tapering wooden shafts

[backstrap38]

i know this has probably been talked about on here before but i was wandering if i could use a plain old pencil sharpener to taper wooden dowel shafts
i dont care how pretty it looks and i dont need them to shoot perfect i just want to make some arras to shoot aerial targets with and the occasional small game hunt
i plan on using 5/16" dowel rods from the hardware store and dont have the extra cash for a taper tool right now  
i may stain the arrows and i have quite a bit of tru-flight full length featers for spiral fletching
that i may cut down and use
any help would be apppreciated

[Bjorn]

Pencil sharpener is the wrong angle. You could do better with a small sharp knife and sandpaper or rasp.

[Stumpkiller]

Point tapers are 5 degrees and nock tapers are 11 degrees.  For a few bucks ($6) you can get pencil-style sharpeners that do a credible job.

 

Three Rivers has their taper tool on sale for $16 and that is the deluxe version of the twist cut tapering tool.

 

[centaur]

I've never used anything but the pencil sharpener tool like Stumpkiller pictured. They are cheap and easy to use.

[kennym]

I whipped this up for my disc sander cause doug fir don't take to the sharpener type pictured above. Works great!

 

[meathead]

I have rigged my disk sander up similar to Kenny's.  Perfect tapers every time.

[Larry m]

Woodchuck Taper tool from 3 Rivers!!
Fast and very accurate for consistency.....
Nice homemade set up Kenny!!

[Stumpkiller]

I use a Woodchuck myself and am very happy with it.

 

I also have one of the Three Rivers Tru-Tapers and that works very well - though not quite as well.

[kennym]

Thats a bit slicker than mine ,Charlie!!  

[AkDan]

kenny, chuckm up in a drill if you try it with the hand helds...I also use the disc but remember the days of the handheld misery till a buddy showed me the drill trick.  Works slick!  Only other place I've seen it is on Garys vid.  Wish 3 rivers still sold the extensions for the true center.  It needed some tweaking but overall was a very good tool....setup was an issue and most didnt have the patience to get things right before the blades dulled.....in comes the drill to the rescue.

Stump, cut a very slight shoulder in that taper and it'll be perfectly true to the shaft.  The benefit is perfect alignment (as long as the arrow is straight), and it looks clean and professionally done.  

It will also show you how poorly most arrow shafts are turned!  I think some of its due to moisture, swelling and contracting slightly leaving shafts 'out of round'.   Where others are just poor quality control in the dowling process itself.   Either way it exists and drives me nutz!   You can see it with a good crester also like the arrow specialies.  Something that can get slight bends out if there are any creating perfect pin strips...if the shafts out of round you'll notice it immediatly!  Now I'm just ranting lol........