Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: lesken2011 on September 06, 2014, 07:23:09 pm
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I went to Lowes a couple nights ago to see if they had any clean pine to make some arrows. I got a Veritas dowell cutter a few months ago and haven't had time to use it yet. When I got there and started looking through the select boards, I ran across some douglas fur boards with dead straight tight grain. I ripped them today and will make my first attempt at spinning them through the dowell maker tomorrow. I took a few picks and will post them in the next couple of days. Any advice or comments would be appreciated.
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Take some scrap of your stock and use it to perfect your technique with the dowel cutter. I haven' used one but I've heard it takes a little fine tuning to get it working just right. ;)
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i have some 23/64 doug fir shafts and they are awesome
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Thanks for the tips, fellas. Here are a couple of pics.
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/6/dfurr1.jpg)
(http://traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/6/dfurr2.jpg)
I will be curious to see what kind of spine I get out of these. If the first batch works out, they had a bunch of these in stock with similar grain. This 1X6 board 6 feet long was about 7 bucks.
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Looks good Kenny. Fir is usually a bit stronger than POC.
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Thanks, Chris. When I get them sanded parallel, I will check the spine. I hope to be able to rig up a taper jig and taper them down to 5/16 on the nock end...spine permitting.
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You will probably get a wide range of spines even from the same board. After the shafts are made you'll have to put them in groups of spine and physical weight.
I made a simple jig for tapering the back 9" to 11" of shafts. I can post pics for you here or send you an email with pics and a description of what you use and how it works. I've tapered a few poplar shafts with great results.
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Yeah, Pat, I had seen some of your posts about that. I have watched a couple of YouTube vids with varying techniques, but would love to see your method.
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I made this with one 1x4x36" red oak board from Lowe's and a few stove bolts, washers and wing nuts. The sand paper is from a small sanding belt and I used double sided carpet tape from ACE Hardware.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Taperingtoolimproved002.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/PatBNC/media/Taperingtoolimproved002.jpg.html)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Taperingtoolimprovedagain002.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/PatBNC/media/Taperingtoolimprovedagain002.jpg.html)
the holes in the bottom are to let the wood dust fall through.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Taperingtoolimproved003.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/PatBNC/media/Taperingtoolimproved003.jpg.html)
these are spacers I use to set up the jig...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Taperingtoolimprovedagain001.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/PatBNC/media/Taperingtoolimprovedagain001.jpg.html)
the stop is removable for different taper links...
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/PatBNC/Taperingtoolimprovedagain003.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/PatBNC/media/Taperingtoolimprovedagain003.jpg.html)
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Very nice jig Pat! a lot like mine, but I don't use mine much any more, been making cane and boo arrows lately :) great idea with the holes for the sawdust to drop out, need to do that to mine.
DBar
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I don't use this one much. Just haven't made arrows lately. I still have some poplar shafts that Charlie Jefferson(Stringstretcher) sent me and that's what I made the taper jig for. Too many projects, not near enough time. ;D
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The DF I used was old growth, very old like 40 rings per inch. A good thing about DF arrows is when they break it is usually very clean so it makes it easy to glue back up.
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Thanks, Pat. That is a great design I will copy, for sure. I didn't get to fool with the dowell maker much this weekend due to other commitments, but late yesterday I spun one dowell that turned out great. I put it on the spine tester (still 3/8) and it spined at about 100 lbs. I sure hope that when I sand them down to normal arrow size (23/64, 11/32, 5/16) they will be closer to the 50-55 lbs or so that I am looking for. I am going to rig up a jig to reduce the shaft parallel first to get the spine closer before I try the taper. If they still turn out way too heavy, maybe looking for some with less tight grain would render a lower spine shaft. Well, if these are too stiff, maybe I can trade them for something.
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You could probably use the taper jig to reduce the diameter of the shafts if you go slow. Just adjust it for parallel instead of tapered.
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Good idea, Pat. What grit paper have you found to work best?
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Seems to me it was 120 but let me check. It's been a while. I did buy small sanding belts and the double sided carpet tape(mesh type) from ACE Hardware.
Pat
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I would have thought for the initial reduction in overall size (parallel) that a heavier grit like maybe 80 to 100 would work better, then finish it up with a finer grit before the finish goes on.
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I've contacted Charlie Jefferson(stringstretcher). He will know the grit. The one we used was the best to use to get good results. You will have to sand some to get the grit marks out. I'll let you know when Charlie gets back to me.
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Charlie said he thinks 120 also. I think the problem with courser grit is the marks it leaves are too deep and hard to get out.
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Thanks, Pat. You saved me a ton of extra work.
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Do a test first to be sure I know what I'm talking about. ;D