arrow build along

[stretch2]

ok i am going to try and take you through a arrow build along. i first read about this in the Traditional bowhunter mag then tried it for myself and this is my experience with it. i first got into traditional archery becase it was cheap and fun to do so i dont like spending so much money on arrows when i break so many. so this is great for me. and please forgive the spelling errors.

[stretch2]

first of all you have to select the proper board stock to make your arrows from. the type of wood is up to you but the grains have got to run straight the lenth of the board.
 
you cant really see good but this is a piece of pine about 4ft long with strait grain. this board cost me nothing because i was working at a lumber yard when i got this and they use them for stickers.

[stretch2]

after you have the board stock you need to rip them into 1/2 inch square pieces. i used a table saw. this board is about 10 inches wide and 1 1/2 thick so you can figure how many arrws come from this and when you cut this up you want to leave about four inches longer than what your arrow is going to be. you will see why later
 

[stretch2]

next is the process of cutting it into a round and i done this using the veritas dowel and tenon cutter from veritas. it cost me $26 with shipping for this tool.
 

[stretch2]

now to use this i screwed the cutter to a piece of 1x2 then screwed that to my bench. then about 6 to 10 inches from the output of the cutter i screwed a piece of 3x3 with a 3/8 in hole through the center of it to act as a rest for the shaft coming out cause if you dont have a support then the shaft comes out looking like crap and sometimes it breaks. then you need a drill and a 1/2 in drive socket and a bolt that fits into the socket. use the 1/2 in side of the socket to fit over the shaft and the bolt you put in you drill
 
when you got that then you can use the drill to spin the shaft trough the cutter. it cuts real nice, you may have to ajust your cutter so it cuts nice but they have directions on how to do that that comes with the cutter. when you come to the end of the shaft you will have to stop and pull the shaft back through the cutter and you see why you have to leave the shaft longer cause you end up not being able to cut the whole shaft. or at least i have not figured out how.
 
and then you end up with a 3/8 in shaft
 

[stretch2]

next you have to work shaft until you get it to your spine weight. how i do this is with a finger planer. laying the shaft on the bench i work the shaft a foot at a time running the planer down the shaft then turning the shaft about 1/16 of an inch then do the same again intil i get it close to spine weight
 
then i sand it with 60 grit sand paper folded over and wrapped around the shaft that finishes rounding the planer marks off the shaft
 
be sure to check your spine often on your spine tester. i use one that i built and it seems to work fine. i got the plans for that on this site but dont remember where. i am sure if you look up spine tester you will see the post on it.
 

[stretch2]

next you can straiten the shaft if needed using your method of choice. then stain and varnish or poly your shaft. then you can cut the taper for the nock and glue that on then fletching the shaft. i use a home made fletcher i thought up that works great i can put the mesurements for that on here if you would like but its real simple
 
then you can put the point taper on or do it while you do your nock taper. and then you have the finished shafts
 
they have different colors on them cuase i used diferent stains to find the one i liked since these are roving arrows i didnt care. so if you are looking at a cheaper way to make your own arrows look into this setup and have fun with it. like i said before this is my experience with it you may find a different way to do it that suits you better. this works for me. i hope you guys liked this let me know if you have any questions i will try to answer them. thanks

[Hojo]

Pretty cool, Stretch2.  Thanks for sharing.  How much straightening did you need to do ?

[Hermann From Bavaria]

this is cool! thanks for sharing.

[stretch2]

as far as straightening goes alittle with these ones but it can depend on the material. if you start with stright boards you dont have to do as much work after.

[ChristopherO]

Stretch2,
Thanks for the build a long.  I've been considering a Veritas dowl cutter for a few months but haven't made up my mind if it is worth it.  It seems that you are pretty happy with yours, though.  Comment on it if you wouldn't mind.  
So far I've used carbons and cannot complain with their quaility.  I've footed mind to keep them in good running order.  Do you think the wood arrows are even near the carbons for consistancy and accuracy?
Do you use heat to straighten and harden the shafts?
BTW, if you were to chuck the cut end of the dowl into your drill you could continue to cut the last 4" of the squared end through the cutter if it is worth it for you.  Just a thought.

[ProArcher]

Wow stretch2 thanks
How about some info on the home made tooling? they look cool

[RaybowTx]

ChristopherO ... with matched and quality made wood shafts will leave you way behind as you'll or no one will be able to shoot the accuracy the arrows are capable of.  Only a shooting machine could.

stretch2... way cool man.  thanx for the tutorial. Very interesting....

Ray........

[stretch2]

thanks for the comments. Christopher... the dowel cutter is very cool. it did take me a bit to ajust it so it was cutting good. if you slid the blade too far then you shaft would come out looking like a barber pole it had this stripe from the cutter that put a groove in it. if you put the blade too far out then it would feed through the cutter and most of the time broke the shaft. so my thoughts is after you get it tuned where you want the cutter then your golden. well worth the money for me. and the dowel cutter is made very good its not like the tools you buy from harbor frieght, not that they are bad they just lack in quaility. i hope this helps you.

[stretch2]

pro archer.... i will try and put some specs up on my home made tools. the flecther and the spine tester i hope is what you want specs on.

[ProArcher]

Mainly the spine tester stretch2, But yes any home built equiptment is a plus

[sulphur]

almost exactly the way i do it.  nice build.  I might suggest using folded up sanding belts, or just 60 grit paper, in a woodworking vise to take it from 3/8 to 11/32 or 23/64. A grain scale or any small scale is handy to, when matching spine and weight.  I did it with a hand planer for a while but man it hard on your hands.  great build along!!  I wish i had seen your homemade fletcher before i went out and bought one.  Oh well.

[stretch2]

thanks for the comments. the spine tester i use i got the plans for it on this site i think its tj's spine tester. its real easy to make he has all the directions there. if i can do it then anyone can.