I bought my last wood arrow shaft..........

[Roy from Pa]

I've been spending around $28.00 per dozen for Sitka spruce shafts the past year or two. I always wanted to try and make my own shafts so last night I gave it a go. I made up a jig 36 inches long. I attached two wood strips 1/4 high and 3/8th wide on the center of a 3 inch board. I spaced them 5/16th apart and perfectly straight. Then I laid a piece of 1/2 square stock into the crotch between the two long strips and clamped my jig to my work bench. That held my stock while I planed off the four edges of the stock. Then I planed the next eight edges left from the first pass with the hand plane. Then when I had it roughed down to about 11/32, I switched to 100 grit sand paper, then to 220 grit. I must say this arrow shaft came out looking better than any raw shaft I've ever bought. I shoot 5/16th shafts, that is why I spaced the strips 5/16th apart. After the arrow sanding was done, I laid it into the crotch between the strips and it laid in there perfect. This jig could also be used as an arrow straightness indicator as I later seen.  

I bought Sitka Spruce boards from a guy on the internet. It is also used for the inside of airplanes and musical instruments.. I'm going to try Douglas fir and white pine boards to see how they work.. Anyone else out there make your own arrows?

[Texasrecurve]

Hey Roy, I have been wanting to try that. But I don't understand what held the stock in the jig while you planed off the edges. I know it is held side to side, but what holds it lengthwise?

TR

[Van/TX]

What do the shafts spine after finished?...Van

[suttoman]

I did Roy - for the last two yrs I was in Thailand.  I only arrived back in Australia a couple of months ago.  I couldn't import arrows into Thailand, there are no archery shops - so I had to get creative.  

However one thing they do have is loads and loads of cheap timber.  I spent half a day at the timber mill (along with my not so good Thai language) and worked out that a local timber they call Mysuk (spelling??), was absolutely perfect.

Fortunately I had taken a small block plane with me and my skills as an Industrial Tech teacher stood me in good stead.  All I did was make a jig that held the 10mmX10mm squares of timber steady, whilst I planed them lengthwise.  

I took the corners off, until I had eight sides, then 16 sides etc.  Then I would put pencil marks around the circumference of the shaft -(about 150mm apart).  Then all one has to do is take a swipe with the plane along the length of the shaft, turning it ever so slightly each time, until the pencil lines are gone.  Then just repeat as before.  It is amazing how perfectly round the shaft stays.

Once it is near the required diameter, then one holds the garnit paper in one hand, rubbing the shaft thru with the other - like as if you would be polishing a steel rod with a soft cloth.  Work down with finer and finer paper until the required finish has been reached.

For adjusting the spine I just suspended the shaft near each end and hung a weight in the center.  Prior to this - I repeated the same proceedure with one aluminium arrow I had that I knew was the correct spine.  I marked the amount of 'sag' in the center of the arrow and just matched that with the wooden shaft.  The last few adjustments can be done with a few more swipes of garnetpaper.

I had two bows whilst in Thailand - my Martin Vision and Savannah.  The arrows flew perfectly from both bows, even though there was a difference of six pounds between them.

This was a wonderful experience and quiet a spiritual time for me.  Just backpacking around Asia, making my own wooden shafts and shooting my bows up in the mountains with the local hunters.  My wooden shafts flew as well and hit as hard as any Port Orfords that I have ever shot.

The locals really appreciated it - seeing the crazy 'Farang' looking like something out of a Rambo movie - it caused quite a stir wherever I went.

Unfortunately, now that I am back to the rat-race of Sydney and the stress of daily living - I just shoot alloys, cause I don't have the time or inclination to make my beautiful wooden shafts again.  I fully recommend it - if you have the time and inclination - you will be greatly rewarded.

Sutto

[Red Beastmaster]

Roypa,

I saw the title and was sure Ron talked you into carbons! ROFLMAO!

You got any other hidden talents you're not sharing with us?

See you at SS in Jan!

Dave

[JDinPA]

Did you shoot them yet?
What did they spine at ?

[Roy from Pa]

Now if you boys would pay attention here, I said that last night I made my "first" arrow shaft from a piece of square stock. I have to say again, it looks better than any shaft I've ever bought from any Trad dealer. Not saying Trad dealers are bad, just saying my first arrow looks real sweet to me.

TR, I see I did omit that part. For now, being it is my first attempt, I just held the square stock down with my hand. I discovered that letting the stock extend out over the end of my jig about 6 inches, I could just hold onto the end of it and turn it when I wanted to.

Van, I did not spine the shaft yet. Arrow spine will vary from wood to wood, but being 5/16th, it will be in my ball park, and I'll correct each shaft to what I need by bare shaft testing them one at a time and sanding them more if needed. If they pass that test, then they become Roy's arrow.

