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English medieval arrows

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stuckinthemud:
If at all possible We'll be back, Joseph and I had a great time last year, the masterclass on heavy bow technique totally changed my shooting approach.  The gothic crossbow is nearly finished and I'll be bringing it with us.
Incidentally, you can peel buffalo horn the same way as cow horn...

WillS:
Hawkdancer - the inserts are usually around 2", but I don't measure them and keep them the same.  When splitting the nocks you end up with varied lengths anyway, so you just cut the horn to fit the slot.  Some of the originals are as short as 1", and as long as 4".

All the heads are 1/2", or 12.7mm.

The compound mix for these was completely on the fly, I just make the mixture by eye now.  I tried working out ratios when I was researching the mixture, but found it kept changing because the materials are natural, and always different.  It's all easy stuff to get hold of - beeswax is obvious, kidney fat you can render down yourself, or ask a butcher and the copper verdigris is made by hanging sheets of copper over vinegar for a few months and scraping the verdigris into jars or packets, ready for mixing.

FilipT:
Is "bobtail" actually a "torpedo" shape?

WillS:
No, not at all.  Torpedo is full diameter for most of the shaft, then a heavy, short taper at the end.

Bobtail is almost the exact opposite.

FilipT:
Ah gotcha, thanks! So the arrow is actually full diameter at arrowhead and maybe 2" behind it and then it has acute taper to nocks?

Btw, what did you mean by splitting the nocks with knife? How do you do that without ripping apart wood at the grain?

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