Syringa arrow build a long

[juniper junkie]

I have been getting a lot of questions on the syringa arrows I have been shooting for a while now. so I thought I would share with you how I build them. Syringa (philadelphus lewisii) grows throughout the more arid regions of the northwest and northern california, also referred to as mock orange, it grows in rocky hillsides and along creek bottoms, in the mid summer it blooms with a white flower, which is Idaho's state flower. it produces shoots and seeds for distribution. usually growing in clusters of shoots ranging in size depending on the age of the plant. the plants which grow in the more shady areas produce the longer shoots. shoots with reddish color bark are sucker shoots and are weaker than the grayer bark ones and have a larger pith in the center. this is what a bush looks like.

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[juniper junkie]

locate the shoots that are the straightes and do not have any hard curves to them, gradual curves are no big deal since it is easy to straighten

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[Pat B]

OH! Mock Orange and not Lilac! I have a nice Mock Orange(probably P. coronarius) bush in my front yard. Looking forward to your build-along.    Pat

[juniper junkie]

next you will need to straighten the shafts as they dry. the bark seals in the moisture incredibly well so there is no real hurry while the bark is on them. at this point they will be very limber.

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[juniper junkie]

next you will need to scrape off the bark and cambium layer, you can use a obsidian flake, knife or any kind of blade, just hold a metal blade vertical so as not to gouge into the shaft. after the bark is off then lay them on a flat surface to start drying, you will need to check them almost every day if it is warm and make sure they are staying straight. next you will want to remove any nodes that are on the shaft, I use a small hand plane with the blade set real shallow, I have also used a strunk arrow planer. you can now use the plane to even out the shaft on the fat end. keep rotating the shaft as you plane and remove the high ridges, keeping it round. this will also get rid of some of the irregularities in the shaft.

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[juniper junkie]

I generally use hand straightening, but on problem shafts I use a arrow wrench which is a small block of hardwood about 1/2" thick 5-6" long with a couple of holes drilled through, one 11/32, the other 5/16. using this does leave small depressions in the shaft. you can use heat if the shaft has become too dry and is not responding to bending, this works very well and does  not take much heat. once you have the shafts straight then you can take a drill, I use a cordless makita because it is not too fast, I wouldnt use a high speed drill, and sandpaper, start with 80g, hold the paper in one hand folded up and chuck the other end in the drill and squeeze the sandpaper while the shaft turns, this also helps to reduce the thickness of the butt end of the shaft, and remove some of the marks from straightening. dont use too much on the center portion of the shaft until you check the spine as this will weaken it. you can next switch to 220g. you will notice a pith in the center of the shaft, although it is not always true center. for my nock inserts I will remove the pith using a small rat tail file. or you can use a small flat screwdriver, the pith is really soft and is removed easily. I usually go down about 3/4".

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[juniper junkie]

after the pith is removed  you will need to make the inserts. I use a hardwood for the inserts, in this case I am using cocobolo, because I like the look of the contrast with the white shaft. I cut the material into 3/8" about 1-1/4" long I then chuck them into the drill, you may need to sand down the edges to get them in the drill, next i go to my disc sander, with the insert chucked in the drill I position it on the edge of the sanding disc with about 1/2-3/4" being sanded, run the drill and slowly let the disc reduce this area to form a tang to insert into the pith, this will take some practice not all the piths are the same size so I usually do them per shaft so they fit good, use the edge of the disc to form the mating surface of the outer shaft. one it fits then glue it into the shaft. once dry you can chuck up the shaft and use the sanding disc to round off the nock and even it to the shaft, once you get close you can finish by holding sandpaper and useing the drill as before. after the fine paper is used you can take steel wool to further smoothe the nock and area to be fletched.  I will post the next steps tomorrow. happy new year to all!

[juniper junkie]

OOPs I forgot the pics

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[juniper junkie]

another pic

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[Keenan]

Looking awesome Dave, real informative and good pics.  I'm sure everyones going to love it.  Keenan

[juniper junkie]

now that the nock insert is in and dry  you will need to cut the nock grooves, to do this I use a block about 1 1/2" square, in the center I drill a 11/32 hole, I then cut a groove about the width I want the nock down the center. I want the shaft to fit tight into this so it doesnt move when you do the groove, test it as you sand down the nock with the drill, you can even make a couple using smaller or larger holes. I put the shaft into the jig and clamp the jig in a vise, next I will cut the groove, you can use a small file, 2 hacksaw blades clamped together or some other abraiding device that matches the size you are after. I got this attachment for my hack saw from a friend, not sure where to get them, but it works really well. cut the groove to your desired depth, you can touch it up with sandpaper after you are done.

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[mitchman]

awesome

[a finnish native]

great work! I would never have the motivation to do such fine work on my arrows since they seem to get lost anyway

[DanaM]

Thats a tile saw blade should be able to get them most anywhere, I bought one at the local hardware store.
Great build along.

[juniper junkie]

great work! I would never have the motivation to do such fine work on my arrows since they seem to get lost anyway

hopefully it will make me shoot better
Dana, I found one today at the local hardware store, they work great for nocks. I will post on decoration and fletching this weekend.