Trying to set up a router jig for shafts, not working really...

[Jim Davis]

The worthless old nut !

No Idea who that is /\,  but using an exclamation point too often makes it mean less, if not meaningless.
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[papoints]

Yeah those band saw shafts definitely have to be sanded.  Router definitely makes a smoother product.  I did them both ways, the router was smoother just more persnickety to set up. 

[toomanyknots]

Yeah those band saw shafts definitely have to be sanded.  Router definitely makes a smoother product.  I did them both ways, the router was smoother just more persnickety to set up.

After playing with it a bit, I am getting pretty good results with the bandsaw. Still tinkering a bit, I am using a blade that typically does not give a good cut no matter what. I wonder how a woodslicer would work? I'm gonna set up some guide holes I guess and try er out. If it gives me semi ok doug fir shafts without tear out, it will give me better results than any of the pencil sharpener jigs would (I am guessing). By the way yall, does Ipe make good compression holes? Does it turn white woods brown? Also, should a typical router straight bit work? I looked at some half circle bits today, but man, I just don't feel like spending 60 bucks for something that I may not be able to get to work for me.

[Buckeye Guy]

The worthless old nut !

No Idea who that is /\,  but using an exclamation point too often makes it mean less, if not meaningless.
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Thanks for the lesson !
nowiwilljuststopusinganypunctuationsoitcanbemoremeaningfull
A Buckeye is referred to as a worthless nut so that must be me

[Badger]

  I just tried the bandsaw and mine look like a screw, but thats ok cause I have to barrel them on the belt sander anyway. Think I will stick with the bansaw for my flight arrows. I was just belt sanding them from squarestock, I hate the noise with the router.

[Jim Davis]

That's what ear protectors are for. They keep the ears warm too, if your shop is cool.

[toomanyknots]

That's what ear protectors are for. They keep the ears warm too, if your shop is cool.

Haha, yeah I have been finding myself wearing mine all the time anymore. My basement (where my power tools are) don't get no heat except the holes here and there in the crappy heating duct. I am pretty happy with the results I am getting with my bandsaw yall (exclamation mark,  ). It is no where near as good as you can get with a router I would guess, but it is the best I have got out of anything I have tried yet. What I got going on is I cut my stock at 7/16" wide, and spin it into a 3/8" hole. The tips of the blade are sticking out just a tiny little bit, to where you can barely feel them. I wasn't having the best luck guiding the stock in without getting flat spots until I added the infeed guide hole (which I cut with a 5/8" guide hole, which fits the 7/16" stock pretty good). It took me a bit of playing around to get the stuff looking ok though. The blade I am using is a lenox carbide higher tension thicker something or other, I thought it was a trimaster but it doesn't look like it. It has teeth similar to tablesaw though, not like a normal hook or rake tooth. Might have something to do with it, whether it is a good thing or bad thing I don't know.

This is right after cutting





You can see the tiny saw marks here, I could probably play with it till I get niltch, but I am happy at least being able to cut without tear out



Above is my attempt on the bandsaw, below is my best results from messing with the router, lol  . I'll figure out the router sooner or later, it does seem to be the best way.







I guess I am going to put an arm on it, than put another guide hole or two, and see if I can turn out some 3/8 shafts. My plan is to taper the nock end to spine them, but I am kinda confused on something I read. Does tapering the shaft effect the spine of the arrow, verses not tapering? I read on here that you need to drop 10 lb or so from the spine of an arrow shaft if you taper it, is this true? So if it spines 40, but it is tapered, than you can assume it shoots like a 30 spine shaft, all other things being equal?

[Buckeye Guy]

Tapering does not necessarily change the spine
The center 1/3 of the shaft caries the lions share of the spline

[Jim Davis]

Here is the way shafts come out of my router setup. Note shine in first photo.

Second photo was taken with flash with no mercy. Note tiny bits of fuzz showing at edges of shaft. shows all.

[toomanyknots]

Here is the way shafts come out of my router setup. Note shine in first photo.

Second photo was taken with flash with no mercy. Note tiny bits of fuzz showing at edges of shaft. shows all.

Very nice, looks like some nice tight grain douglas fir. I found some just like that at menards in the trim, believe it or not. It's weird how there can be real dense tough douglas fir like your picture, and then there can be real light weak thick ring douglas fir too. They seem almost like 2 different trees. Jim, maybe sometime you can cross the ohio river and come up here to cincinnati (hamilton actually) and show me how to get this darned thing to work,  .

Tapering does not necessarily change the spine
The center 1/3 of the shaft caries the lions share of the spline

Thank ya Buckeye.

[Badger]

  Chris, on hunting weight arrows I adjust my spine first by sanding and then I use slight barreling to adjust and make my weights uniform. Barreling has almost no effect on spine, I would say if anything it would make a 40# spine behave more like a 50# spine. 

[Badger]

Chris, you were asking about the veritas tool. I had the master set but much preffered the router set up. I like to adjust my spine almost exact and my weight to within about 5 grains. So I still have to spin them by hand on my belt sander to do that. My favorite tool for 3/8 shafts is the veritas tool like a pencil sharpner. I can run 2 doz doug fir shafts in about 30 min and spend another hour or so adjusting them out. It works great with doug fir and pine.

[Jim Davis]

Very nice, looks like some nice tight grain douglas fir. I found some just like that at menards in the trim, believe it or not. It's weird how there can be real dense tough douglas fir like your picture, and then there can be real light weak thick ring douglas fir too. They seem almost like 2 different trees. Jim, maybe sometime you can cross the ohio river and come up here to cincinnati (hamilton actually) and show me how to get this darned thing to work,  .

Most of my arrow wood comes from salvaged trim. In the good old  days, the best fine grained fir went for trim, doors  and flooring. It's the old growth fir the owls pitched such a fit about cutting a few years  back. Come to think of it, WHO ever heard an owl say anything about trees?

The wide grained fir is what we used to call "second growth," meaning trees that grew after the first logging was done. The new  trees had no competition and put on a lot of growth each year, so made wide rings.

James Duff, early 20th century fletcher and bowyer, didn't think shafts needed to have fine narrow rings to be good arrows. I think  he had a point. I make arrows out of most any fir or yellow pine as long as the rings are straight. I do like the fine rings and never pass them up, but I take and use what I can get.

Jim

[toomanyknots]

Chris, you were asking about the veritas tool. I had the master set but much preffered the router set up. I like to adjust my spine almost exact and my weight to within about 5 grains. So I still have to spin them by hand on my belt sander to do that. My favorite tool for 3/8 shafts is the veritas tool like a pencil sharpner. I can run 2 doz doug fir shafts in about 30 min and spend another hour or so adjusting them out. It works great with doug fir and pine.

You don't get no tear out with the veritas dowel cutter and douglas fir? Man they had a set of all 3 sizes of em on ebay a while back for cheap, I knew I should of picked em up.

[Tom Leemans]

Like many have said, it's all in the set-up. That is true with any woodworking tool. Spending the time ahead of running your work will have you feeling good, instead of cussing when you look at your finished piece. I guess all of this fuss is worth it to those who want to make arrows from dowels, but it sure makes me feel better about the amount of time I spend making cane arrows.

asharrow - (Jim) That's why you can rip a 75 year old 2X4 out of an old house and it's still straight!