weight is added either fore or aft to each arrow to bring them all as close to total grain weight and FOC as possible. Added weight can be in the form of coated on clear finish or heavier epoxy.
Unlike man made material arrow shafts, wooden shafts are highly susceptible to warping, denting and changes in weight distribution. Often, just shooting a wooden arrow repeatedly - even into a safe backstop butt - will throw it out of round. But they're so darned nostalgic, gotta love 'em!
