Arrows from Lumber

[Dublin Joe]

I'm expecting my 3/8" Veritas dowel making tool any day now and want some preliminary feedback.  Have any of you used this tool?

I have alder, basswood, poplar, pine, mahogany, and maple to try out and can get cedar and oak pretty easily.  What's your experience using any of these as arrows?

My plan is to rip square dowels then feed them though, reducing them to 3/8".  It's supposed to be adjustable so I'll likely try to go as small as possible since I'm not shooting a bow over 50#.  I use the combination of power drill and belt sander to taper, with consistent results, so I can barrel taper the shafts and try various designs.

I'm looking forward to your words of wisdom.

Joel

[walkabout]

i use poplar dowels for self arrows, make good stumpers/small game if you get good grain.cedar is one of the better woods for arrows, and ive heard of people using oak dowels with no problems. id guess though that red oak would be tough considering the large porous grain, which is why i never really bothered with it. your method sounds right, i always taper tha back 10 inches of my self arrows to help them in flight a little bit, not sure if its backward from what everyone else does but i like it.lol. i also compress my shafts with something round and smooth, lately ive been using a big round combination padlock, works pretty well. this helps to compress the grain, although if youre going to stain the shafts do the staining first. really with arrows the sky is the limit. you can make em any way you want and you wont have to worry about spending 100$ on 60 of em.lol

[Jason Scott]

I have done what you are doing. I used poplar through my varitas 3/8" dowel maker. I got some coaching from "Sulpher" that frequents this site. As well as the you tube videos that Sam Harper has. Set the cutting blade right and have something with a small hole to guide and stabilize the dowel as it comes out of the cutter and they will come out straight and smooth. Then make a hinged sanding block to reduce diameter until you reach the spine deflection you need.

I just clamped the 3/8" cutter in my table vise.
For the guide hole I used a simple cardboard box clamped down behind the cutter and slowly ran a dowel through until it touched the box and cut a dime size hole in it. Then drill away. If you don't have a guide it will wobble the dowel too much and make it very rough and irregular or break while cutting. A shoe box size would work great, set it up about six inches from the cutter and you can have a dime size hole going in the box and another quarter size hole about a foot further comming out of the box so it can have two guides for more stability.

For the sanding block I used a 2" x 2" x 4" piece of any kind of wood. Screwed a small hinge on one side, drilled a 3/8" hole down the length of its center and then cut it in half so it would open like a clam. Lay some sand paper in the groove and lightly sandwich clamp the sanding block on a dowel chucked in a drill and sand up and down the spinning shaft until it spines right. Drill in one hand and sanding block in the other hand.

[Jason Scott]

There will be a garbage can full of shavings left over after two dozen shafts are made. Make a bunch of them at one time, some will not pass the quality control department. The ones that do will be as good as any shaft you can buy. Poplar is very durable and easy to straighten and has the right weight for hunting deer.

[Jason Scott]

If it is the $40 dollar model dowel maker there isn't a lot of cutting blade travel to make smaller diameter shafts. The adjustment is mainly to adjust for smooth cutting. You can reduce the diameter with the sanding block very fast with a drill.

[Dublin Joe]

thanks, guys.

It is the less expensive model, but only $21.  It's like a tapering tool for nocks and tips but the dowel keeps going through.

I like the idea of stabilizing.

The hinged sanding block is a great idea, too.  I can see making batches of identical shafts, ready to test for spine, and truly matched arrows at the end of it all.

[Jason Scott]

That's the one I have. I got the socket, adapter and after shipping it was $40. Thing to remember is that with a lot of these woods, depending on grain, the diameter will vary on a matched spine dozen. If you get a good board with consistent straight grain with large growth rings they will be more consistent in diameter and weight. But I see that you are a woodworker by occupation so you know that already. Some of mine are 11/32 and some are 23/64 for a spine of around 60# and a finished arrow weight of 550 grns +- 20 grns. Poplar is more durable than cedar and it is easy to get 10+ gpp.

[DogVilleDane]

I have the same as well - and use it to make both Pine arrows and footed Ipe/Pine arrows. Work beautifully, but I have not been able to get a "fine" surface yet. (Even though I have done the setup that Sam Harper has).

I just use a 60 gritt sandpaper, that I fold a couple of times in the hand (Remember a glove!) to reduce thicknes, and that takes care of most of the scratches and surface errors of the arrow.

I have also started using a layer of ductape inside the socket, as the Pine were a little too small (and soft) to fit nice and secure within that one.

A little link to some of the arrows that I have made using this tool:

 http://www.bergquistpoulsen.dk/2010/07/28/finished-my-first-flight-arrows/

[Big Riser]

THIS WORKS VERY WELL WITH POPLAR A CORDLESS DRILL WORKS WELL WITH SANDPAPER TO GET THE SPINE AND SIZE YOU WANT.MORE SIZE THAN SPINE.

[RAU]

Heres a video showing how this guy makes arrows. I think hes using the tool you 'rer talking about