Building darts for an atlatl??

[AndrewS]

I'm going to build my equipment for this year:
How can I get the right Dart for an atlatl?
Is there any formula for the ratio of length    atlatl:dart??
What is a good length??? What is a good diameter ?? and what is the best FOC ??
A lot questions and I hope there will be a lot of answers
Thanks!

[Mike_A]

I just started building atlatls so take this with a grain of salt and hopefully some more experienced people will chime in. I use 7 ft 1/2 in diameter tonkin cane from bamboo supply and it flies great. The first dart broke after some use due to a weak spot near a node and the second one seems to fly really good too and is holding up great. In my research I've heard that using a bathroom scale works really well to check spine, just push down on the end of the cane and if it comes in at 10-15lbs it's spined right. Myself I just had someone stand to the side and let me know if the dart came off straight or if it tended to dive up or down. If it dives down it's spined light so cut it a bit shorter. If it comes off tip up then it's spined heavy. I would imagine adding a heavier point could help. Like I said I'm new so I would wait for a few more responses before comitting, especially if you have limited resources. If you want to do a trade for some tonkin cane let me know. I've got near a hundred left and don't need that many. Mike

[AndrewS]

Thanks Mike,
I will test the method with the bathroom scale first

[Hillbilly]

The length will depend on the spine. I usually leave the dart as long as possible and throw it. If it nosedives, cut some off. If the tail kicks down, it's too short or too stiff. Keep chucking and adjusting until they fly the way you want them to. Most of the time, a pretty good range will fly well.

[AndrewS]

Hi Hillbilly, you are testing the darts with fletching or without fletching?
Thanks.

[JackCrafty]

Back when I experimented with atlatl darts and such, I watched a bunch of videos on youtube....lots of good info there.

Like Hillbilly said, a range of lengths will fly well with your atlatl.  Experiment and then make copies of the dart that works best.  Some people like to throw harder than others so that will affect the length/spine of the dart also.

[Hillbilly]

I usually do the basic testing without fletching.

[straightarrow]

Don't make the same mistake I made. When I first started making darts I put the point on the Small diameter end and the socket on the large diameter end. It was totally backwards. You want the dart to Forward of Center just like an arrow. So make the small diameter the socket. I had my best luck with tonkin bamboo. You will find the spine that suits you. If you throw hard you will need a heavier spine and vice versa. Nine pounds worked the best for me with just a sharpened foreshaft............no point. There's a really good PDF file....I will try to look for it and let you know

Jon

[keef]

 I think that this link will provide pretty much all the information you will need .

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/forums/24

The friendliest folk around, and they'll give you all the help they can.

Keith

[straightarrow]

Here is a great link for construction of atlatl darts

http://www.thudscave.com/npaa/darts/dartmaking.pdf

jon

[aero86]

ive made a few darts, about 6, from dowels from walmart.  7/16's i believe.  and the type of joint i used was a scarf joint i believe.  take your the diameter of the shafts and multiply by 8.  thats how long your joint needs to be.  the 7/16's is like 3.5 inches.  just measure that far from the end of each shafts, then cut at an angle to join the two shafts together.  for mine, i used glue to put them together.  then i wrapped with shipping paper.  8 inches wide, and half the length of the roll.  wrapped that all around the joint evenly.  then i wrap that wrapping with string.  then you can fletch it and put a point on it.  to make the notch, just use a knife to hollow out end that isnt your pointy end.  they throw pretty well!  need pics, i could post them.