MAKEING WOODIES

[Florida bowhunter]

okay how many of you make your own wood arrows,who do you get your shafts from...? How long doesnit take you to make a dozen, do you use paralell shafting or tapered..?

lots of us. surewood for doug fir, wapiti for cedar, One day of finsh, two days if that finish is thinned watco oil, one day of short bursts to glue up fletching a dozen arrows, an hour to mount points and nocks. Mostly tapered.

[Mike Vines]

I've had 2 dozen (1 each for both of my boys) on my work bench for about 2 months.  Between hunting seasons, holidays, work and life, it sometimes takes a while, but for a great quality set, it might take me a week...including dry times.  I wait, at a minimum, 24 hours between every step.  There is no need to rush.

When it comes to wood arrows, the only thing I use is Surewood  Douglas fir.

[The Ole' Bowhunter]

I've been using Port Orford paralell shafts for over 30 years becase they are easy to straighten, are tough and afforadable besides having stood the test of time by our traditional bowhunting forefathers. Since I am never in a hurry when handcrafting a dozen or so arrows, I'ed have to say that it takes me about a week and a half to complete a dozen shafts which includes hand straightening, a light sanding with 0000 steel wool, crown-dippining 10" at the nock end (3 coats) cresting, spraying the cresting with 3 coats of clear acrylic then hand polying 3 coats before fletching the shafts with the standard 3 feathers then hot gluing and centering either field point, blunt or broadhead.

[Florida bowhunter]

Sounds like a lot of work.. but there is nothing like takeing a animal with a hand crafted arrow..

[meathead]

Surewood Douglas fir shafts are about as good as you can get. You could build a dozen in a couple days but it always seems to take me a lot longer than that. February and March are arrow building months for me. Not much else to do that time of year here. I ordering shafts in the next couple weeks to play with when it is cold and snowy.

[Bjorn]

Surewood is hard to beat for shafting-I don't even check for straightness anymore. I think most people who make wood arrows do it because they love making and shooting wood.
How long does it take to make a dozen? The longer the better!  

[atatarpm]

Some arrows can take me up to 5 days to build depending on how much work I put into it, double foots, wing foots, lighting groves, and  other things such as cooking and finish work. Also the particulars of working with different woods.
All that said HELP I can't  put it down.    

[Jim now in Kentucky]

I've been making my own shafts for 15 years or more. I use Douglas fir, spruce, even yellow pine. Since I can always make more, I'm more willing to take questionable shots at a running STUMP or PINE CONE.    

Here's my setup.

   
   

[slowbowjoe]

We just shoot woods here. Have been making up my own for 2-3 years. All my arrows right now (not very many, but all I have) are Doug Fir, mostly from Surewood. Have also shot spruce from Hildebrand, those shoot great from my wife's Toelke longbow.

I stain 'em, let them dry for a day. Wipe on a coat of sealer ( I use Tung Oil ) and let that coat dry around 24 hrs. A second, and usually third coat, with 24 hrs. between. Usually a simple crest, freehand Sharpie and a spin tester between coats somewhere.
Then nocks, fletching, and points. Oh, and checking straightness/straighteng before, during, and after fully assembled.
So maybe five days time  - if I work on them daily.