Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: arachnid on November 04, 2015, 02:01:13 pm
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Hi guys.
I`m startine to work on my first set of bamboo arrows, using the great build a-long
posted here (bamboo garden stakes...).
Well first of all, straightning is a real pain in the ***. My question is, how straight do
they need to be to have good and accurate flight?
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As long as the nock and point line up and the arrow spins true on our finger tip they should fly well.
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Don't know if this will help but these shoot OK.
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Those are some straight arrows right there DC.
What are the tips made of?
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They are duplex nails like the build-along but I drilled a hole in some 3/8" aluminum round stock and pounded it on the end. Filed it to shape. It makes them go into the target bag with out punching out little circles.
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How straight can you make them?
that should be a good start :)
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Watching this intently, as bamboo straitening is driving me mad...
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you want the shafts to be able to roll on a flat surface (table).
if they don't roll easily, you'll be able to spot your trouble areas when attempting to roll them.
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I found a quick start to straightening boo is to use your barbecue. I heat mine up to 350-400 and then leaving the lid closed slide the arrow into the rotisserie hole. Leave it for 20-30 seconds. The whole thing will be limpish. Straighten as best you can, use oven mitts. You can get most of the wiggles out with this. Then use your heat gun. Do a bend and then put it down, let it cool. Start with 10 or so arrows and just keep working your way through the pile, one bend, put it aside. By the time you've gone through the pile the first will be cool enough to work on the next bend. It takes practice, like most things, but after 20 or so arrows it will start to fall in place and become fairly straight forward. You will have to do a lot off them as the spine will be all over the place. You can reduce the spine with a belt sander but go slow and give them a good test bend before proceeding. One of the problems I had was overworking the nodes. If you bend them too far and have to go back they can weaken. You'll get an eye for when the node is actually straight.
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I built a jig for my heat gun, for heating bows up. I then thought of a good idea, drilling a 1/2 hole on either leg, so I can put an arrow shaft through it, and use the wood to help straighten the shaft.
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My problem is that I can only get them so straight before it seems I'm just chasing tiny bends up and down the shaft. It may be I have some rare optic nerve disease or some such but I look down the shaft, say "ok, I need to straighten it round about here" but the instant I move the thing from looking straight down it the spot disappears and I have to look down it again. I dunno, maybe if I had someone to show me how it's done I would "get it" but it's driving me nuts, lol.
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That was happening to me. I was tempted to mark the spot with a pencil. Some how it went away. I'm trying split shafts now so I will probably have to come back and read this post when I want to use boo shafts again :D
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You just have to set your inner OCD demon free a little. Enjoy the process of trying to create a perfectly straight shaft. It just takes time and patience. You will appreciate them more that way when they are done and you shoot them for the first time. If you want quick and easy immediate gratification, buy carbon. Otherwise take joy in the journey.
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1. You can try an iron.... you also need a hard and flat surface, like a countertop of stone. Heat and roll, until your shaft is straight
2. Use a barbecue (like DC posted) or the surface of an hot oven (that's what I use in winter) to heat the shafts.
If they are hot I take an arrowstraightener and straighten the shafts. I have the straightener (Shaft tamer) from 3 rivers...
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Has anyone ever tried heating with the grill until limp and then bundling them tight with a mix of aluminium shafts then cool? I can get um straight hand bending, but that's my least favorite part of boo. If I could do six or 12 at a time, that would be quite "dope" "fo shizzle". 8)
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Any of the above methods, are good. I just use a heat gun, and straighten out the major bends, then go back and get the small ones with a straightener, and or a piece of 2 x 4 that I cut a round shape in the middle, and cut the side pieces down to about 13/4 inch high, so that you have a round mound, with a handle on each side. You can place the bend of the hot shaft on the mound, and apply pressure, and hold it, and then check the bend. Do the big ones first, then the smaller ones, and the nodes last. Like as mentioned above, don't over heat the nodes, (or the shaft) and do not put too much pressure on them, they are the weak spot in the shaft. I have seen videos, that recommend that you use something to knock out the center of the node, when making an arrow. I can't for the life of me see any intelligence in that, as it just weakens a weak spot even more. But it is done, and apparently they like it. I don't bother the integrity of the node. I leave well enough alone. But just take your time, like it was mentioned above if you want instant straight, buy commercial shafts, of what ever material you like. You can get boo very straight, and you very seldom have to re straighten them if at all. And as Pat said, as long as the two ends align, and you have your spine matched to your bow, and the stiff side to the bow, you should be fine. Long arrows, 30" or longer, will not be so spine sensitive.
Wayne
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Has anyone ever tried heating with the grill until limp and then bundling them tight with a mix of aluminium shafts then cool?
never tried.
being that you usually have to over bend in order to have it relax back to where you want it, i'm not sure how effective the bundling would be.
I have seen videos, that recommend that you use something to knock out the center of the node, when making an arrow. I can't for the life of me see any intelligence in that, as it just weakens a weak spot even more. But it is done, and apparently they like it.
i thought this was to allow any moisture to leave the shaft vs. having it in those chambers while heating. not sure if this only applies to the fresher bamboo that hasn't completely dried.
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Straightening cane is a slow process for me. I like to start with 6 or more canes. I take one and heat the worst part, either at a node or internode, which ever is worse. I heat(over our gas cook stove) the area and get it straight then lay the cane on a flat surface and start on the next one. When they are all cool, I'll go to the next area and so on. Usually I'll start with the nodes, get them all straight then move on to the internode areas. Sometimes this goes on for a day or two. If you don't allow an area to cool completely you risk re-bending previously straightened areas to where they started.
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I do as stickbender and Pat B do, I start at the major bends first. As many have said, its a pain straightning bamboo but the end result is beautiful. I like to use my table vice in this process. Ill put the part I want to bend right outside of the jaws of the vice. Ill take my heat gun and slowly heat the area, whether it be small or large. As im applying heat Ill start to apply pressure to the bamboo in the direction it needs bent. Once its hot enough you can feel it bend at will, and once its in place Ill rub it down with a cold wet rag to quickin the cooling process. And Ill just repeat until I can look down the arrow, spin it, and looks straight.
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. . . a piece of 2 x 4 that I cut a round shape in the middle, and cut the side pieces down to about 13/4 inch high, so that you have a round mound, with a handle on each side. You can place the bend of the hot shaft on the mound, and apply pressure, and hold it, and then check the bend.
Wayne
Wayne . . got pics?
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I've posted these before but just in case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5Ha1qyFDo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK5INvoNTdk