who makes their own arrows??

[adam]

Hey guys,
    I recently gotten into building bamboo backed and glass bows. I would really like to make all my own gear. I just wanted to see who all made their own arrows rather it be rivercane, bamboo, or wooden arrows and what method you use.

I have a whole box of bamboo shoots i could use, i'm just not too sure how well they would work. I've seen others use them with good success and from what i've read the weight and spine of the shoots aren't that critical because of the natural taper. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong. If i do decide to use the bamboo shoots what diameter do you guys use??

I have also thought about using dowels instead. I was in town today and saw some at lowes and the craft store. Just the plain dowels were 59 cents a piece which isn't bad.I'm not sure what wood they were. But if you bought say 40 or so how many would you actually get to spine and weigh out to a matched set??

I was also wondering if anybody just bought boards from lumberyards and ripped them into 3/8 slats and them turned them into dowels?? I saw this method in the traditional bowyers mag. I wasn't sure how effective that would be getting a matched set. If you do use this method what type of wood are you using??

I have a grain scale and everything to make a spine tester i just haven't done it yet. Thanks for all your help!

Adam

[Grey Taylor]

I make all my own arrows and manage to sell quite a few, too.
Mostly I work with pre-made wood shafts from Hildebrand. I also work with bamboo shafts.
You can make your own wood dowel-type shafts but it's not a fast way to get matched shafts. You may have to go through a lot of board feet before you have a set, and then you've got all those other spines that you can't use. For my mind, it's easier and more economical to buy what I need.
Kinda the same thing on the hardware store dowels. You may have to sort through a few hundred to get a matched set. If you've got the time and the inclination to do that, go for it. Lots of guys do it, but it's not economical for me. Remember, too, hardware dowels come in 5/16" and 3/8". For arrows we usually use 5/16, 11/32, and 23/64.

Guy

[Butch Speer]

I like to use bamboo shoots. I weigh them & get them within 20 grains. They're a pain in the butt to straighten, at least for me. I always use thread or separated artificial sinew to wrap the front of the fletchings. Glues or tape don't seem to stick to bamboo very good. If you can't cut your nock in right behind a node, I'd wrap it also. I tried filing down the nodes & leaving them as is. Doesn't seem to matter so I leave them alone unless they really stick up. I'm shooting 620-640 grain bamboo arrows with Bear razorheads from a 55lb. Bear T/D Hunter. They shoot like darts, are forgiving of a bad release and hit hard. They're not bad on price except you may need to go thru quite a few to get the straighest ones. On the good side, they're very tough. They're not fancy looking but they sure work good.

[frank bullitt]

Adam, yes, yes and yes! First year building and shootin, rivercane. Love'em! They are durable and versatile. I also like to use 3/8 dowels, ramin wood, from the hardware for squirrel arrows. I leave 'em long and you can pratice planing them down to a size and more shootable spine for your bows.

 And as for cutting arrows from planks, My first set was from a board of fir, tight grained that I had leftover from a shed project. Sawed and planed into 6 shafts that went hunting with me that fall! Great way to experiment, try footing, nock tapering, barrel tapering and have fun!

  I remember Louie Armbuster of Zebra longbows had said, he needed some arrow shafts for tournament shootin, short on cash, so he tore out some window and door moulding. Fir moulding, and planed him some arrows! Good shootin, Steve

[MercilessMing]

I tried making shafts from maple.  A local lumber yard gave their scraps out free as firewood.  The results of the mass weight are not very consistent.  The spine weight are a bit more consistent, and is more depending on the diameter of the shafts.  However, a lot sanding to do after I route the square blank into dowel using a home made jig.  The sanding may also make the diameter not consistent along the shaft.

I recently bought some bamboo shafts from China.  They came straightened and spined to be 40-45#.  But I found they are more like 45#-50# on my spine tester.  The surface of the shafts are already ground so no sanding for me.  Shafts are a little bit "naturally tapered" so I use the smaller size end for fletching.  Tapering is tricky since the bamboo shaft is easy to get caught by the blade along the grain and split.  I will use sanding next time I build them.  I also seal the shaft because the surface of bamboo is already ground.  Crown dip using Rust-o-leum Paiter's touch and found that works well with Fletch-tite glue.  I matched the weight before I built them. With 100gr pt, 5" shield feather, the total arrow weight comes out 420-430gr of the dozen I made.   Out of the 100 shafts I received, the spines are very consistent, but the mass weight veries from 290gr to 420gr (33" length).  Most of them are grouped in the 340-390gr and allowed me to have enough to match several dozens.

