60 lb bow dowel arrow question

[hicklife1989]

Is it safe to buy wooden dowels and make arrows on a 60 lb bow want to make cheap arrows to practice shooting without spending alot of money on arrows braking or losing them if so what wood for dowels would be good and once i get better at shooting at longer distances should i tamper the shaft

[loon]

tamper? probably not. temper? taper?
might have to heat straighten ...

poplar, douglas fir, and red oak should work.

Safe is relative... it's never gonna be totally safe.

They need to be spined correctly. Watch out for grain runoff. You could try Nicholas Tomihama's book and videos on the subject.
Doing it safely and correctly might be more trouble than is worth, vs just buying wood arrow shafts
should bend test them, and if they break, well, guess that might save a trip to the ER

[Pat B]

Yes, but you have to hand pick the dowels so they are straight with straight grain and as few runoffs as possible. Lots of arrows have been made with store bought dowels.

[Sasquatch]

The ancient Europeans used wood for there 100-140 war bows.  So yes it will work.  Just make sure grain is good and spine is right. Research.

[bjrogg]

I'm sure you can as said you need proper spine to match your bow and minimal runoff in the wood grain.
I prefer shoot arrows to wooden dowels or even store bought shafts, but they are time consuming to make proper spine and weight shafts.
Have you looked at TSA site?  Sitka Spruce Hunter grade at about $2 a shaft plus shipping might end up saving you time and $$$. You still have other expenses besides your shafts and also your time. I'm pretty sure your percentage of good shooting arrows would be much higher and that is definitely worth a lot in the end. I'm not trying to sell arrow shafts but just thought you might want to consider it. Good Luck what ever path you take.
Bjrogg

[Buck67]

You will probably need to use 3/8" dowels.  Most 5/16" dowels that I have found spine out between 35 and 45 pounds.  Might want to check out one of the English Longbow websites for how to make an arrow for a warbow.  Their designs are meant for the heavier bows.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Shouldn't be a problem, I believe one of the guys here, WillS, makes warbow arrows out of store bought dowels all the time, and I mean for 120# plus bows. Anyone who says that dowels make bad arrows is likely trying to sell you some of their shafts, lol. If the spine is right and the grain is good it's an arrow shaft, there's no magic arrow making machines out there, every commercial wood arrow shaft is just a wooden stick like everything else. Now it is right to caution new fletchers to be very careful about their dowel selection for safety reasons, but to say don't make arrows out of dowels, pppfft!

[bjrogg]

I hope I'm not giving you the impression you can't make arrows from wooden dowels. As said if spined correctly and minimal runoff should work fine. And quite honestly I have never made a arrow from a dowel but did look at some and the ones I had to choose from weren't all that great.
I'm just saying for $2 a shaft your getting matched spine shafts and if you don't have a spine tester that is worth something to me. I'm not saying don't do it just throwing it against the wall to see if it sticks. I've made arrows out of all kinds of shoots around my area and have improved my arrows a great deal from my first attempts. I'm all for using what you have available and experimenting with new ideas. Good Luck and have fun
Bjrogg

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Oh not at all bjrogg, I was speaking about other people on other online venues that go around telling people not to ever use dowels saying they are unsafe etc.

[loon]

I saw a few cool ones on YouTube (one for warbow arrows?) as well as a PVC feather clamp.

you can barrel the shafts to make them lighter for the same spine, yes. using a plane or something ?? i think even a thing that spins the shafts and a gouge to take off material evenly would work well..

[TSA]

Hiya Hicklife,
what shelf setup do you have on the #60 bow- , i'm sure you are aware- but if its a shoot of the knuckle- you will need spines lower than #60 and if it were the other extreme and was cut past center- you would be needing spines higher than #60- this is just a quick generalization- so many other factors here- draw length , arrow length intended point weight, intended fletching sizes etc etc.

i have built many arrows from dowels- and they work just fine- IF- as said above- you are judicious in your selection of them.
one small point i will disagree on though- is that a good shaft maker- will take into account the many variable factors that discern between an arrow shaft and a dowel.
specie, raw wood selection, grain configuration, free of knots, twist or rot, and most importantly in my opinion- is the fact whether the wood has been kiln dried or not. kiln drying- when done with more concern for speed and production, will do irreversible damage to the wood on a cellular level- rendering it quite inferior for shafts.

The fact is- man has been shooting bows,  for many millennia prior to the advent of nicely turned shafts from a shaft maker.
In fact his very survival has depended on a variety of species and shoot types for arrows- and obviously they worked, or we wouldnt be around, i guess  .
i love shooting shoots- they do take a heck of a lot more work, but in turn are extremely rewarding.

Hicklife, i would suggest you ascertain your spine requirement as a start- even if that means putting together, or acquiring a bit of a test pack of arrows.
then if you are set on the dowels- you can make a very easy setup that you can take to the store with you in order to match your shafts.
you dont need a proper spine tester as you are not measuring a variety of shafts- you are just trying to match shafts.

now if i can just figure out how to post pics here- i have a sketch here  for you, for an easy to tote around "spine matcher"- with any random weight you find works best- doesnt need to be 2#

[Buck67]

The only reason for needing a fletching jig is because you are gluing the feathers on and they need to be held in place until the glue dries.  If you use Fletching Tape, which is a 1/16" wide double sided sticky tape, you can just press the fletching in place and forget about using a jig.  The nice thing about the tape is that you can use left and right wing feathers with no problem.

[TSA]

here is a simple jig i used one very similar when i started out- without any $
http://www.primitiveways.com/fletching_jig.html

[TSA]

the trick with all of this is- consistency!
1.trap the shaft between the two dowel pegs-
2. align the alignment mark with the top of the shaft, if the bolt is nice and snug it will stay  in position.
3. hang the weight at exactly the same place everytime.
4. measure on the edge grain of the shaft- just as for a normal spine tester.

this will be easy to carry into the store- and set up on the edge of a shelf or counter- and check  the dowells- show the shop attendant a finished arrow- and likely they will get involved- we all  love a sense of purpose.

you can pre flex them by hand quickly- giving you a rough idea which ones are stiffer- then match the selected ones.

the heavier the weight ( within reason of course)  and the more the shaft has to flex- the more accurate your readings will be.

once yopu know what spine your bow likes- you can get a bit of a spine range- say your bow likes #52 shafts- well you could mark your jig  to do say 50 to 55 spine range.
good luck- have fun 

[bjrogg]

Hicklife I agree 150 percent with everything Wayne said. As for your bow. It is a 60 lb bow but are you really drawing it to 60 lbs? If you draw over or under this will change draw weight and spine required for arrows. It appears center or at least close to center. This will make it a bit more forgiving shooting a slightly wider range of spines, but for best performance you still need to find the right spine for your bow. If you are drawing to 60 you probably can come up with a combination of shaft length and point weight that will work good for you bow in the 55 to 60 range maybe even higher or lower. One thing you have to realize and maybe do. The measured spine is just the shafts spine. The actual dynamic spine is what really matters. You can make a arrow heavier dynamic spine by shortening it or put a lighter weight point on it. You can make arrows dynamic spine weaker by making it longer or putting a heavier weight point on it. The real secret is bareshaft testing. But that another lengthy discussion.
I think Wayne gave you good advice. If you try a range of spines and find one that works try to find that same spine for the rest. I might even suggest you put points on them but no fletching. If you find one that shoots good that is combination your looking for. Good luck keep it fun.
Bjrogg