First attempt

[paulc]

All, when I first set this arrow up I thought I had my sizes right but now I'm thinking the front end of this arrow is crazy big....I included pic of nock as well. Shorten arrow(plenty long I think) redoing arrowhead?

It flew surprisingly well, fletch job is terrible...thanks.  Paul

[Pat B]

My sourwood arrows are about 3/8" at the point or slightly less and 5/16" at the nock end and 30" length.
What are your dimensions?

[Hawkdancer]

If it flies well, and meets legal standards, the game doesn't care!  My shoot shafts are similar to Pat B's.
Hawkdancer

[paulc]

This is my first crepe myrtle shoot...

Currently 44" long , I figured I could shoot and trim trying to find right length. But I also thought I would cut the nock end and move it towards point. My cheater shafts(carbon) that fly well are 32" long. I draw 27-28".

Do I just assume 32" like the carbon shafts? I can get the point end down below a 1/2" if I take 12" off but it'll still be 7/16" across I bet...or do I take 4 or 6" and go by flight and disregard front end diameter? Or do I even cut it to 30"??

Thanks so much!  Paul

[Hawkdancer]

At 44", you have plenty of shaft to work with.  Try looking for the best 36" in the shaft, do some sanding or scraping to get down to about 3/8 dia., then perhaps trim down to 32" as needed.  Many of my older arrows are about 32".  If that the length you have been shooting, stay with it, imo.  I am no expert arrow smith by any means, some of the the folks may weigh in with better advice.
Hawkdancer

[paulc]

I reduced the shift to 32". The front end was still a solid 1/2" diameter. I gently chucked it into the drill and ran the front 12" on the belt sander for a while. Front end is now probably 7/16"; the shift does not naturally reduce to about 3/8" until the last 12 or 14". Anyway, much improved, changed fletch to eastern 2 feather style....

I did fetching w electric tape as I figured I would be tweaking it...should I heat treat this shaft once I'm done tinkering w it?

Should all these natural shafts from shoots be heat treated ? I didn't use any heat when straightening.

Thanks,  Paul

[Hawkdancer]

I don't heat treat as such, only to straighten.  You might try burnishing the shafts with a metal rod or round screwdriver shaft.  Post a pic of the finished product!
Hawkdancer

[paulc]

:-) electric tape and 2 part epoxy. I'll post again when I've got one with sinew and pitch. P

[mullet]

I think you are putting too much thought into it, Paul. If it flies good and is sharp it sounds good to me. This will at least give you something to base your next ones on.

And when it comes to length, again, if it flies good....  My Yumi arrows are 37-38" long with some of the points 8 grains.

[paulc]

So I used my birch oil pitch to mount 5 stone points on the remaining crepe myrtle shafts and shot them without fletching...1 flew perfectly, one managed to hit the target way off the mark and at a 45 degree angle.  Other 3 couldn't even hit the couch cushion target.  Shooting at about 10 paces.  Lost one gifted obsidian arrowhead and broke the seat for the arrow...seems pretty clear there is no "straight enough" when dealing with a stone point??

I'll put some bullet case points on the 4 to confirm it was in fact the cock-eyed points that were the problem and then try again.

Paul