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phragmites arrow build a long
dingas:
Great build a long! I harvested some phragmites in late September/early October and still not sure uow good an arrow they would make, so I will be following this! One question on flattening the nodes: are you scraping with the knife 90 degreea to the node, or laying flat, or at an angle (whittling)?
Knoll:
What works for me is with blade laying mostly flat on shaft.
Josh B:
--- Quote from: Knoll on November 19, 2014, 08:29:55 pm ---What works for me is with blade laying mostly flat on shaft.
--- End quote ---
Yep, that's idea. Blade is close to flat to the shaft and then just tip it up enough for the edge to catch the lip of the node. Josh
Josh B:
Now that the shaft is straight(well as straight as it's gonna get) I'll start working on the foreshaft. Now it should be noted that I'm building a flight arrow here that should be in the neighborhood of 200 grains. For a target or hunting arrow you'll want a lot more substantial foreshaft than what I'm making here. I'm using a light weight 5/16" dowel and a super light drawn steel point. I'm also using a very short piece of dowel. My normal practice/hunting arrows will have a foreshaft that extends all the way to the inside of the node and 6" of exposed length from the phragmites shaft to the point. Fitting the foreshaft is basically the same in principle though. First you figure out how long of a tenon cut you want and score it all around the foreshaft at that point. That is your stop cut. Be sure to not cut it any deeper than necessary or you'll weaken the foreshaft. You want a square shoulder on both the phragmites and the foreshaft so that when the insert is slide all the way in, the butt together squarely. Also the inserted part needs to fit pretty easily inside the phragmites. If you shave it down too small it'll make it sloppy and weak. If you don't shave it small enough, it'll split out the phragmites. Fitting is important so take your time. First pic is the stop cut. Second is the start of fitting it by making small cuts back to the stop cut. And then shaving down the rest of the insert portion of the foreshaft.
Josh B:
Remember, you don't want to force the insert into the phragmites. It should slide right in and not wiggle around. On normal arrows I would just cut the foreshaft to the exposed length I wanted and then taper it for glue on points or notch it for a stone point. Once tapered or notched whichever may be the case I would then apply hide glue to the insert part and inside the phragmites and install the foreshaft. I like hide glue for this cause if you need to replace the foreshaft later, you can soak it in warm water and it will come right out. You may have to rotate the foreshaft inside the phragmites a little bit to get it all true. After its installed, you can then mount your point and true it up. Since I'm using a drawn steel point on this one that has an OD of 5/16", I have to make another tenon cut to fit the point to the foreshaft. I'm leaving a 1/4" shoulder in between the phragmites and the back of the point to protect the leading edge of the phragmites. Here's a few more pics showing the tenon cuts, the point, and finally how it all butts up flush when assembled. The test fit is good so I will hot glue the point on and then hide glue the insert into the phragmites.
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