Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: BowEd on January 30, 2016, 08:45:18 am
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Here's another way of shaft making that I've been meaning to make for a while and have finally gotten done.It's probably been shown before but I hav'nt seen it.Speed drill/router with a round 1/2" fluted bit/and a guide jig.Glad there are some inventive minds out there cause it's a time saver.A person starts out with a square stock of 3/8" at least 33" long into a 1/2" hole then to 3/8" holes in blocks all in line to stabilize the shaft as it's turning.The rounded tip of the square stock goes into the speed drill.Turn the router on/turn your speed drill on high and slowly advance the shaft through the holes in the blocks.It's not so primitive but then is a file and sand paper or a strap iron and screw gun any more primitive?Anyway a shaft is done in about 5 minutes or so after sanding and spining etc.Once the type of wood is decided for yourself that you want in terms of finished weight and spine it goes fast compared to the old way I used to make them.Local woods on the testing block are walnut,honey locust,black locust,KCT,hickory,ash,and maple so far.Hav'nt tried dogwoods yet but am pretty sure it'll do those too.Birch should be a good candidate but will have to go get a board from the lumber yard.I'll keep records of what turns into what.Note...If you make this get at least a 3 bladed router bit.Maybe should of put this in the build-along section.
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Future arrow shafts......The scurge tree of my area.The thorns flatten tires on trucks,tractors,and lame up cattle constantly.Might be usable bow wood but there are trees here for that that are better than them.Prolific volunteer replanter by animals eating the pods.The wood is pretty but a tad brittle for bows.Hope the wood makes good shafts because I'd be doing everyone a favor getting rid of these.
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I like it!
Blocks attached to fence?
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Yes Knoll.I did that with epoxy and clamps.Say if you like maple shafts in the lower 40's in spine.I've got about 7 dozen 3' by 3/8" square stock you might want.They still weigh out a little over 500 grains on a 30" round shaft @ 23/64".
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Nice! I've got a coworker with a router so I was thinking about putting one of those together, hate to use other people's stuff though. I made some walnut shafts that are going to be really nice once finished; I was curious if you leave the either end thicker for the impact from string or target?
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Made the jig out of oak too or any other hard wood will work....even hedge.....lol.
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You lost me Lumberman.Like a pinch type finger release?These will make parallel shafts.Could start out thicker adjusting jig then you'd need to sand the middle to your spine.It would take longer.
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Alright thanks, I read somewhere the other day that I needed to leave the ends at least 7/16 for impact. Had not seen that on here. See more about barreling them if anything
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Some sorta slot in plywood base so ya can move fence closer/further from router bit, thus fine tuning arrow shaft diameter achieved?
Lower 40's spine would likely be in ballpark for my mid-40's drawing bows! Especially if leave shaft length a bit longish.
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Also you can taper the back 8 or 10 inches to the nock to be more forgivable past the strike plate by sanding but usually I don't really see the need for it myself or I don't see much difference I mean shooting.Barrel shaping them is possible too but through sanding.Full length taper too.It all depends what you want for weight and spine in a shaft.Customized shafts for yourself is the goal here.Hitting what you aim at too.....lol.You can be as picky as you want.I'm not into decorating shafts much.I break and lose too many.Although I do hit the mark fairly regular but take outlandish shots occasionally.Just having fun.The bamboo and cane shoots would'nt work in this.I've got those here too.
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Hitting what I aim for would be ideal haha, like the one you put on that 6 pointer!
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Yes Knoll you got it.A very small slot there.In the base plywood.Does'nt take much.If your drill press can go up tall enough you drill the blocks all in line from an 8" piece then cut them to 2" lengths.The long piece of jig is 25"/Your first block has a half inch hole through it[3/8" square stock fits just right in a 1/2" hole]/the next one 3/4" along long piece/the next one 3.5"/the next one 12" with 3/8" holes.They are all at least 1" thick by 2" long.The plywood base is 12" by 30".Drill a hole in plywood table 1" 3" from front edge of plywood and 6" from the side edges for base of router to attatch to.
