Tonkin Cane Arrow Question

[bowbender68]

I have really been getting the itch to try my hand at some cane arrows lately, and picked up some Tonkin Cane garden stakes at Lowes last week.  The diameter of the shafts at both the nock and point ends seem to be too small for self nocks, and too small for a hardwood insert.  Can I taper the ends just like I would with a wooden shaft and glue on a plastic nock and field point?  If so, any tricks to tapering the ends?  The hand held taper tool I tried seems to give me a pretty uneven taper.  Thanks for any comments and input.

Jeff

[Pat B]

Jeff, yes you can. I have found it easier to make good tapers with a sanding type taper tool; like a Wood Chuck taper tool or a belt sander. If you have a belt sander you can make a jig that will allow you to achieve a 11% taper for the nock end and a 5% taper for the point end.
   When I have done this, I first glued a dowel or bamboo skewer in the hole first but this is not necessary.

[billy]

HEy Jeff,

You can also just cut a nock right in the end of the cane and it will work just fine.  I wrap just in front of the nock with sinew when I wrap my feathers on so the sinew serves a dual purpose...it secures the feathers AND reinforces the nock.  Works great and I've never had one split on me even after making them for 10 years...

[Pat B]

There are a quite a few options you can use. Another is to add small wedges to the outside of the nock end of your shaft, as the ears of the nock, and you don't have to weaken the nock end at all. Flight shooters use this method on some arrows because they have reduced the shaft to the smallest possible size to eliminate weight.
   I use self nocks on all of my arrows any more. Cane is especially strong even when the nock is cut in a small diameter shaft and by wrapping just below the nock you increase the strength quite a bit. The wrap will keep it from splitting when shot.