Home Depot Garden Stake Bamboo Arrow Build-A-Long (Pic Heavy)

[Pat B]

Cut your cane shafts long and find the "arrow" with proper spine along its length before cutting it to length. You'll be surprised it doesn't have to be all that big in diameter to make a proper arrow shaft.

[DC]

And the diameter will vary a lot with garden stakes. I have a "matched sorta" set of six arrows, all 42-43# static spine and the dia varies by 1/16".

[loon]

Cut your cane shafts long and find the "arrow" with proper spine along its length before cutting it to length. You'll be surprised it doesn't have to be all that big in diameter to make a proper arrow shaft.

So, with a spine tester.. Do you always have the nock right before a node?

[DC]

I do if I can but normally I run an 1/8 or 3/16" drill into the end and glue in a short length of dowell, maybe 1-2". Either way cut the nock and wrap it with something. I use Kevlar thread I got for fly tieing.

[Pat B]

I used to cut nocks at a node but don't anymore. It's not necessary. I do try to set the nock end up so the fletching doesn't lay across a node but has a clear internode to lay on. I also don't add a filer to the center of cane arrows, point or nock end. Sinew wraps will hold everything together. My 30" hill cane arrows are about 5/16" at the nock and 3/8" at the point(55#@26"draw). I find it hard to make a matched set of cane arrows so I make them one at a time and see how they shoot individually. I pick the best shooters for hunting, the good shooters for target and 3D and with the poor shooters I make fluflus.

[loon]

Used to use nylon thread but sinew is so much better

Thanks

[loon]

There was a source about heat straightening bamboo that mentioned heating either the inside of a bump (convex part) or the outside (concave) first. But I don't remember which and I can't find the source. Anyone have any idea what it might be? Thanks.

The soapstone straightening tool mentioned in primitivepathways looks interesting..

I'd like to know how to make simple self nocks that are clean and well aligned with minimal tools if possible.. I only have needle files. Should it be just by being careful? :p

maybe if I stop being broke, I'll invest in a good drill.. and some razor blades.. huh

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Not sure where you're located loon but see if you have a Harbor Freight store nearby, they sell cheap tools for cheap, cheap enough to make it worth it, you can get a decent cordless drill for $15 or so.

[DC]

I tried the trick of clamping a couple of hacksaw blades together to cut the nock but I always pulled a splinter off the back side. This may not help you but what I use now is the little composite discs that come with a Dremel(or clone) tool. I make a cut to the depth I want and then finish it with needle files. I use 10 strands of Fast flight with 60# test Spiderwire for serving. One of my needle files(an oval about 1/8" x 1/4" finishes it to just the right width.

[Ruddy Darter]

There was a source about heat straightening bamboo that mentioned heating either the inside of a bump (convex part) or the outside (concave) first. But I don't remember which and I can't find the source. Anyone have any idea what it might be? Thanks.

The soapstone straightening tool mentioned in primitivepathways looks interesting..

I'd like to know how to make simple self nocks that are clean and well aligned with minimal tools if possible.. I only have needle files. Should it be just by being careful? :p

maybe if I stop being broke, I'll invest in a good drill.. and some razor blades.. huh

Here's a good tool thats quite good at cutting nocks, it's a ceramic tile file/saw. I got a nice thin blade that makes lightof it, and being round finishes off the nock bed nicely, iI also got a steel rule witha strip of sanding cloth glued to it if I need to widen a little.

Ruddy Darter

[DC]

What diameter is the blade? The one I have has a .112" dia blade. I'm looking for about .075".

[Ruddy Darter]

I'm trying to locate mine ( need it soon to start a batch of warbow arrows), I haven't used it for a while and it's probably in the shed(dark now here), I would think it's around 2.5-3mm mark as it files a groove a little narrower than my round rat tail file. I don't make strings less than 16 strand ff for warbows, which I did not consider, and I always had to widen the nock with the sand cloth stuck on a ruler, cuts out the initial slot nice and speedy. Maybe there is small diameters that can be ordered online?( I'll have a look myself a bit later bearing in mind I'm U.K)

Ruddy Darter.

[loon]

Does bamboo shrink or expand when heat-treated/heated? Wish I could find that source about which side of the bend to heat first... been searching online for maybe an hour and am going crazy. No idea how I found it.
I think I'll stick to just needle files and maybe a knife for making nocks, just gotta be careful to make them even?

[DC]

Does bamboo shrink or expand when heat-treated/heated? Wish I could find that source about which side of the bend to heat first... been searching online for maybe an hour and am going crazy. No idea how I found it.
I think I'll stick to just needle files and maybe a knife for making nocks, just gotta be careful to make them even?

Can't help with the shrinkage. My gut says it shrinks a touch but???   Don't worry about where to heat first. Some straighten the nodes first, some the internodes. I straighten the worst bend first.
If you are just making a few arrows for yourself time isn't that important. Needle files work great. Get a fine brass brush the keep them clean. With bamboo you will probably have to replace them more often, it's hard on edges.

[loon]

Would steam bending bamboo shafts be a bad idea?..