Author Topic: Hickory Arrow Build A-Long - ("Lookee what Denton gave me!") (Read 923 times)

Bowspirit · « **Reply #20 on:** August 02, 2011, 11:39:00 PM »

limbshaker,

I'm not sure how many he has in stock, but I've heard Bill carries 5/16" hickory shafts. Heard of spines like 60/65. Could be just what you need. Besides, these shafts owe alot of their heft to their spine. My 75/80 spines ran between 700 & 820 total arrow grain weight.

Bowspirit · « **Reply #21 on:** August 04, 2011, 05:49:00 PM »

Still here guys. I've got a shaft started a day earlier than the rest that I'm going to finish tonight with some polyu. I just wanted to point out that I have missed some important odds & ends on arrow making. For that, I just want to point everyone in the direction of Rob DiStefano's excellent how to.

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000119

This thread isn't quite about making a typical set of woodies. Plenty of them around, and all great and well-done. This is more about producing a straight, quality set of hardwood arrows, and the extra care that goes in to making them.

Be back tonight...

Bowspirit · « **Reply #22 on:** August 04, 2011, 10:21:00 PM »

On with the clear coat...

My favorite wood arrow finish is MinWax clear gloss polyurethane. Applied it a bunch of different ways, and my favorite was dipping in a 70:30 ratio of poly and paint thinner. Glass smooth. But a hand wiped coat works just as well.
You can do as many coats as you like over the danish oil, but I just do 6, buffing with very fine steel wool between each one. I especially favor a top coat of this stuff because every adhesive I own bonds perfectly with it. Duco and super glue just melt into it. My prefered fletch tape gave me fits when used with water-based poly, but not with polyurethane.

This shot is of a shaft sealed with polyu and danish oil, and one left bare. As you can see, the poly dulls the brightness of the bare wood. Perfect for hunting. Any shine can be cared for with a final buffing of steel wool.

Tommarrow...point tapering, nocks, and fletching the final product...

Frenchymanny · « **Reply #23 on:** August 05, 2011, 08:44:00 AM »

jamesh76 · « **Reply #24 on:** August 05, 2011, 11:55:00 AM »

Looking good so far.

drewsbow · « **Reply #25 on:** August 07, 2011, 06:10:00 PM »

Guru · « **Reply #26 on:** August 07, 2011, 08:22:00 PM »

Excellent buddy!

NIGEL01 · « **Reply #27 on:** August 07, 2011, 08:38:00 PM »

I've been contemplating trying some hickory shafts myself, thanks for the exellent info!

Overspined · « **Reply #28 on:** August 08, 2011, 09:13:00 AM »

So will fletch tape stick to polyurethane? Water based or regular? I have avoided it because I didn't think it would.

Lone Ranger · « **Reply #29 on:** August 08, 2011, 10:35:00 AM »

Can you put that wipe on Poly over the top of polycrylic?

Frenchymanny · « **Reply #30 on:** August 08, 2011, 04:27:00 PM »

glenbo · « **Reply #31 on:** August 08, 2011, 05:22:00 PM »

Great thread Chris.Hardwood shafts can be a bear to straighten but really pack a wallop.I have used tapered maple,ash ,and laminated birch.I shoot bow weights in the 50 lb range so your 60#er would do a nice job with trajectory.Looking foward to the finished project and good luck at Muzzy. glen

Frenchymanny · « **Reply #32 on:** August 15, 2011, 07:13:00 PM »

JohnnyWayne · « **Reply #33 on:** August 15, 2011, 07:29:00 PM »

Waiting for more, great stuff

Bowspirit · « **Reply #34 on:** August 16, 2011, 02:53:00 AM »

Thanks for keeping this one going, Manny.

Sorry to keep you guys waiting, but my arrow making supplies are currently in Westchester with TG member Skipmaster1. That said, I've been able to make do.

Starting off from where we left off, I mark each shaft where I want them cut and wrap behind each mark with tape.

I usually use masking tape, but this electrical tape worked in a pinch. The tape prevents splintering of the shaft, and gives me a guide when using a hand saw. I prefer using a table saw to cut my shafts, but that's just not an option late at night.

With each shaft cut to length, I begin to glue on the nocks. I like to place a florescent, see-through nock on each taper before gluing on whatever nock I may be using. This enables me to be certain of the fit between nock and taper. After that, it's just a smear of Duco cement to glue them into place.

Bowspirit · « **Reply #35 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:07:00 AM »

Now, my taper tool is currently not in my possession, but thanks to the owner of a local proshop, I was able to pick up a cheap used model and apply the point tapers. Gotta love those Bearpaw tools.

A lot of hardwoods require a grinder of sorts to cut a decent taper. IMHO, it IS the best way to go for uniform tapers. The same proshop where I picked up the taper tool used to let me use their Woodchuck grinder. But, I usually get nice, smoke-thin shavings off of hickory shafts with just a hand-held taper tool. Even Douglas fir doesn't cut as nicely.

Bowspirit · « **Reply #36 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:21:00 AM »

Now for the fun part...the fletching.

First thing I do is liberally wipe the fletch end of each shaft with denatured alcohol to remove grease, oils, and other foreign substances. Nothing worse than being at the range, and having a feather or two pop off upon impact just because of poor adhesion.

The secret to my fletching success: a JoJan single fletcher, and Bohning fletch-tape. The tape especially. I started with glue, found the tape, went back to glue out of curiosity, and came running back to the tape. Still blows my mind on how strong a grip it can have on a shaft, yet how easily a damaged fletch can be removed. Almost doesn't make sense.

Not to mention, each feather only sits in the jig for a few seconds. No more waiting for glue to dry, or dealing with a messy clean-up.

Bowspirit · « **Reply #37 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:40:00 AM »

Once each arrow is finished, I apply a dab of Duco or superglue to the ends of each fletch. This prevents the feathers from "shifting". The movement used to undo the helical on my fletching. Between thorough cleaning and the dabs of glue, this problem has ceased.

There we have it. One finished product, complete with 4, 5-inch feathers. Like I said earlier, I'm not out to win any contests. As evidenced by many of the other woodie threads, I wouldn't anyway. But I just wanted a plain, functional arrow that can "take a licking and keep on ticking", as well as plow through both sides of whatever I'm shooting at. Besides, I'm kind of fond of the plain wood hue with all white feathers and nock.

Bowspirit · « **Reply #38 on:** August 16, 2011, 04:00:00 AM »

As proof of there durability, this is a 160-grain field point on a hickory arrow.

What you can barely see, due to my poor picture-taking skills, is that the tip is severely flattened. That's all the damage that came from two dozen shots into 3 pieces of 1/2" plywood. All shots were at 10 yards, from broadside to "never-shooting-at-a-deer-from-this-angle" quartering away. Afterwards, it was shot into a cinder block for good measure. That blew off the nock, but that was it. Between all that, plus beating the shaft back out the plywood with a hammer, I'm pretty happy with it.

So, I guess that's it. Over the next few days, I'll post some more on this thread. Final tuning, pics of the finished dozen, mounting broadheads, and I suppose some more torture testing for the fun of it.
Like I said, these hickories aren't the second coming. Cedar and fir have better tolerances for straightness, and once they begin to bend, they can be a pain to straighten back into line. But with a little elbow grease, they make a shaft of great heft and durability that flies with the best of them. At the very least, they make one heck of a stumper/ small game arrow.

maxwell · « **Reply #39 on:** August 16, 2011, 08:25:00 AM »

Very nice arrows, thanks for sharing.


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Author Topic: Hickory Arrow Build A-Long - ("Lookee what Denton gave me!") (Read 923 times)

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