Douglas-fir arrows

[Ari]

Just wondering if anyone has tried tapering Douglas-fir arrow shafts with the pencil sharpener typed taper tool and what kind of results are expected?

[magnus]

It works but I prefer sanding. The cheap plastic taper tool doesn't do as good a job as an acutaper.

[Rob DiStefano]

works just fine.

[snag]

Because of the dense growth rings of doug fir you better have a sharp tool to taper them. I use a Woodchuck to sand them down.

[PEARL DRUMS]

It works, but as stated a sander works better. Dont let it keep you from trying some, your pencil sharpener style will do the job. They will chip a little here and there, but glue and points/nocks hold just fine.

[jsweka]

I tried one of those Tru-Center taper tools from 3Rivers on douglas fir shafts once and I might as well have chewed them with my teath.

I then made myself a 5 and 11 degree jig for the disk sander and had excellent results.

The Tru-Center tool does work well on cedar or hardwoods.

[Bjorn]

Point and nock tapers are essential to good arrows. If you are doing more than a few the pencil taper type tools are disappointing when it comes to Fir. Either buy them tapered or use a sander and jig (woodchuck) this has been my experience.

[meathead]

I gave up on the hand held taper tools.  I have a taper jig set up on a disk sander.

[Ari]

I'll have to give it a try and maybe get some replacement blades for the sharpener or try sharpen them with the KME.

[Charlie Lamb]

One of the major problems with pencil sharpener type taper tools is that they don't usually even start out very sharp.
If you have the skill the hone the blades it can only be a good thing. Ease of getting the job done and accuracy improve when the tool is sharp.

[Jim Wright]

I have a Woodchuck sander and have used pencil type taper tools. I find the use and discard 3rivers model to be very good. there is some slight chipping that you don't get with the sander but either way has worked fine for me.