Start up cost to start making arrows?

[6 POINT]

I use carbon arrows and one of the reasons I do is that in the long run their the cheapest you can make. All you need is a fletching jig and either have the shafts cut to length where you buy them or get a little back saw and fixture from a hobby store about $10.00. I use a jo jan fletching jig and it works just fine for about half the cost of a Bitz.Try fletching tape its great and very fast.

[Rich LaBombard]

I buy the plain cedar shafts from 3Rivers,
and wipe a coat (or two) of stain on them.

[poekoelan]

The bitz is a great jig from what I understand, but my 30 dollar job has lasted for years and it's still going strong.

Make yourself a spine tester so you can use dowels and avoid the high cost of prespined shafts. You can make one for under 20 dollars.

You'll need a scale too. Those 25 dollar digital ones are hard to beat both for cost and ease of use.

I actually started a thread like this awhile back and my total output for tools was like 120 dollars. Can't remember the exact amount but it was less than 2 dozen finished arrows.

[Bpaul]

Those 25 dollar digital ones are hard to beat both for cost and ease of use.
 

I'd love to get a hold of a decent scale for around this cost, can someone point me in the right direction?

(don't think it hijacks the thread LOL the O.P. may want one too     )  

Brandon

[Elusive One]

Ok dowels vs shafts guys.... since I have more time than money would dowels be the way to go?  Or boards into squares into arrows?  I dont mind working on something in the least bit.  And if boards..are they boards I can get at Lowes (Only real lumber place in town.)

[pjsnell]

Your cheapest option for shafts is to use shoots.  There is a lot of good info about what kind of shoots to look for, and how to make arrows out of them, on this site.  If you are resourceful, you can pretty much make anything you need for next to nothing. In most cases there is a thread on this site showing you how someone made it.

[SCATTERSHOT]

The shafts you buy from archery suppliers are ready to be made into arrows as is. They are spined into groups, and you can have the nock and point tapers cut if you wish. The dowels are just that, dowels. They will need to be sorted for grain runout, knots, etc. and then flexed to be sure they really want to be arrows. After that, you will need to spine them to your bow. This can be as simple as shooting them to see how they fly, or you can buy or make a spine tester. Remember, a longer arrow and big feathers will cover a lot of variance in spine.

There will be some waste in 100 dowels, but at .25 cents each, it's still worth it, IMO.

[poekoelan]

I'm with Scattershot. It's true that the cheapest option is shoots. But shoots require a good bit more work than dowels. So does planing them from boards. When I consider everything....the price of prespined shafts vs the work and time involved with shoots or boards, dowels are the best option for me. I have more than a couple bows of different draw weights and arrow pass widths, so I can use more than one spine group. Plus there are arrows for the wife and kids. So the only dowels that won't get used are those with bad grain run out.

If you want only a couple spine groups from dowels, my suggestion would be to buy 3/8 and sand them until you can reach the spine you want. You can also leave them longer or shorter to manipulate spine.

And even if you use shoots or plane them from boards, you are still going to end up with a wide variety of spines.

Ultimately it's a personal choice. I definately admire well made shoot arrows. I'd just like to take some of the work and time out of it and end up with good arrows a little faster. But NOT at the prices they want for prespined shafts.

[ringo64]

the advatage of using natural shoots, river cane or reed is that the spine is less important and more forgiving than turned arrows.  also, even if you do buy shafts, which there is no real reason to do, self nock them (with tile cutting blade on a hack saw frame).  at most, you might pay for field points for your arrows.  the idea of even suggesting buying carbon arrows is pretty absurd (especially on a traditional sight) there is no possible way that they are cheaper than wood arrows.  if you have more time than money, why not try making some primitive arrows....it is fun, satisfying and cheap (free).

[Wudstix]

I have a Jo-Jan Multi fletch, 6 arrows $82.  Shafts, fell into 50 tapered Cedar for $42.  Feathers full length 100 @$35. Chopper $23. Glue $2, nocks $0.10 each.  tain, whatever was in the garage when we bougfht the house.  
Even with aluminum buying shafts and feathers will save you a few dollars per dozen.  Ovwer time it pays off.
Carbons do last longer but then they have no soul. :-)