Tight budget arrows

[Willrett]

OK this may help some other cash strapped newbies.

Making arrows using dowels seems to be the cheapest so far, especially since they most likely wont last to long. Currently I'm looking at;

$33.61 for 36" Hickory Dowels Diameter 1/4" Qty: 100

$13.99 for Drawn Steel Field Points Diameter 1/4"(crimp or glue) Qty: 100. I can cut nocks in the shafts.

$41.97 Gateway 3" Right-Wing Feathers Qty: 150.

Total 89.57 for 50 hickory field arrows(not including shipping or stain/sealent). All I would need to make the other 50 is feathers.

Any ideas or suggestions feel free to post. If its a bad idea please let me know.

[Bjorn]

Not a bad idea at all! Make sure they are straight, and the right spine.........and have at it!!

[Paul Mattson]

1/4" dowels do not make a good arrow.  The diameter is way to small.  I would go no smaller than 5/16".  Another thing to consider is the spine.  You will need a spine tester. With out one there is the danger of shooting a way under spined arrow.  You can find correctly spined and wt matched arrow shafts for around $25.00 to $36.00.

[BEN]

Twig Archery sells pre-finished shafts that are straightened, spine and weight matched, for about $33 last I checked. He is located here in Coshocton, but also does mail orders and sells on *-bay

Ben

[chrisg]

ditto if your bow is 50# then those are way to thin and may blow up on you. Dowelling is not a carbon shaft! Go thicker. 5/16 dowels will do it and they are not much more costly. You can use the heavier steel points and still cut your string nocks into the shafts. This sounds like it will get expensive but your shooting will improve faster. No sense in fighting poor gear and your own lack of skill when trying something new!
chrisg

[Carbon Caster]

5/16 Ramin if you shoot a lighter weight bow (40-50#) with a normal draw length.  You can still use the 1/4" points.  Buy 100 full length feathers and cut them into 3.5" sections at the quill.  Should give you enough for 100 arrows and you can use scissors to cut to shape or buy a chopper.  You can build a crude spiner for pennies as well.  Personally I would use glue on nocks with 5/16" shafts though.  Still cheap.  Heavier spines can be weakened with judicious scraping with a small hand plane or scraper.  They can also be finished out to a longer length for your use.

[lt-m-grow]

I am taking the post as is and addressing "tight budget arrows" and I don't have any intention of starting a wood vs. other arrow material battle either.

If you truly want the cheapest arrow you can shoot, take your $100 and buy carbon arrows.  Yes you will only get about a dozen, but I am willing to bet that they will last you longer that 50 wood arrows if you shoot a bunch, especially stump shooting.  

All arrow materials are interesting and wood is cool, but carbon will just simply outlast all the rest which means you are getting more shots for the same hundred bucks.

[Wannabe1]

I'm with lt-m-grow on this one. You will definitely get more shooting time in the field for your money.

[Beepy]

I go to stores after hunting season looking for arrows.... usually they have the cheaper brand carbons that you can buy one at a time that are set up with vanes for wheelie bows.  Strip and fletch with feathers...  I can find them for about 3.50-4.00 an arrow.... not super cheap but cheap'er'  and will last longer than woodies.  One of these days I will have enough time to put into making woodies, but right now I barely have time to fletch and shoot!

[Jeff Strubberg]

Another vote for a dozen carbons.  Unless you are losing them (in which case you need to take a look at where you practice), a dozen carbons will far outlast anything else you could buy.

Also, you will lose/break a lot fewer arrows if you have a tuned dozen than a half-tuned hundred.

[Bowana]

Beman Bowhunter shafts are about $45.00 for a dozen. Can't go wrong with them.

[James Wrenn]

Beman Bowhunter shafts and you will have 12 arrows that spine the same,weigh the same and shoot the same instead of the hodgepodge of stuff you will get with dowels.  :D

[csdqm2]

I'm with Mr Lois, All though I favor wood. There is a lot to making arrows: (Spine) you'll need a spine tester. Fletching jig, a cheapo is gonna cost ya about 30 bucks. Tapering tool, I wouldn't rely on the ones that look like the old hand held pencil sharpeners. A scale that measures in grains, I use my RCBS powder scale. Carbons are tough, strait and stay that way till you break them. If you favor wood you should take a look at a couple of the sponsor sites here also  www.arrowwoods.com.  Ash is one of their least expensive woods and Bill can set you up with a dozen for under 70$ finished. Tapered spine and weight shafts start at around 25$

[csdqm2]

And Uh... "Rangers Lead The Way"

[Killdeer]

Check to see if the 3" feathers you are buying are really a bargain. If you buy full-length feathers,you can get at least two fletches per feather at 3" each. Trim with scissors.

Look into ramin dowels. I figure a newbie will be losing as many shafts as they break, so wood is high on my list as a cheaper shaft.
If you reallyreallyreally want to save money, look into natural shafting. Wild rose canes, viburnum and dogwood grow out your way, and I have seen Phragmites (river cane) in Glen Burnie.

Killdeer

[marshall brown]

Hey Will, get you some gold tip blems. I guess big jims bow company sells them now since they bought out sipsey river. They're about 40 bucks. Send me your address and I'll give you a fletching jig that I don't use anymore.

[Gray Wolf]

If you can shoot a 28" arrow there's a post in the Arrows and Arrows and Components for arrows @ $45. I have seen  this arrows can't go wrong at that price. Posted by Hawk check it out for 27 or 28 inch arrows.

[Willrett]

Yeah thanks guys while I was out today I checked some local places for dowels and realized the 1/2 was way to small. I have 6 carbons now and one of the places I plan to practice this year will have 2-3 targets with different conditions that I can shoot from within a few feet, so that is another reason I was looking for a bunch of arrows but I'm starting to think more about just getting 12 carbons.

[SCATTERSHOT]

Well, I have used the Birch from American Woodcrafters with good results. The 5/16" spine in the mid 40's as a rule. If you decide to go that route, remember that they are dowels, not arrow shafts, and not all will be suitable. At $25.00/100, though, you can afford to cull a few.

Good luck!

[R H Clark]

You will shoot a matched set of arrows much better.You can get a good set of carbons for $40-$50 a dozen and if you have a good target they will last for years.

A target can be a big box stuffed with plastic or old clothes.Just make sure to cut out any buttons or zippers.

Tell us what you are shooting and your draw length and I'm sure someone can get you very close of the correct spine shafts.