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Well seems like everyone gets their turn sometime or another if they stay at it.This next year I'll shoot a yearling if that comes to be.Fine with me.You know what they say about luck....Its' when preperation and opportunity collide.
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Knoll....I'll send a couple of dozen of those maple squares if you'll pay the postage.Should'nt cost much really.PM me your address.
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pm sent. THANKS!
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Lumberman.....you mean to be able to withstand impact being 7/16" thick?Blunts or stone arrow heads I guess your talking about.11/32" ends will withstand impact[trees,bone,etc.] too if flying right like a dart.Now rocks that a different critter.Seen carbides blow apart hitting rocks.....lol,or at least their plastic nock blow off the end.
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And the imfamous steel deer with a hole in him......ha ha.
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Could make tapered shafts by making the route movable? Or the blocks with holes where the shaft spins..
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I am going to be using trade points, I am gathering that a uniform thickness is fine as long as the spine is okay. Thanks!
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You should be ok thickness wise.I've set stone pints in 23/64" ends on shafts with no problem.I'm no expert at it but it's done on 11/32" ends too.So a trade point should be even easier.
Matching weight field point to broadhead point is the way to go for best flight works best for me.I've read the shaft should be 5# heavier in spine going to a broadhead.I shoot them into a dirt pile[free of rocks...lol] at 15 to 20 yards and figure it out myself.I go with what works so you'll have to do your own investigating and shooting to see for yourself.
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OK my findings so far on local & some exotic wood for arrow shafts:
These are @ 30"length parallel and 23/64" thickness.
Honey locust[sapwood & heartwood]....lower 40's#@500+ grains
Ash[sapwood & heartwood]................mid 50's#@500+ grains
walnut[sapwood & heartwood]............mid 50's#@mid 400's grains.I like this one myself.I needed to barrel it slightly.
Maple.............lower 40's@500+ grains
Osage............mid 40's@600+ grains
cocobolo.........mid 40's@600+ grains
I imagine I could of googled this to find out but I'm a seeer first hand believer myself.I'm not quite all the way sure these shafts might not gain more spine drying farther and losing maybe a little weight so I will keep an eye on that.I will try BL too and others I come across.Like maybe elm,cherry,ironwood,& hickory.I'll take for granted that people have done dogwoods which @ 23/64" will be in the 65 to70#.
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Sweet, what do you think about white oak and red oak? I've got a couple dozen I need to sand down
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Don't know yet but good idea.I've got some red oak too.No white oak though.Only so many hours in a day though you know.....lol.I'll stay at it.Let me know what you find too.
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Yeah I feel ya there, don't mean to be demanding haha just seemed like you were being mighty productive over there lol
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Yes I can get obsessed.Anyway all of these shafts need to be fletched up and shot and shot yet so that'll be the final test.On multiple bows too.Darn windy here lately and I don't like that at all.Is'nt that cold though.
Another thing to keep track of is whether some might have tendencies to warpage or not.It'll get done.I know I cut up some red oak here but must have misplaced them or something.I'll find them.
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I got a few black walnut heartwood shafts from Ken75 a few years ago. They seemed to make pretty good arrows.
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I hope so Pat.The sapwood is'nt much different from the heartwood really maybe slightly.I've got them intermixed within the shaft here too.Prettt pretty!!!I'm sure their not as tough as dogwood or sourwood but their available easily here by me.The cool thing about dogwood is that it's mass weight you can figure it being 10 times the spine.Walnut is a little lighter in mass weight compared to it's spine.Understandable!!!Guess you can't really figure the specific gravity of woods this way but you can tell which wood is denser that's for sure,but you could guess the mass weight without a scale just by knowing it's spine with dogwood.
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Or visa versa with dogwood.
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Stands to reason making and working with these arrow shafts that they fall in line with the bow wood chapter in TBB 4 on specific gravity and elasticity.An indicator of qualities for bow wood of different types of wood compared to each other.Not a breaking test of course but still an indicator of bend and mass to some degree of like thickness of wood against each other.
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Lumberman....Red oak came in at 45 to 50 spine and around the mid 500's in grains all at 23/64" and 30" long.Don't think white oak will be much different.Maybe even heavier in grain weight though.