I just got the bamboo shafts built for about 2 weeks.  The results is satisfied.  They recover well when comparing with cedar shafts when shot from my bows (45#).  Grouping is also good.

Ming

[Mudd]

I could.........I won't...........
I hate making arrows, but I love shooting them.

Way back when I tried. I bought a gross of Rose City shafts, I planted Japanese arrow bamboo, grey Dogwood, Indian Arrow bushes and a couple of different varieties of Viburnum

I ended up giving away most of the cedar shafts and I've never cut one arrow shaft from all of those plants. This past fall I offered a help another Trad-gang member harvest as much of any and all of these plants. Yet somehow we never got around to it. The road to hell IS paved with good intentions...lol

Now before I get a bunch of requests, I need everyone to know, I will make anyone else the same offer. The key to the wording is "I will help", I will not go out there and harvest it. You are free to come and take what you want, you are free to hire someone to come here and harvest what you want.
 If you come, I will help, if you send someone, I will not help.
I know.... weirdo but it is what it is.
God bless,Mudd

[Ed Isaacs]

I've made them by many techniques from ripping boards to straightening river cane and tonkin bamboo to fletching carbons.  It's all fun and something I'll continue to do.  Good luck and have fun!

[Tom Leemans]

You have to sand the rind a bit to get the glue to stick to the cane shafts.

[ron w]

I buy wood shafts,cedar,spruce,pine,lam birch and then make my arrows from there. I enjoy makeing arrows. Most are pretty plane but they shoot well. Its also fun to shoot arrows that you made yourself.

[bayoulongbowman]

There is a guy from North Carolina,  Bill I forgot his last name , got find his card...builds some of the prettiest arrows, wish I could remember his last name ...I still have 2DZ arrows he made for me!!! Mark

[Fletcher]

With a handle like Fletcher, I guess I do.  I pretty much make only wood arrows and use commercial shafting, altho I've made a bunch of arrows with hardware store ramin.  Still use ramin for kid arrows.

[FerretWYO]

Jack Skinner here in Cheyenne makes his own. He starts with a peice of lumber and ends up with beautiful arrows.

[cacciatore]

I just make my Cedars from stock shafts,but I love it

[SveinD]

I am waiting for a Jo-Jan Multi from 3Rivers.
Was supposed to be here before XMas but the Norwegian customs are very slow, especially at this time of year!
Have everything i need ready for the jig  
After making some, I'll probably get stuffed with intentions, like Mudd said, but it would be really nice to grow my own!
I will at least try making footed arrows sometime, cause they are lovely  

Merry X-Mas
-SveinD-

[dnovo]

I love making my own arrows. I do buy shafts but then from there I can customize them to suit me. I always fancy them up a bit. I used to crown dip all of them but now I experiment with cresting and splicing combinations. I use cedar, ash, and now am trying fir. Also have a set of footed arrows waiting to be finished. Part of the love of archery.

[rickshot]

Yup, I too make all my own. Lately, I’ve just been putting together some aluminums but once I get settled into a new location I’ll get back to doing woods too, cresting, and all. As to the question about 40 random dowels that in no way were intended to become arrows, well, my guess is that even loosely matched the odds would not be favorable.

I have several bows, to say the least, and another shooter sitting beside me to keep supplied…so I can almost justify not having a count on the number of arrows taking up floor space in the other room. It just may be that, once, I so looked forward to the days I’d receive lunch money (…so I could run to the sporting goods store and buy another arrow) that having “enough” arrows offers a special measure of comfort. Now, it’s making my own arrows that affords me the opportunity, when shooting, to never let the cost of an arrow enter the equation…works for me. Rick.

[snag]

I LOVE making arrows. Crown dip, cresting, sealing, bareshafting, fletching...making fletching, thinking of color combos and designs for cresting....I love it all!!! I have so many arrows made up it is ridiculous.

[ilarcher]

I love to make my own arrows. I use commercial shafting, its just easier. I think I could make them from boards but I don't want to spend that much time to make arrows. I have only played with wood and carbon shafts, havn't tried boo or river cane yet. I started making my own arrows because I could make them better than what I was getting from the local shop. I will always make my own arrows, I like to do it, plus there is something about shootting your own hand made arrows in my book. To me it is just part of being a trad shooter.

Oh btw I make as much as I can arrows, quivers,etc. its what brings peace to me.

[reddogge]

I love to make my own wood arrows.  It's a blank canvas to express your personal tastes in arrows.