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Head weight

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JesseBeaux:
Hey Guys,

Super excited to join the forum! I plan to not say much but do a lot of reading! Haha. However, I do have one question:

I've begun learning how to knap on old beer bottles and I'm really enjoying! Plus it's my way of helping clean up the National Forest I hunt. Anyway, I've decided I'd love to mount these heads onto my Cedar shafts (Haven't started with Cane yet) and try to kill a hog with one! However, I'm having  trouble getting my arrows to fly well because my finished heads are only about 40grains due to how much material I have to take off in order to flatten out the curve of the bottle bottom.... Any tips for increasing this weight? Or other options for adding front weight?

Tracker0721:
Since you’re already using glass, send me your address in a PM and I’ll ship a little box of obsidian and dacite so you can make a bit bigger head. Mine are usually 80+ Grains. Inch wide and 2 inches long is what I like. Hogs are tough sons of guns so be careful, make sure your heads are insanely sharp, and tune your arrows for the best flight and practice shooting sub par heads into fine sand, foam(not dense stuff), etc. and before hunting haft up the real deal heads and go bring home the ham!

You can also drill a hole into the point end and glue a bit of a nail in there to add weight and help with spine issues. Or wrap a bit of wire behind the point. Make sure your heads are mounted straight too! Little off center and it’ll steer that arrow everywhere.

To get em good and sharp I use stringmans way he told me. Get the head thin, get it to shape, now go down the edge and using a fine point pop flakes off in serrations down the edge being sure that they’re popping cleanly. Usually the smaller the serrations the better. Now flip the point over and press against each tip of the sawtooth pattern you left and pop down quickly. If done correctly the bottoms of the original serrations should now be the points and you should have an edge of tiny teeth all in a perfect line. I usually drag mine with no pressure across my meaty part of my thumb just about a centimeter, if done correctly and with no pressure it’ll give me a tiny paper cut which I usually don’t cut deep enough to bleed. If done incorrectly it’ll try to tear or slide over or cut like a saw. I prefer the paper cut slice.

Best of luck and post some pictures of your heads! Welcome to the forum! Be sure to fill the hunting section with your kills bud!

Might be able to make out the tiny serrations on this one...

jeffp51:
use bigger bottles.  Wine and whiskey bottles -- or Martinelli's sparkling juices -- or some perrier sparkling water  all make bigger points than beer bottles.  I have a glass recycling dumpster near my home that I raid when I want to work glass.  I have been known to throw my youngest child into the dumpster if the glass is pretty enough and out of reach . . . :OK :KN

JEB:
Tracker gave you some very good advise and gave you a very generous offer. Take him upon it.

bjrogg:

--- Quote from: JEB on March 05, 2018, 06:13:15 pm ---Tracker gave you some very good advise and gave you a very generous offer. Take him upon it.

--- End quote ---

All good advice but especially what Jeb said. Ive heard it said anyone can learn to make a bow but arrows heap big trouble. Getting arrows made that are  tuned to your bow takes some time but it's really makes it all work.
Bjrogg

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