Easiest Arrow Making Jig you'll ever make (Pic HEAVY)

[Wooden Spring]

OK, first off, this isn't my design, so, if you are the one who came up with this bit of genius, please let yourself be known so I can give you credit...

I saw this online in one of my searches, and, after having ALREADY spent $350 bucks for the Lee Valley Dowel Maker (which doesn't work for crap by the way), I decided to give it a try.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, find out what kind of music that your bows like. Until you do this, your bows and arrows will resist proper construction. Mine happen to like blues... When you find what they like, play it LOUD... bows and arrows are a little deaf from all those people who suspiciously "knock on wood."

1) Start with a 2 inch by 2 inch by about 8 inch block of hardwood. I had a piece of purpleheart lying around, so I used that.
2) You'll need to first drill (2) concentric holes halfway through the block. The first needs to be a 23/32" (18mm) hole that will allow a 1/2" piece of square stock to enter the "feed" side of the jig. This hole needs to be drilled with a forstner bit. The other size of the concentric holes needs to be whatever your finished arrow size is going to be. i.e. 5/16", 11/32", and 23/64".
3)Now, drill a clearance hole halfway through the bottom of the jig to meet where the two concentric holes have been drilled - this is for a straight router bit. The hole I drilled was 5/8".
4)Drill a couple of mounting holes and attach it to some kind of contrivance to attach it to your router table
5)You'll need a 1/2" square socket for your drill to hold your 1/2" square stock
6)Spin the square stock with the drill quickly, but feed it into the jig slowly. If your arrows are coming out slightly burnished, then you've got everything adjusted properly.
7)Laugh at all those poor saps (like me) who wasted hundreds of dollars on jigs that don't work, and you've built this one out of scrap.

[Wooden Spring]

More pics...

[killir duck]

awesome, i will be trying this out for sure. thanks a ton for posting.  have a good one,   Duck

[Badger]

  I first posted that type on line about 2001, I thought I had invented it until Jim Davis pointed out it was published in popular mechanics abut 20 years prior to mine. They work very well and are fast and accurate once properly adjusted.

[Wooden Spring]

Badger,
I wish I had seen your post before I spent the money on a commercial jig that doesn't work!

[toomanyknots]

So awesome. Thank you for posting this, I will be trying this out for sure!

[warpath]

That's very similar to the jig I use. The only difference is a friend of mine made an awesome titanium block for me. Actually 4 separate blocks for 5/16" - 3/8". These are excellent pictures!!

  G

[toomanyknots]

So, is the straight bit directly under the square stock?

[Badger]

  The jig I want to make will have one outlet hole with bushings in 1/64 increments from 3/8 to 1/4 that I can just change depending on what size I want.

[Wooden Spring]

So, is the straight bit directly under the square stock?

Yep, if you'll look at picture 1971, you can see the router bit spinning under the jig. The idea is that you creep up the bit until it is spinning at the same level as the BOTTOM of the finished diameter hole.

[Wooden Spring]

  The jig I want to make will have one outlet hole with bushings in 1/64 increments from 3/8 to 1/4 that I can just change depending on what size I want.

Oh, that would be cool... OK, You've got my brain working in AutoCAD now...

[Badger]

  I am also going to do them in two steps instead of one. Run them all at 3/8 and then change my feed hole to 3/8 for the final cut at whatever size I want.

[toomanyknots]

So, is the straight bit directly under the square stock?

Yep, if you'll look at picture 1971, you can see the router bit spinning under the jig. The idea is that you creep up the bit until it is spinning at the same level as the BOTTOM of the finished diameter hole.

Okee Dokey, sweet. Thank you. I tried to make one similar and was using a straight bit on the bottom of the stock like you are, and I got yelled at on here because of it! lol I am definitely going to make me one like yours.

[Wooden Spring]

toomanyknots,
Nah, don't let anyone bring ya' down. I'm one of those folks who buck trends on a regular basis just to find out for myself WHY things happen the way they do.

The biggest way that I buck trends these days is that I build backed board bows to exacting dimensions - exacting to the point that they hold tolerances to within the thickness of a pen line. And they produce outstanding, predictable, and repeatable results... I was an architect, so I guess I come by it honestly.

The name of the game is trial and error, and the only WRONG way to do anything is just not to do anything at all!

[Thesquirrelslinger]

toomanyknots,
Nah, don't let anyone bring ya' down. I'm one of those folks who buck trends on a regular basis just to find out for myself WHY things happen the way they do.

The biggest way that I buck trends these days is that I build backed board bows to exacting dimensions - exacting to the point that they hold tolerances to within the thickness of a pen line. And they produce outstanding, predictable, and repeatable results... I was an architect, so I guess I come by it honestly.

The name of the game is trial and error, and the only WRONG way to do anything is just not to do anything at all!

but....... what if the wood is different densities and bending strengths along the length of the bow?