[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: ETAR: WE ARE COMING!!!!! #132161

I’m sorry to hear about your soggy brain but on the bright side, it does make a capital excuse for the occasional miss.  I sure hope the surgery takes care of it.  Good Luck!

And have fun at ETAR.  I have never been as things are just to busy around here this time of year.  But I hope to one of these years.  It looks like it would be a LOT of fun.  And good luck getting some ideas from the vendors there.

If you get a chance, post some pictures of the bows you are making 🙂

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Archery as Metaphor #132150

If the rain would let up a bit, I might get some practice in myself 🙁  Glad you enjoyed the talk David!

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #132061

For sure David!  I plan on putting a call list together for the trail.  I have not started that chore yet, but when I do I will put you on it.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #132053

My boy and I took a hike on the AT this week, and got some of that weather.  We walked 18 miles in the rain yesterday so we could skip setting up camp in that deluge.   Dog’s are barking this morning!

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: HELP!!!! #131743

Two words that define success with traditional archery are commitment and patience.

It sounds like you have made the commitment.  Now you must practice patience.

If you are accurate to 15 yards, then let that be your maximum hunting distance this year.  There is nothing magical about 20 yards.  What you will find with most traditional archers is that they sing about their close shots, not their long shots.  “I shot him at 4 yards!” is heard spoken with pride and excitement way more often than “I shot him at 30 yards”.  Traditional archery is about getting close.  Getting close takes better hunting skills.

As you continue to practice, you will get better.  You will get frustrated too, but your commitment will get you over the hump.  Learn to be patient with yourself.  And dream about that 4 pointer broadside at 6 yards this fall…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Sanding Block #131709

Thanks Robin!

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: I'm back on the wagon (or is it off the wagon…) #131659

I wonder if you’ve seen this website with some tips on wood arrows: http://www.arrowskp.com/Kelly_s_Tips.html  When I was switching over from carbon, I found it helpful.

My current favorite shaft is the norway spruce shafts available from several sources including Kustom King.  They are the lightest shafts you can get and many of the old timers swear norway spruce gives the best flight.  I wouldn’t know about that since I am not the best shot (rolling eyes emoji)  But they sure are the cheapest.  That’s the part I like.  They have quite a bit of grain run out too, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem.  They are harvested from managed forests which adds to their value to me.  I hate the idea of old growth trees being cut down for something as trivial as an arrow.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Congrats to Steve Graf on publishing "The American Longbow" #131616

🙂

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Book Suggestions #131247

You can’t trust a word that no-count wrote in his book.  David was WAY to generous with his praise…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Fletching length, old vs new? #131246

Those arrows equipped with short fletching were likely for target shooting.

Flight shooting involves even shorter fletching than target shooting.  And some, back in the day, advocated for the center of mass to be located toward the nock instead of toward the point.  Their reasoning based on the assumption that a heavy tail would cause the point to ride up and the arrow to plane (like a boat I suppose) through the air just a little farther.

None of that would be good for hunting.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: carbon arrows #131192

I’ll be the contrarian here and stick my thumb in the pie…

If you are thinking of changing arrow types, I would encourage you to consider wood.  I know carbon has it’s allure.  It’s strong, reliable, easy to tune, fast shooting, durable, and expensive.  Here are some reasons to consider wood:

