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Post by jasm299 on Jul 3, 2022 11:16:53 GMT
Hi,
A friend of mine just bough a wooden bow. Now he would like to make wooden arrows. He has 2 questions:
– which wood to use?
– how to shape the arrow to a circular section without a lathe?
Thanks,
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jul 3, 2022 13:39:07 GMT
FWIW I made arrows using bamboo and for wood this is what I’d recomend. Cedar is also a good wood. As the shafts come already round there was no need for a lathe. Shafts can be purchased from any number of places. Also in a pinch I suppose a dowel can be used, but I don’t recommend these. Carbon these days seems to be the way to go, but I’ve never used such.
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Jul 5, 2022 18:59:09 GMT
As pgandy mentioned, cedar is good. I've also worked with spruce and poplar. I've been told that walnut it another good wood for arrows.
To make the arrow round you need to cut the wood (usually on a bandsaw) into long pieces with a square cross section. The pieces will need to be at least as long as you want your arrows, and the square cross section should be around 5/16" to 3/8" on each side (basic starting point, this can vary depending on the type of wood and desired spine weight). Use a small hand plane to take off the the corners lengthwise. This should leave you with a basic arrow shape with an octagonal cross section. Then hold a piece of sand paper around it and run the arrow back and forth. Make sure you continually rotate the arrow, and also flip it from one side to the other to make sure you're sanding the entire thing evenly. You can do this until you get to the desired spine weight.
The process is easy but difficult to explain in text. If you have questions on anything I mentioned, just let me know and I can try to explain it better.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Jul 5, 2022 21:33:22 GMT
I should have said ‘commercial’ shafts… I left out a word. I personally I’d buy a shaft ready to go.
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circumstances
Member
All the same we take our chances.. laughed at by time..tricked by circumstances
Posts: 87
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Post by circumstances on Jul 13, 2022 19:42:36 GMT
I should have said ‘commercial’ shafts… I left out a word. I personally I’d buy a shaft ready to go. I buy my shafts turned but not finished. I've gone to bamboo almost exclusively but do use Port Orford as well. My hybrid bow (reflex deflex flatbow) loves the bamboo shafts. 11/32 31 inch nock inlet to end of actual shaft.Here are the tips I make. A spent 5.56 case fits right on to an 11/32 shaft and works for 5/16 as well. The points (which I've shortened up a bit) I made sort of Bodkin style. With...armor piercing...in mind. I go the shafts from 3 Rivers but there are a LOT of suppliers. I do all my own fletching nocks and tips. These pictured tips weighed in at a healthy 189 grains. But since I'm not concerned about having to defeat chain mail or plate armor I shortened and thus lightened them up to 130. Gets me more range. My 60# flatbow just loves these arrows. I used blue and white barred tri fletching and Eastman black nocks.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 5:29:55 GMT
I should have said ‘commercial’ shafts… I left out a word. I personally I’d buy a shaft ready to go. I buy my shafts turned but not finished. I've gone to bamboo almost exclusively but do use Port Orford as well. My hybrid bow (reflex deflex flatbow) loves the bamboo shafts. 11/32 31 inch nock inlet to end of actual shaft.Here are the tips I make. A spent 5.56 case fits right on to an 11/32 shaft and works for 5/16 as well. The points (which I've shortened up a bit) I made sort of Bodkin style. With...armor piercing...in mind. I go the shafts from 3 Rivers but there are a LOT of suppliers. I do all my own fletching nocks and tips. These pictured tips weighed in at a healthy 189 grains. But since I'm not concerned about having to defeat chain mail or plate armor I shortened and thus lightened them up to 130. Gets me more range. My 60# flatbow just loves these arrows. I used blue and white barred tri fletching and Eastman black nocks. I dig those. Really nice work man |
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circumstances
Member
All the same we take our chances.. laughed at by time..tricked by circumstances
Posts: 87
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Post by circumstances on Jul 15, 2022 16:21:55 GMT
I buy my shafts turned but not finished. I've gone to bamboo almost exclusively but do use Port Orford as well. My hybrid bow (reflex deflex flatbow) loves the bamboo shafts. 11/32 31 inch nock inlet to end of actual shaft.Here are the tips I make. A spent 5.56 case fits right on to an 11/32 shaft and works for 5/16 as well. The points (which I've shortened up a bit) I made sort of Bodkin style. With...armor piercing...in mind. I go the shafts from 3 Rivers but there are a LOT of suppliers. I do all my own fletching nocks and tips. These pictured tips weighed in at a healthy 189 grains. But since I'm not concerned about having to defeat chain mail or plate armor I shortened and thus lightened them up to 130. Gets me more range. My 60# flatbow just loves these arrows. I used blue and white barred tri fletching and Eastman black nocks. I dig those. Really nice work man More..apocolyptic was it? type of stuff. The points are set with black epoxy and are made from Phillips head driver bits. I had to turn the bases on the grinder to fit the case mouth. The bits are hardened steel and have survived unintended collision with rocks on the 3D course with no deformation. Th guys at the club were tripping on them. Personally I had trouble believing nobody had thought of this. But even on the other archery forums I frequent I get the same reaction. Lots of people know the 38/357 case trick of sliding the cases on the shaft for blunts but nobody I've come across yet has done this type of trick. LOL, I should of have patented it and went into production. But noooo I let the cat out of the bag.   HA HA |
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HA HA
Things have changed!