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Making Split Timber Shafts
duffontap:
Hello Everyone,
I've been making Doug Fir arrows from local old growth fir for a while and thought some of the new fletchers might like to see a couple ways to make good arrow shafts from 3/8" x 3/8" squares. These are just my twists on tried and true methods so they should work for anyone.
Method #1 (tool cost=$7, time per shaft=4-6 minutes)
The first method is to use a simple block plane that fits between two fingers. A v-groove in a board can be used to hold the square stock steady, but it is much faster to learn to hold the plane between the index finger and thumb and cup the stock with the remaining three fingers. As the plane is held between two fingers--the other three fingers keep the wood stock pressed firmly against the plane bed and the remaining hand pulls the shaft through.
The weakness of this method is that there is less control of the shaft diameter. With care you can get them close. They can be checked with a dial caliper or and hole of the appropriate size drilled in a board.
The picture shows proper hand position for the plane and shaft.
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duffontap:
Method #2: (Cost=$80, or a whole day of your time for do-it-yourselfers). Time per shaft=4-6 minutes.
This method improves on the hand planing in that it controls the diameter of the finished shaft. When I get my track plane set up right, my finished shafts come out +/- .005 (or so). This will add to spine and weight consistency.
The track plane I made had two tracks to make 23/64" and 11/32" dowels. The blade is very high grade saw blade steel and holds and edge well. It took me most of the day to make the whole set-up and it's really all that anyone needs. Strunk makes one that works better than mine that is commercially available.
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duffontap:
Method #3 Cost=the price of a router, high-speed drill, 1/4" roundover bit, and about $30 worth of parts. Time per shaft=30-90 seconds depending on desired quality.
The router method is how I make most of my shafts. I can make a dozen nice shafts in less than ten minutes. They require much less sanding, have no chips, gouges or flat spots. Plus, the tolerances on the finished shaft diameters is very tight +/- .002 (usually).
Lots of these have been made, so there are a lot of ways to tweak this to fit your needs. I use a round bit because it cuts about 3 times faster and cleaner than a flush bit like most people use. The down side is that you have to set it up more carefully. Side to side adjustments are made by loosening clamps and moving the router. Finer adjustments are made by tightening the clamps on one side or the other. Up-down adjustmets are made with the router adjustments themselves. With the practice I've had over the last couple years I can set up my router and jig in about five minutes and using about 3' of waste shafting for dial caliper tests. The clamp method is nice because I use my router for other things and it's easy to take it all apart. Once I have it set up, I can make 200 shafts if I need to without a single adjustment.
The payoff of this method is that you can be very picky with the kinds of spines and weights of the shafts you use if you want to. I give a lot of shafts away in hopes that a nice elk or deer will get killed with an arrow shaft I made.
I spin the shafts at about 2,500 rpms. Lower rpms require a slower feed rate.
The pic with the oil around the holes shows the heat generated as the shaft is compressed.
Good luck and feel free to ask questions. If anyone cares, I do make ocean spray and wild rose arrows by hand as well. I know split timber shafts get a C+ on the primitive scale. The last time I had my wood-shop teaching father in law over to my shop, I showed him how I made arrow shafts. When the router was turned off, I handed him a smooth, compressed shaft that read .359 (23/64") on the dial caliper and he said, "man that's primitive." Rifle hunters!
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Pat B:
Thanks JD. This is an excellant tutorial for anyone that is interested in making split timber shafts. Not all primitive people used shoot shafting. Some used split out shafting...they used stone tool instead of modern equipment but if they had mod equipment, they would have used it. Pat
George Tsoukalas:
Very nice, JD. I use the hand plane method you described almost exclusivey.The hand plane method shines when making barrel tapered shafts. For a great effect on spine plane the middle. I use 11/32 point and 11/32 nock. Middle diameter is what it needs to be. For a great effect on weight plane the ends. Allows for s nice matching off spine and weight. Jawge
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