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Making a batch of medieval aspen barrelled arrows

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Ruddy Darter:
 I'll be tying the feathers on by hand, without a jig, over the beeswax/pine resin and then remelting the wax around the silk thread with kettle steam or heat gun. I tried this method out on some ash arrows a while ago, (I'll get the mix a bit better now) and I find it's the best way to fletch now.
 R.D.

Pat B:
Very cool!   8) :OK

Ruddy Darter:
Thank you Pat,
I'm looking forward to continuing with these,
I'm going to grind the feathers down as thinly as possible.
It is troublesome to get on and smooth out if there is too much pine resin in the mix, I've found a two part beeswax/one part pine resin (I'm using refined to gum rosin) is the happy trade-off for me.
R.D.

Ruddy Darter:
I finished rounding the shafts (with a further final finish when arrowheads and horn are in place), I planed the lengths to an even sided octagon and then skimmed the remaining edges and finished with a concave cabinet scraper.
I then marked back and front where to saw the slots for the 2" horn inserts.
 R.D.

Ruddy Darter:
I sawed in the slots (in line with the end grain) for the horn insert, I marked back and front so I keep the saw on track,
I then tidy and square up the slot with a flat nail sander, flat needle file and a steel rule with 180 grit cloth stuck to it. This gets a nice neat glue line with the horn inserts.
I'm working down the horn with a small japanese file and smoothing flat on the glued down120 grit cloth. I got some rabbit skin glue soaking and hope to glue in the inserts in the very near future.
R.D.

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