I have just completed a set of six bamboo arrows for a horse archer.
They turned out quite nicely and I thought I would share them.
I started off with 33 inch tonkin cane shafts, weight and spine matched. Due to a heavy bow and long draw length these were failry stiff shafts.
These were cut to 32 inches long to suit the archers draw.
I then drilled out the point end to 4mm for 2 inches and the nock ends to 1 inch.
The next step was to prepare some bamboo plugs to glue into the ends of the shaft to strenthen them. perhaps not strictly necessary, but as these arrows will be shot from horseback and strike targets and extreme angles I thought it a sensible precaution. It didn't take too long with a knife, hole gauge and file.
The next step was to glue the plugs in. I used gorilla glue because of it's good foaming and gap filling properties.
I used a slightly adapted low cut banana feather chopper to cut the fletchings from dyed grey barred left wing fletchings.
These arrows are to be four fletched.
I ground down the point ends to suit the screw on brass pullet points. These were glued on and mirror polished and then an inch or so of the shaft behind bound with black silk ribbon to further strengthen them.
I cut and shaped the nocks. These too were bound with silk ribbon.
The bare shafts were now finished and time for fletching.
I used a Bitzenburger fletcher as this allows a variety of fletching patterns. I used a straight clamp as this is what the archer wanted, set straight with fletchings at 4 x 90 degrees.
Fletching as always is a careful process to try to get the same alignment each time. Just takes time.
All six arrows fletched. Look nice I think.
Next step was to bind the fletchings with black silk ribbon front and back.
Arrows basically complete.
I do like the look of barred flaetchings.
My makers' mark.
I'm quite pleased with how the nocks turned out.
Each arrow numbered.
Now, if only I could keep them!
