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OK, 90 views, and 15 replies, and I haven’t even started.
BTW: If this in any way resembles the way you SHOULD build arrows, it was pure coincidence. Trying to do this unhindered by convention, science, or rational thought.
First step is to get the shafts. I like 5/16, don’t know why. Go to a big box store, they have something called dowels. You will find a bunch of them in a bin. Take them out and put them on the floor, take each and roll it on the floor, if it is not straight it will become obvious. Flex them a bit, if they break, you do not want that one. Out of the bin you can find about a dozen that are straight. Good idea to take someone with you to watch out for racing forklifts. If you can not find enough good ones, go to another big box store. I also got one that is bent, just to test straightening technique I thought up (later). They are 48″ long, if you are normal (like me) you can make 2 24″ arrows out of each dowel. Cost 88 cents per dowel, thus 44 cents per arrow (frugal, not cheap). Good thing we are not using our real names here, 3Rivers is NOT going to like this. It says they are hardwood, I’m thinking popular. They also have oak, but I thought that was a bit heavy… No science, just a feeling. If you want you can take your spine tester to the store with you and spend all day there.
Why doe’s Arwen always get hungry when I’m in the middle of this? “Eat an apple, and throw it away when you are finished. Saving half an apple under your pillow is NOT a good idea.”
Feathers: I’m using goose primaries that someone was good enough to send me. AWESOME gift. I have what amounts to a lifetime supply (not much at my age). No pigeons were harmed in making these arrows. I used a Fiskares rotary tool to cut the feathers down the middle of the quill. This is an AWESOME tool, I do lots with it. I knew about it, but it seemed pricey, and I was to cheap (not frugal, cheap)to buy one. When Mom went to the nursing home, I found one in her sewing. Thank you Mom. I know you are supposed to use a belt sander, but I would never try it, because I don’t think I could hold/control it. Down below there is a pic of a feather with a ruler. You will notice that the quill is really thick on the left, but hardly any on the right. Since you can only get one fletch from this feather, take it from where there is less quill to sand down. I used the fletch holder from the fletching jig to hold the feather and sand paper taped to a flat surface. SIXTY grit sandpaper. Yup the real course stuff. The feather quill has a pithy center, and the outside is HARD, same stuff God uses to make bear claws, lobster shells, and your fingernails. You don’t need a slick surface, you are going to glue it, you want a rough surface so the glue will stick better. OK, if you want you can use your 200 grit, and spend an extra hour. My philosophy is that anyone who would spend an hour sanding when he does not have to needs a sex therapist.
Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking I’ll take the best shooting field arrows, and swap the points for broadheads. Anybody ever tried that?
Just for a test (to see what kind of penetration I got) I used streach wrap (techy answer to duct tape) to hold 2 sheets of 2″ extruded styrofoam (bldg insulation) together and shot it with a broadhead. I got 3″ of penetration. Unfornatly I’m going to have to cut the broadhead out of the target, now I know, so I don’t have to do that again.
Yeah, its called a kitchen, and the bathroom when I need the exhaust fan… Actually I prefer the back porch, less cleanup, and I,m not getting all that nasty dust in the house.
I do have a work bench which I made for work which I use constantly. The legs are the fold up legs like church tables. I attached the legs to a 1 x 12 x 4 (fits just right) and cut the legs off just before they curve down (you don’t have to do that). That height is just right for me to saw or drill something, and I don’t have to worry about damaging it, replacing the top cost less than $10. I also put 1 x 2s around the side to prevent warping, and give it enough strength so I can stand on it (neat/safe staging). Its stable, I can clamp to it, and if I want to I can screw a block to it to hold something (like screwing a mitre box to it when I have to do repetive cuts). Almost forgot, I put a hole in the center so I can slip my hand in to carry it. That works, but I find myself putting a C clamp thru it when I need to clamp something to the center of it. OK, here is a pic of it on the back porch…