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Walnut suits me real good and I'm on the search for some ash heartwood as there is a slight diff in that stuff to the sapwood.
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Sweet yeah the white oak does tend to a bit heavier and stronger (also known as denser lol) mine are at 5/16, but a spinometer have I not
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A few walnut shafts that suit me.They are barreled a bit.23/64" to 5/16".Heartwood and combo heartwood and sapwood.Canada goose and turkey feathers.Self nocked wrapped with silk and super glued.These shoot off different bows of mine and will be my hunting weight arrows too.So no deviation of weight & spine between targeting with friends and hunting.Some douglas fir and bamboo here fill the bill too.Most fly like darts but not all.They do hit where I'm looking first though at 20 yards.Guess I'm ready for the zombies to come...lol.
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Bud, those look nice!
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Looking awesome! How long do the fletching a usually take ya?
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With ducco it's usually about 30 to 45 minutes between arrow shafts.Do them while watching TV in the evening.I've gone to making them 4.5" long now.I have an Arizona fletcher I use.A burner too.Goose feathers are good but not as stiff as turkey.They are somewhat waterproof though.
What are you up to fellas with your shafts there?
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Oh you fellas use a sizer too.I'd be lost without mine.Don't have a pic but it's out of antler.Holes from 9/32"-25/64".Very handy tool.
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Got another version of arrow flight here I did'nt mention.Some shafts fly like darts but don't hit where I'm looking.That's usually a windage thing and most times it's me not coming to full draw like I should.
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Well I made some 3/8 guys and it just seems way too bendy for white oak, got the plans to make a spine tester but have not done it yet, have not shot them as my bow is not finished.. Starting from scratch on all this has been a blast though. I was thinking of leaving the others at 5/16 till I get the spine tester finished
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They might not be dry,but I bet your grain scale says they weigh quite a bit.
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Yeah the 3/8 guys are at 11/32 once briefly sanded. The white oak is at 520 grains 31" which I plan to make thirty but I am chucking the end . I realized I said 5/16 earlier when I meant 7/16. So if I get em spined for my wife's #45 compound, how much is it going to change once I put a broadhead on?
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One of my favorites was hard maple for a heavy shaft, the mape is very stable compared to some of the other hardwoods. I seldom use hardwoods anymore and usually favor tight grained doug fir. I like my bare shafts at about 375 grains and 11/32 with a 55# spine, 29" long. I am surprised your white oak is not heavier. My maple shafts are usually about 650 grains or so.
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Hm.. Blast something must be up then, there is some sapwood maybe there was discreet incipient decay in it that hadn't softened it real noticeably. I will try taking some of the others down to 11/32 and weigh em. I have heard Doug fir is popular. I get hardwood scraps for free though . Have some hickory drying now too
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Yep more than one way to skin a cat. 8) nice setup.
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Yep more than one way to skin a cat. 8) nice setup.
Straight grain is eveything, if they have runouts going more than 1/8" into the arrow I would scrap it. I don't use runouts even that deep.
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I like your set up Beadman. My buddy Robbie who posts on here from time to time ripped up a bunch of stock from a spruce board the other day. He gave me a dozen shafts that are mixed in my quiver now with some store bought 3Rivers port Orford 50/55 shafts. They are all grouping together and shoot great. His set up isn't quite as refined as yours but we are a work in progress! It makes a cheapskate like me feel stupid for having dropped so much money on arrows through the years. Thanks for posting this. You have given me some ideas.
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Your welcome.Arrows can be a pain to make and a certain type of mood sometimes is needed,but if done patiently and carefully it's worth it.I climbed a tree with no branches 15' yesterday to retrieve a couple of shafts....lol.Nice well crafted shafts are nice to have around.
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Cool, idea. What the hell kind of tree is that with those huge long thorns? Make nice blow gun darts.
Wayne
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That's our pestilent honey locust growing voluntarily around here.You get one of those thorns poked into ya and broke off or not it leaves a spore in you that will swell up bad.They are very sharp.They'll go right through a lacrosse rubber boot sole no problem.I cut rings around them 3/4" deep and spray tree killer in the crack to stop pod producing female trees from spreading more.