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Author Topic: Made my first arrow!  (Read 6206 times)

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Offline Nidhoggr

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Made my first arrow!
« on: December 07, 2017, 08:36:07 pm »
As the title says: I just made my first arrow.  While it is far from the prettiest thing ever it was a proof of concept to see if I could pull it off.  It flies insanely well!

The shaft is a 5/16" oak dowel cut nock-to-end of shaft to 24" to accommodate my 23" draw..  The arrow head is a glue on field point that is 125 grains.  The fletching are 4" TrueFlight Parabolic Cut in Barred Purple.  The overall weight is 558 grains.  I got the best photo I can with my junky phone, and a video of it firing into a target at 10 yards in slow motion.  I thought I had a video of it in regular speed but I was wrong.  The fletching is held on with glue and heavy silk thread and lightly coated with glue.  No jig was used for any of this.   Done purely by hand.  The only tools used were a hand saw and a power sander to taper the point more evenly.

One one of my shots on about a 3" thick piece of styrofoam it passed straight through it and embedded about 5" into the ground.  Like I said: While it's far from the prettiest arrow ever it works really well and that's what counts to me.  Future ones I will beauty up.

Video: https://i.imgur.com/eUvKZP2.mp4

« Last Edit: December 10, 2017, 07:14:41 am by Nidhoggr »
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Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2017, 09:49:18 pm »
Nice work!  Looks like you are on the way!  The pretty doesn't help them shoot better, but it can test your skill as well.  Hand work is great!
Hawkdancer
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Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
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Offline jeffp51

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2017, 09:51:24 pm »
my first one didn't look that good.
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Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2017, 10:08:49 pm »
Thanks guys!  Was funny: Had my stepson (he's 16) film me.  When I shot the arrow and we heard it SLAM into a milk carton filled with water and split it open he went "Holy s***!" lol.   I had a similar reaction.  One of the videos you hear me go "Well I think it flies well!"  and he goes "be proud! you made that".  For some reason hearing angsty teens approval and praise feels great haha.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2017, 10:22:36 pm »
Arrows can be as addictive as bows. Nice work. Feels good when you get your new arrow to fly well.  :OK
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2017, 10:25:11 pm »
I am curious if 5/16  cut to 24" would do okay...  There's nearly NO bend in this arrow on release.  Would definitely provide a huge speed boost as well as penetration for hunting.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2017, 10:31:58 pm »
What draw weight are you shooting. 5/16 should be good for 45# to 50#.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2017, 10:51:05 pm »
Quote from: Pat B on December 07, 2017, 10:31:58 pm
What draw weight are you shooting. 5/16 should be good for 45# to 50#.

I am shooting roughly 40# at 23".  It's a 50lb bow.
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Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2017, 11:00:59 am »
Question as I can't find my longbows IBO (it's 50lb @ 28", 72" tall, and the old Medieval Huntsman Longbow from 3Rivers if anyone could even take a rough guess).  Technically, these arrows are 11.7 GPI.  Is that too heavy for hunting, or no?  The arrow seems to fly like a bolt of lightning but without the IBO I am getting numbers from calculators that say it's onl 80fps and there is no way that is right as in that video I shared I am at roughly ten yards and even at that super slow speed you hear the arrow hit the target less than a second after release.  I don't have access to a chronograph which sucks.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2017, 11:09:06 am »
If you are comfortable with how they fly, 11.7gpi isn't too heavy and actually would be preferable to a lighter arrow for hunting. Just be sure your arrow head is scary sharp.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2017, 11:20:50 am »
Quote from: Pat B on December 08, 2017, 11:09:06 am
If you are comfortable with how they fly, 11.7gpi isn't too heavy and actually would be preferable to a lighter arrow for hunting. Just be sure your arrow head is scary sharp.

For hunting until my forge is back up and running I was probably going to switch over to Toxic Broadheads as they are 100 grain and the glue on screw attachment is roughly 25 so it'd equal the same weight as my field points are now.  My only concern is with GPI where it's at would I achieve significant enough penetration at 20 yards for an ethical kill.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2017, 01:35:46 pm »
Nid, have you seen the newest edition of Primitive Archer Magazine? Ryan Gill wrote an article, "Energy and Recovery", that will answer most of your questions.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2017, 01:41:32 pm »
I didn't even know there was a magazine!  I live in the sticks so... we don't have the best of book stores available.  Thank god for the internet! lol
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Offline Nidhoggr

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2017, 01:43:20 pm »
Are there digital copies too?
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Offline Trapper Rob

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Re: Made my first arrow!
« Reply #14 on: December 10, 2017, 08:14:46 pm »
Good looking arrow.
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