Main Discussion Area > Arrows
How do I make arrows?
Kovoc:
I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia ;D
jeffp51:
look for shoots--red osier dogwood, vibernum, fruitwood shoots such as apple or apricot, or wild rose--there are lots of shoots that can be used if you are willing to learn how to straighten them. You can buy bamboo garden stakes from a home improvement big box store. You can split stock from straight-grained spruce or fir or cedar.
Hawkdancer:
Kovoc,
Shoots are good, almost any will make arrows, some better than others. You should be able to find red osier dogwood and viburnum in your area, might even stumble upon another primitive type bloke or shiela to help out! Learn to cure, straighten, and spine the shafts! Spine is the amount of flex a shaft has. You may be able to link up with a First Nations group who will teach you their methods! Turkey and goose wing feathers make very good fletching, just make sure you use the same wing on each arrow, don't mix left and right on the same arrow. Sealing and finishing are also important. Of course, it depends a lot on how primitive you want your arrows, some of us "elders" use things like fletching jigs, pre cut feathers, fletching tape or glue, and "store bought" shafts! I think we are keeping TrueShaft in business (lol). He has good stuff, and is also in Canada!
Hawkdancer
archeryrob:
The problem you are going to have now is arrows are made "for the bow" and without having a bow you can spine them to fit and shoot for that bow. Then you are just learning to make arrows that will not be used. You can learn some of the skills as such, but they may not be useable unless over spined and you can scrape the center of the arrow to reduce the spine later.
I shoot a 55# D bow and shoot a 42# spine in my bows. Bare shaft testing (look that one up) showed me that that is what I needed with 125 gran tips on my arrows.
Here is some stuff I wrote years back about arrow making. It would be good for you to read and learn some of the basics.
https://boweyrsden.wordpress.com/category/arrow-e-book/
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