• It’s fun!  Making wood arrows is an easy way to scratch that itch to make something.  It’s easy to learn how to taper and shape your own arrows, even add footings and self nock as you desire.  Finishing is easy.  It’s wood!  Contrast that to carbon arrows, which are no harder to work with then lego blocks.  A 6 year old can do it.  Cutting wood brings a nice scent to the nose.  Cutting Carbon makes your lungs black and cancerous.
• It’s cheap (er)!  Depending on the type of wood shafts you buy, you can get several dozen wood arrows for what a half dozen carbons will set you back.  When you shoot at $45.00 carbon arrow are you totally focused on what you are shooting at, or are you hosting the idea “Gee, I hope I don’t those this arrow…” in the back of your mind so that you are not having as much fun and spending waaay too much time looking for lost arrows.  Will you laugh  and smile when your arrow explodes on a rock, or will you jump up and down and curse?
• It’s ecological!  Wing a wood arrow with feather fletching to some undiscovered spot in the woods and you have caused no long term harm.  The arrow will return to the soil in a few short years and take its place in the web of life.   Contrast that with the affect of a carbon arrow left in the woods.   It will persist for thousands of years, and pose a risk to any critter that steps on it, or chews it, or trips over it.
• It’s renewable!  Arrows literally grow on trees.  Contrast that to the infrastructure, mining, and chemical processing required to produce a carbon arrow.  Why not support a good old american Mom and Pop shop instead of some foreign industrial giant?
• Learn something new! You will learn everything you need to know about carbon arrows in 15 minutes.  It can take a lifetime to learn everything there is to know about wood arrows.  You can start by buying finished arrows, or shafts, and after a few years you may be buying boards to turn your own shafts.  Eventually you may split your own air dried billets into blanks and turn shafts from the old tree that fell behind the house.
• It’s more Traditional!  Carbon arrows came along to support compound bows.  They are an industrial product with no soul.  The were designed to be bullets for pulley guns.

I have found no disadvantage to shooting wood arrows.  They are just as accurate as carbon arrows for me.  They don’t have to be all that straight either.  Each arrow has its own way about it.  Some of my best arrows have been wobbly.  This straightness thing is an advertising gimmick used to make synthetic shafts seem better than organic ones. The only thing manufacturers can claim is that their shafts are straighter than wood shafts.  We fill in the blanks with our assumptions and finish their fiction for them by thinking that a shaft has to be super straight to fly well.

OK, I’m done.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #131084

Thanks for the advice!  Sounds like a neat town.  As we get closer to our start date, I plan on putting a list together of the people I know along the trail for visiting purposes.  We have six months to hump the trail out before my boy has to get back to school.  The average time is around five months, so we should be good and have a few days to spare.  Corse, these old bones don’t get out of 3rd gear much anymore so there’s that…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #131066

When we bought our cabin I installed one of those $3300 generators.  12KW of peace of mind…  Well our power didn’t so much as flicker for the first 8 years we lived here, so, well, you know, the battery for the starter got neglected.  Power went out….  Had to use the trolling motor battery to crank the generator.  Worked like a champ.

Since that time we’ve lost power every year for at least a week, sometimes two.  But I guess that’s what to expect from a system that hasn’t really improved since the 1880’s…  Ah, well.

My son and I just finished up our first shakedown hike in preparation for our attempt to through hike the Appalachian Trail next year.  Got rained on, got snowed on, got lost.  Saw elk, bear, deer, pig, turkey, grouse, and all variety of birds.  Did NOT get a single blister.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #131059

Sounds like you are set up to weather most any storm!  Glad to hear things are going well, and that sure is some pretty snow.  I hope that puppy doesn’t chew a hole in your favorite hunting britches 🙂

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Surewood Shafts #130590

You will find that the taper tool you have will tear the wood on fir arrows.  You can make it work, but it won’t be pretty.

Sanders do give the best results.  You can:

1. buy a plate with grooves in it that you can mount to a belt or disk sander, or
2. you can go all in and get the woodchuck sander,or
3.  you can make the whole thing yourself from scratch.

If you are committed to wood arrows, having your own sander is a good thing.  If you are just dipping your toe in to see what it’s like, buying the arrows cut and tapered is probably the way to go.

Making your own wood arrows is fun and more economical than carbon or Al.   Once you are successful at the point and nock tapers, then you can start experimenting with shaft tapers in the front and rear of the arrow, footing the shafts, self nocks, your own points, etc.  The combinations and possibilities are endless.

Then you can start making your own shafts.  When you do that, every piece of scrap wood you find is a potential dozen.  Soooo many things to think about and figure out.  Could drive a person to drink.  But that’s ok too because a fresh beer bottle makes a great arrow straightener 🙂

[Author]

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