Using a point/nock tapering jig with tail tapered shafts

[Maclean]

I'm going to make a jig for point and nock tapering on a disc sander. All of the jigs I've seen have a straight edge that you feed a parallel shaft along into the disc sander at either 5 or 11 degrees to get your point and nock tapers. I'm also planning to tail taper the shafts with a small block plane, going from 11/32 to 5/16 at 9 inches long. The shafts will be tail tapered first and sanded smooth, then point and nock tapered.

Here's my question. Will the tail taper affect the angle of the nock taper if the jig is made for parallel shafts? Anyone else using this method?

[Hermon]

I've never done what you plan, but why couldn't you cut the nock taper before you tail taper?

[Maclean]

Having not done this before I'm not sure if when cutting the tail taper I would affect the nock taper?

[trad_bowhunter1965]

It shouldn't because tail taper is graduel so it should work fine.

[LongbowDP]

You can use a hand planner to do the 9” tail taper. But I think it’s easier and more precise to make a tail taper jig and use a drill and sandpaper. Each arrow will have the exact same taper if built correctly. Hand planing there is room for error and taking off more on a side than the other. There are several Utube videos of the tail taper sanding jig, easy to make.
As for the point  and nock tapers, if the jig is made correctly should not matter if the shaft is 5/16” or 11/32. The groove in the jig should accommodate either and keep the same angle.

[Maclean]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will check out the YouTube videos on sanding jigs for tail tapers as well. 

[Orion]

Cut the point and nock tapers before you do the tail tapers?  Otherwise, yes, the tail taper will affect the angle of the nock taper.  You would have to shim the tapered shaft in your jig to arrive at the same nock taper you would have gotten had you done the nock taper first. 

[Maclean]

Orion, that was my thought as well.
Do you see any problems with doing the nock taper before tail tapering?

[dnovo]

You always want to put your nock taper on before tapering the shaft to get a true nock taper.

[Maclean]

Thanks dnovo, just what I was looking for.

[Walt Francis]

I use the same angle setup for both parallel and straight shafts.  Technically it should make make a difference, in reality, I haven’t been able to tell any difference when shooting them.

Here is a link with instructions for making a home made tapering jig by Rob DiStefano: https://www.tradgang.com/taper/
It works really well and takes about 30-60 seconds per shaft to taper.  It make a lot of dust, I drilled numerous holes between the angles,  and added a home made attachment hooked up to my dust collector.

[Maclean]

Thanks Walt!  Extremely helpful. 

[M60gunner]

I have a jig I bought for making the 9” taper. The directions say cut the nock taper first then plane down the tail taper

[Maclean]

Thanks M60! I knew that if I asked you guys I would get direct, real world experience. 

[LongbowDP]

Have any of you ever tapered a wood shaft lol. Having the taper centered on the shaft is what’s important. The center of the shaft does not change no matter if it’s a 5/16”, 11/32, or 23/64 shaft. You nock taper a 11/32 shaft and then tail taper it your going to taper part of the nock taper also, down to 5/16. If you tail taper a 11/32 shaft down to 5/16” then nock taper that 5/16” end what would be the difference. Does not matter if you nock taper before or after tail taper if the taper tool is made correctly.

[Orion]

 "Does not matter if you nock taper before or after tail taper if the taper tool is made correctly."

I would say it depends on the taper tool, but I don't know of any that it wouldn't affect.  For example, I use a taper board against a sanding disk on my table saw.  If I do the shaft taper first, then the angle is changed when I run the shaft along my taper board to cut the nock taper on the sanding disk.  Probably less than a half a degree, but it changes. To guarantee the same angle, I have to shim the shaft taper just before the nock, 1/2 of the diameter I reduced the shaft.  For example, if I go from 11/32 to 5/16, that's a difference of 1/32.  Half of that is 1/64, the thickness of a piece or tape out two for a shim near the nock end of the shaft. 

With the pencil sharpener taper tools, if the shaft is already tapered to close to 5/16, it won't fit into the 5/16 chuck/ferule, and it will be a tad loose in the 11/32 chuck, potentially yielding an uneven taper.

Just a lot less trouble to cut the nock taper before the shaft taper. 

[LongbowDP]

if the taper tool is made correctly.

This is the quote that matters,lol.

I have a nock/point taper block similar to the ones 3 rivers sells. The shaft lays in a trough and the point/nock angle is set. As long as the block is square to the sanding disk it does not and could not matter what the diameter of the shaft is. The block does not know the size of the shaft, the sanding disk does not care what size the shaft is the block sets the angle. There is no difference. If your finding a difference it’s in your tail taper. I can use my sanding jig and taper an 11/32 shaft to 5/16” the Bear Paw hand held sharpener does the same thing in point/nock tapers. If the tail taper is off then the jig or hand held taper tool will be off. That’s one of the main reasons the sanding jig is so much more accurate than hand planning tail taper on a shaft

[Orion]

I understand what you're saying.  I don't have a V-channel on my taper board to keep the shaft centered.  The shaft itself rests against the side of the taper board.  Thus, if it's tapered, it meets the sanding disk at a slightly different angle. Agree that the sanding jig is more accurate than the pencil sharpeners. 

Regardless, all of the potential pitfalls can easily be avoided by doing the nock taper before the shaft taper, and it doesn't add time or effort to do so.