Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Woodely on March 02, 2019, 09:45:55 am
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Any of you guys tired of building arrows. I make arrows from wooden shafts. I buy the material from the lumber store cut it down to over 11/32" then hand plane the corners off getting them as round as possible but still keeping them over 11/32" to get to the final size. Then I chuck the shafts in the drill and put them thru a steel plate jig I made. Then the shafts get sanded and checked with the caliper. After that I cut them to length, taper both ends for the plastic nocks and field points. Usually the shafts get crested. Then I apply 4 coats of water based Polyurethane. The nocks and fletching are glued on and the stripes.
All in all its very time consuming, but for me its all the steps I go thru to make a dozen arrows. I spend about $5 each where store bought wood arrows are about $10-$12 each. Its a rewarding experience to build your own arrows and watch them fly especially the good ones, but I'm sort of getting tired of the whole process. Dam, I still have 12 blanks sitting on my bench waiting for tips and fletching.
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Only when I'm having trouble getting to fly well. Not to mention I'm using shoots instead of dowels alot more work involved.
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There's a few of us on here that don't really like making arrows. I only make arrows when I need them. It just isn't like making bows, don't know why. :D
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I like it as much or more than making the bows. I can make an arrow that will fly perfectly. My bows not so much.
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. . . “The Meditation of Building Arrows” . . .
(including the nocks)
regards,
Scyth
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each to their own i guess- i love arrow building as much as the bow building. nice thing about arrows if you build them well, then you get to shoot them and lose them, and get to build more. if you build a bow well, you wont need to rebuild it again that quickly- unless of course you're just feeding the addiction...so maybe a moot point on here with all these addicts
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Like everything else I do, I have to be in the mood, but when I am I love building them, I usually do shoots and make them 1 at a time, it does take a while but love the process . I also do blanks sometimes and it takes a little less time but pretty much make and tune them 1 at a time also, I have done several from TSA and they are very close in spline and are straight to start with so take way less time getting them to fly like I want and can do a dozen at a time with them. I see some folks that have their arrows marked or a special one,also say if it's not flying good they will save them for stump shooting, for me they all fly like they are supposed to or they never make it to my quiver. If I can't work it out they get broken or burnt. ;) :)
Pappy
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Pappy, THAT is a lot of firewood. ;D Got ya.
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I use a two stage Verita dowel maker.
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I like doing it all! :BB (f) (AT) )P( :OK
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I don't mind assembling arrows from TSA shafts :) , but I don't mess with shoots or cane/boo anymore and I would never turn a plank into shafts, I have better things to spend my free time on. I like grabbing a dozen shafts spined within a pound or two and know they will all fly perfectly.
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I don't mind assembling arrows from TSA shafts :) , but I don't mess with shoots or cane/boo anymore and I would never turn a plank into shafts, I have better things to spend my free time on. I like grabbing a dozen shafts spined within a pound or two and know they will all fly perfectly.
"and know they will all fly perfectly. " Mmmm tell me your secret, I may get 6 out of 10 to fly reasonably close to each other. Having said that I'm happy with that but a 100% would even be better.
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The secret is to spine test every shaft you turn/make, or, buy them from TSA and get a dozen of the exact same shaft, they will all fly perfectly. If you don't have a spine tester then bare shaft tuning each and every shaft is the only other method to make them all fly the same. 6 out of 10 means you're wasting 40% of your energy and time.
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For the record, TSA is the only place I've ever got shafts that actually spined what they were sold as. I have went through dozens that were sold as "within 5#", but actually had a 10 plus pound variance. That is no good.
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Actually the last batch I made was about 8 out of 10 good flyers. The spine is within 3#. Probably should bare shaft tune call it laziness or whatever.
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Straightening raw shafts is very much a test of patience for me. But it's not hard to fletch arrows and glue on points and a nock.
The hundreds of tonkin shafts I got a few years ago aren't very good quality. They seem to have mold damage (I don't think more than they initially had), and one is pliable when cold even though I used heat to straighten it. Yet they seem really dry. Especially the ones that just shatter into dust when bent.
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I would be afraid of that loon, I never take a chance on a risky shaft, seen some break when shot and it ant pretty, I give them a pretty good bend test along the shaft either shoots/blanks or Cain before I start to be sure they are solid and no bad spots, any question I break them, not worth the risk. :) a broke shaft through the arm or hand would make for a very bad day for you not to mention for someone standing close by. :)
Pappy
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Agree with Pappy on this one. I have some 60's cedar shafts that I use all the time but cedar is a different wood.
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What does TSA stand for?
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thats us ;D
http://www.trueshaftarchery.com/home.html
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I'm just about out of those extra fine shafts, Wayne. Ill be getting with you in the next few months. I'll need a fresh dozen for this falls arrows.
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really glad they are working out for you :)
what are you chasing, come fall?
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I got 2 dozen Sitka shafts from Wayne(TSA) and they are as good as it gets. I made one set of arrows(need to send one to you, Wayne). Need to make another set but now just isn't the time. ;)
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really glad they are working out for you :)
what are you chasing, come fall?
They aren't just working, they are the best parallel shafts I've used. I'll be chasing whitetail around the woodlots.
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The secret is to spine test every shaft you turn/make, or, buy them from TSA and get a dozen of the exact same shaft, they will all fly perfectly. If you don't have a spine tester then bare shaft tuning each and every shaft is the only other method to make them all fly the same. 6 out of 10 means you're wasting 40% of your energy and time.
On another note I feel like I'm wasting energy and time when I'm building bows and they end up breaking, although not much anymore. Other than that I have nothing to do and all day to do it in. :)
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If you are learning from broken bows then you're not wasting time.
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If you are learning from broken bows then you're not wasting time.
True enough, and oh yes I have learned a lot. ;D Anyway onto the next project.
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sorry for my incredible ignorance, but what is TSA? I put together some arrows (buying shafts, fletching, kocks etc. from 3 rivers), and they cost around $8/arrow. That seems a little pricy and I want to start producing my own.
also want to try forging broadheads. Any ideas?
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Allen, TSA is TrueShaft archery, one of the sponsors. Check out their website. Very nice folks. Located in Canada. As for forging your own broadheads, got to be some body close who can help you get set up, or let you use their forge to start out and learn. Might try cutting some out of old saw blades, too. Have fun!
Hawkdancer
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Allen, look up videos of forging arrowheads from rebar. how to get the metal hot, well you can use a bucket filled with charcoal and a hairdryer for the air. you will need some insulator like plaster of paris and sand in the (metal) bucket or kaowool. just line the bucket with the kaowool or fill it up with plaster of paris and sand. put a (smaller) bucket in the middle of it and let the plaster dry around the bucket. you will have a hollow hole in it to put the charcoal in.