Making arrow shafts using the Veritas Dowel Maker

[Roy from Pa]

Fujimo my setup is just like yours is. I have a lot of trouble with the stock twisting and braking inside the cutters. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

[snag]

So, they offer a straight blade and a curved one. I am assuming you guys are using the curved one????

[akgator]

Snag - I don't know about a curved blade. The dowel maker has two straight cutters. Do a search on Lee Valley's site for "dowel inserts for arrow makers" if you are considering the Veritas Dowel Maker.

[Don Stokes]

The doweler that I used to make Superceder shafts had curved blades. Boogers to sharpen, but worked well. Most problems with jamming, twisting, etc. were caused by blades not scary sharp.

[fish n chicks]

My set-up has curved blades. Works very well because the feed is gradual. I would certainly recommend them.

[fujimo]

the first blade- the rough cut blade has a curved leading edge- but after the curve it is straight, and the second- final cut blade is also straight.- i am going to drop in a pm i sent to stringstretcher here.

"the single most important thing, is super sharp blades- that eliminates tearout.
then when i was using the "V" blocks as leadout supports( as per manufacturers suggestion!!)- the dowell would just flip up and tear like crazy and break- so i went to the "holey" blocks- vast improvement.
and both blades each need to take a little of the material off- kinda needs to be split- about 70% with the first blade and about 30% with the finish blade.
infeed nice and stable.
if you would like( no offence intended- just not sure were your setup needs input) i can do a run through with photos for sharpening tools. i am a saddle maker- and we need to get the knives so sharp that they can glide through 1/4" of back leather in one pass- so we get a lot of experience with that-
i could even do it as a "buildalong"- if people were keen.
then as high a rpm as your drill will do and i take about 60 secs per dowell- i will time that for you tomorrow."

[snag]

 The photo/tutorial on sharpening and a buildalong sounds good to me. Always willing to learn from someone that is experienced. Thanks, David

[fujimo]

i will be posting my swap bow tomorrow- our nation wide postal strike let up yesterday!!!- then i will do something on sharpening.
would really work well with some video.
how easy is it to post short video segments- and how does one go about it- i have just barely learnt to post pics.
i do have a good digital video camera.

[Jeff Smith]

Fujimo, I believe you are talking about the other higher priced jig they offer.they offer a much cheaper jig with a single curved blade with an allen screw for adjusting blade depth. It works pretty good and you can shim the blade a bit to decrease diameter. Most twisting of shafts is because the blade is into the groove too far or blade is not level.

[fujimo]

thanks for clarifying that jeff.
and the solution too.
some days , from a cost point of view- i wish i had bought the cheaper setup. but i sure like the finish my jig gives, and the ability to change diameters with a twist of a dial.
the sitka i use is so incredibly consistant- run one shaft- check the spine- and then adjust diameter accordingly- pretty soon all the shafts are within 5# of each other.
i could never get that with the hickory or ash that i use to run.
but for the difference in price i could also  have bought many many matched shafts!!!
oh well!!

[fish n chicks]

fujimo - the youtube video I posted was my first, and it was very easy. I made a youtube account and uploaded the video. It took some time, but it was very easy. Then you just copy/paste your link.