New arrows in the raw

[Stephen Georgiou]

Heres a set of 36 billets that I just cut from an oregon (douglas fir) stuctural beam that I have had in the junk yard for around 10 years. I have used this timber to make some really nice arrow that spined out to 70 pounds. I am really happy that I spent the time to listen to a new mate on how to make arrows. I'll never look back!

36 square arrows.jpg (64.12 KiB) Viewed 3975 times

If any one has some photos of arrows being made it might be a very interesting subject for new traditional archers and my inspire them to give it a go.

I will take a series of photos when I make up these arrows and post them here for all to see.
- Steve.

[pdccr]

I'll be watching closely mate.

[kerrille]

good on yeh steve i'll let him know


....nev...ps i found once i started making my own arras i couldnt stop.

[Stephen Georgiou]

it is addictive nev.

[pdccr]

I have some silver quandong that i am going to try and make into some shafts. I will post in a few weeks.

[Stickbow Hunter]

That little bundle of wood blanks looks good to me. I have made many an arra shaft from Oregon. It makes an excellent arra IMO.

Jeff

[kerrille]

it shore do


...nev...

[Stephen Georgiou]

Thanks for your input Jeff.
I made up six from the previous batch and shot them this weekend from the bear kodiak takedown 60lb @ 28" and they shot beautifully.
They are heavier than the POC shafts that I have been using but shoot higher. It took me a few ends to get use to it but after then it was great.
Is it possible that the extra spine stiffness means that the energy from the bow is transfered into extra speed? I'm thinking that the POC shafts being too light are loosing energy through too much bending on release. Is this possible?

[pdccr]

Can you post some pics?

[Stephen Georgiou]

For people who are experienced at making shafts, I apologize in advance if I am light on detail.
I have not needed to do any straightening of the shafts at this stage as the timber is well aged and every shaft so far has been bullet straight.
So until I have the need to straighten the shafts I won't have any pictures of the process.

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This shaft is a bit on the rough side on purpose to show that things don't have to be spot on to end up with a good shaft.
This is the first stage of plaining the shafts into a hex shape. At this point I check the toughness of the arrow by bending it my hand to see if there are any internal fractures or cracks.
I simply grab the shaft with two hands and bend it to the same extent as my master POC (Port Orford Cedar shaft) that I use to gauge the strength of the wood.

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The shaft is placed in a jig made up of a sheet of ply with 2 x 12mm fillets that are glued
to the play to form a straight channel to lay the shaft to present the corner for planing.
I then plane a flat on the shaft on the four corners to form the hex shaft.

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The shaft is then planed on the 8 corners to form a 16 sided shaft.
As you can see at this point the shaft is pretty round. (The first time I did this I couldn't
believe it was so close to being finished!)

The next step is to place the shaft into a pistol drill and a block with a hole in it to form a sanding jig.

sanding jig.jpg (116.2 KiB) Viewed 3684 times

I use the slow speed and run an archer bible with 150 grit paper over the shaft followed by 400 grid wet and dry. All sanding is done dry.
The beauty of this process is that when the shaft is a the right size the sanding
reduces and you can hear and feel that the shaft is right.

I must mention the fact that through this whole process I am measuring
the shaft to make sure I remain consistent.

finishedshaft-1.jpg (31.79 KiB) Viewed 3684 times

4oregonarrows-1.jpg (43.57 KiB) Viewed 3683 times

This drawing is the stages you go through to get your finished product.

[kerrille]

very good grasshopper, i no master poe will be proud


......nev....

[Stickbow Hunter]

If arrows are properly matched to your bow then heavier arrows will always drop more than lighter ones because they will travel slower and not because they are heavier. So with that in mind I would say that your heavier arrows are indeed matched better to your bow. The POC shafts must not be properly matched and this is robbing them of speed.

Thanks for showing your photos as I'm sure they will inspire some others to have a go at making their own. The Oregon sure does make nice arras. I always found it difficult to get wood that would make heavy enough spined arra shafts for me. The best blanks I ever had were from an old bed and the shafts spined up around 90#.

Jeff

[pdccr]

That drawing is what i wanted to see, it shows a prett well detailed picture of what goes on.

Thanks for that

[Stephen Georgiou]

Thanks Nev I hope not much got lost in translation.

It it does sound like this is the case Jeff.
I'll keep on perfecting the process and see how it goes.
I would also like to know your opinion on shellac as a finish on arrows. I just brought some shellac flakes and tried it on some old shafts and it looks ok but I don't know how durable it will be.

glad to be of assistance pdccr

[Stickbow Hunter]

I have used shellac in the past but I found it to wear off rather qiuckly near the point end of the arra and let moisture in. For many years now I have simply used varnish which I apply by wiping it on with a piece of rag and then steel wool between coats. I usually apply three coats; one as a sealer and then a further two coats. The two latter coats has the advantage of sealing my cresting as well. Disposable rubber gloves are handy when doing this.

Jeff

PS: Please contact me ASAP or allow PM's as I have PM'd you regarding another matter, thanks.

[Stephen Georgiou]

Thanks Jeff.

[kerrille]

just showed steve very happy and impresed at your first attempt


.....nev...

[Stephen Georgiou]

Thanks Nev.
Give Steve my regards