Sutto, you and I would get along quite nicely.. Thanks for your info Bro..  

LOL Red.. Trust me here, I will never shoot a carbon arrow from my selfbows I make, NEVER! I just got some cane from a friend in Georgia, I intend to make that into arrows also:) Yup I'll see you at SS. How ya want yer eggs cooked?

Joe, have not spined it or shot it yet. Intend to make up six of them first, then onto the testing range:)  

I loved making my first own arrow and can't wait to make more.. I'll take and post some pictures ifin ya all would like to see how I did this..

[Traxx]

Yes,I would like to see your process.

[Roy from Pa]

Here is the jig I made up. I took a pine 4 x 3/4 board. Cut off two pieces from the sides and plained them down to 1/4 inch thick by 3/8th wide, then used wood glue to mount them onto the center of the remaning board after I used a 3 foot metal straight edge to mark my line out. I left that clamped up overnight. I spaced them 5/16th apart so my final shaft diameter would fit right down snug inside my little strips. My first arrow is that bugger just to the right of my jig..

   

Then I laid the 1/2 square stock in the center, held it with my hand, and plained down the four edges, then the eight edges, and pretty soon that square stock was getting round.  

   

   

As I said above, I found it was easier to let my square stock extend out towards me by 6 inches to hold it steady. Then I could rotate it when I needed to. This was really nice as I got closer to my desired arrow and the eight sides were plained, then I just kept rolling the shaft over as I eye balled it up and plained.. Here is the final shaft laying along side my jig..

   

Here it is laying inside my 5/16th space.

 

[BamBooBender]

yep, it works pretty good don't it?       I make shafts that way when I'm not using shoots or bamboo, only I use a 1" plane. Poplar or aspen works great that way too, easy to find straight grain boards and rip em down into 3/8" squares on the table saw.

[cedar]

Nice job Roy.  You got talent boy.

[spider1]

Roy, if you nail a piece of wood to the far end of the jig, blocking the channel that the shaft goes in, you can rest the end of the shaft against it while planing so it won't slide out the other end. Or you could nail in a finishing nail right in the center of the channel at the far end level with the parallels to do the same thing.

[Alex.B]

Nice! Sure they will become Roy's arrows.thanks for the pictures. God do I wish I could do that!

[ber643]

Very neat - sounds like you are enjoying it too. Bet they'll be pretty when finished and ready to shoot.

[suttoman]

Hey Roy - Great minds think alike - that is exactly what my jig in Thailand looked like.  As already mentioned, I just nailed a small stop on the end (a bit lower so the plane did not hit it), and that stopped the shaft sliding out.

As I became more adept at what I was doing, I was able to barrel my shafts.  It made it easier taking the final adjustment of material from the centre of the shaft for final spine adjustment (meaning it did not end up thinner in the center than the rest of the shaft).

I would then hold the nails of my thumb and middle finger together and spin the arrow over that - with a flick of the other hand.  If there was any 'chatter', it would need a trip to the steamer for a bit of a straighten.  

People underestimate this process - however, when I got it 'sorted', never had a straighter or more correctly spined shaft been presented for action - on God's planet.

Sutto

[Landshark160]

Thanks for the good info!  Those pics sure cleared up any questions I had.  Now I have a new project to look forward to!

[suttoman]

Hey Roy - what is your secret for finding the time to do this?  Either you are retired, or so rich that you don't have to work - I hope it is the latter - LOL!!

Sutto

[Art B]

Nice job Roy. Don't know if it was mentioned or not but a "V" groove will work better for holding a blank. I use that side just to knock off the four corners and then switch to the "U" grove to finish the remaining corners with a scraper. ART B

 

 

 

[Roy from Pa]

Thanks Art, arrows look sweet. I know I need a stop on the end, just couldn't wait to make an arrow first that's all:) Gonna glue in a hunk of wood there. The V groove would work better I suppose, and I could make another jig for the early plaining, what I like about the way I did mine is it's 5/16th spacing and when done my arrows lay snug inside the slot and can be checked for straightness that way.. I'm not retired or rich, just good looking Sutto:) I work on things after work and on days off..

I'm gonna try an arrow out of Osage Orange, that outta be a looker...

[Art B]

Love those osage arrows Roy! But they can be a real pain rounding out though. My block plane doesn't work to well on this type of wood so I use a rough file or rasp to first knock off those four corners. Very well seasoned and straight grained osage is helpfull in getting these shafts to stay straight. As you know, osage is a different animal for bows, more so for arrows. Oh, for wood (like poplar and others) that's hard to see the corners as you plane/file off it helps to lightly scorch (I use a propane torch for this) your blanks as you straighten them. Works very well for me.-ART B