"Elk Medicine" Arrow Build-Along

[PowDuck]

Its been a long long time since I built anything on my own for archery. I decided to build my arrows this year and go back to using wood.

ArkyBob had gotten some poplar shafts from Magnus and was very pleased so I decided to go the same route. We like heavy arrows with heavy heads so the poplar seemed to be a good fit. I contacted Magnus and ended up having a LONG phone conversation and got a good education in selecting the proper shaft for your bow. Thanks for all your help, Matt.

Selected two dozen 60-65 spined heavy shafts and got them on order. After receiving them I weighed each shaft and selected 9 of the closest weights for this project. All 9 shafts were within 8 grains of each other. (My select 6 shafts were within 3 grains.)

In this photo the nock tapers have been cut and the shafts sanded (though they really didn't need it.)

 

[Bldtrailer]

I'll enjoy watching your build

[PowDuck]

Please don't tell my wife the furniture she wants to get rid of is in my pictures. She'd die ....... or maybe she'd kill me, I'm not sure which.    

I started this build by reading and rereading and rereading and referring back to Rob's "Excellent Woodies" thread in the      HOW TO RESOURCES  topic.

[PowDuck]

On to the staining.

I had seen a photo of someone's arrows here that had an interesting fade out stain. So being the kind of guy I am and liking things "just a bit different" I thought I'd try it. I wanted it to start very light and go to really dark at the end.

 

I selected a dark cherry stain to sort of match the bow they are made for, a Super Shrew Chameleon.

[PowDuck]

5 coats of Min-Wax WipeOn Poly later and the Sharpie's came out. My cresting "rig" is pretty rigged. I made the spinner rolls out of two cabinet closer roller halves on a piece of scrap board. The tubing connector came from an old exercise band that hasn't been used in a LONG LONG time.    A zip tie on the trigger of my drill driver worked to regulate the speed and I simply removed the battery to stop it.

 

I like a small crest IN the fletches so that was a must. I, also, like to have a crest line to quickly check my brace height. That's where the small crest at 7-1/4" comes from. The other main crest is just a design I experimented with on some earlier test shafts. I like simple.

[Bowitis]

Thanks Bruce, Keep it coming! I'm starting mine in the a.m.

[Machino]

Just curious what kind of bow you plan on throwing these with?

[stringstretcher]

Very interesting.

[PowDuck]

Originally posted by Machino:
Just curious what kind of bow you plan on throwing these with?

It's a Super Shrew Chameleon. 58" - 53# @ 28"
It'll be in a future post.

[Shedrock]

I'm curious what those shafts weigh.

[PowDuck]

Cresting done. I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at making several arrows match. Most all of mine are all mismatched cresting, shafts, points, etc.

I did have a little disappointment with the small brace height crest line. I much preferred the two red and black ones but, as my luck usually goes, they were the LAST two I did.      

 

 

[NoCams]

Looking good there bud.... what will be on the pointy end ? Looking forward to your feather selection too....  

[Mike Vines]

Coming along nicely

[Blaino]

That's just a regular Sharpie? They look good! Simple and classic.

[Shakes.602]

Did you use a Brush or rag for your Fade Stain Job? Looking Good So Far!!    Furniture? What Furniture??  

[PowDuck]

Shedrock, I can't remember what they weighed at this point. I had it written down somewhere but I must have put it in a safe place.

I used a rag on the stain and just barely wiped it on the first part and then got a pretty good soaking closer to the end.

Yep, regular Sharpies. Sharpie brand.

Insert lesson learned here:
I have read from many here that poly over Sharpie WILL fade or smear. I, also, heard from someone who will remain nameless, Bob, that they didn't smear when poly was wiped over them. (And I do believe he told me the truth for him.)

The truth for me? Red smears. Black and silver do not.
This is a picture after two coats of the same wipe on poly.

 

[Blue Tick]

Those arrows are really looking sharp. Something else I want to try my hand at. Thanks for bringing us along with the build.

[PowDuck]

OK, time to fletch. I couldn't decide what to do here either. I like a very visible fletching but didn't want to go with all naturals. Maybe ArkyBob will pipe in here and tell us where we got our feathers ground. We've got natural turkey primaries & secondaries, and Canada goose primaries, too. That would be too dark to see well in flight, so ...... I decided to go with two turkey barred and one solid white. That gave me enough contrast to be fairly well visible but not so bright sticking out of the quiver.

The four on the left are my primary hunting shafts. The other ones are for broadhead practice, etc.

 

[KellyG]

Well those are sweet looking.

[ArkyBob]

Feathers were ground by Stringstreacher before his business was taken over by Magnus. Arrows are looking great Bruce.  6 more weeks!!!!!!

BOB