Making Split Timber Shafts

[duffontap]

Thanks Marlon,

My powered jig makes a pretty-close-to-perfect 23/64ths.  I'm going to hand plane some shafts that are 1/2" tapered to 3/8" here soon.  I wanted to do a few Mary Rose replica arrows while I'm on the project. 

               J. D. Duff

[perry]

         Love reading how others make arrows , top subject . After I have reduced my shafts to 16 sided with a small hand plane I taper the point end , glue a point on and clamp the shaft into either a electric hand drill or my sewing machine motor come cresting jig that I'v attached a drill chuck to and spin them up on a sheet of sand paper I hold in my hand , the arrows come out perfect round every time . It can get hot but Im not clever enough to wear a glove, suggest others should , but if need be this makes it easy to straighten the shaft.
        I then size them with a piece of metal that has various diameter holes and sand out the sanding mark with fine sand paper . A mate made the happy mistake of squeezing the footed shaft he was making a little tight and the extra heat generated made the footing spiral like a barber pole- looks brilliant and doesnt affect durability of the arrow . He has made arrows that the footing spirals 360% .
        Regards Perry

[D. Tiller]

Oh JD check out this one!!! http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=54835&cat=1,180,42288

Time per shaft 8 seconds. Cost - $25. Time to make tool:  None!!! 

D. Tiller

[1/2primitive]

I've seen those jigs a couple of times, how on earth does it work?

[ragi]

they work very nicely thank you.


actually you chuck the 7/16 ths square stock in a drill and slowly power it through the cutter. The cutter is nominally a 3/8 inch dowel but you can get some variation in diameter depending on how you set the cutters. I have made very fat 11/32 shafts with mine.

I also suggest you make an outfeed support so the shaft cant go whipping all over as it goes through the cutter. I use a length of 2x4 as the cutter support and it has a pvc tube mounted as the outfeed so the spinning shaft wont fling about and snap.

you will have to fiddle with the blade setup a bit to get a clean cut cause if you dont then it is a very rough cut and needs a lot of sanding.

[duffontap]

Hey DT,

I've seen those around quite a bit, but it seems like it would be way inferior to the router system.  With the router, your shafting comes out right on and with a shinny, burnished surface.  How clean do your arrows come out of those tennon cutters?

           J. D.

[woody]

Good post.  I have been itching to make my own shafts for a while.  I am leaning towards method #2.  Would you explain a little more about how you made all that stuff? - the board, the plane.

Thanks for your time.

woody

[George Tsoukalas]

I inherited a molding plane with that type of circular groove in the blade.  I've tried it. Jawge

[Minuteman]

I use the Veritas doweling jig(3/8") that Dtiller supplied a link to above and it works incredibly well.You do need the out feed support or really long monkey arms like me.
 They are kinda big but once you've run them through you just spin 'em back out of the cutter, pick up ypur 22o grit paper give it a squeeze down the spinning shaft, pick up you next higher grit and hit it a lick with that and yer good to go. I usually sand  my hunting arrows with 120 grit and thats it, they are gonna get broken anyway!  I bet that you can turn out a shaft every minute and a half( not including tips, nocks ,or ripping out the blanks of course.)
 I'd certainly be interested in a strunk style plane board build along as well.

[woody]

That's what I am talking (writing) about.

[duffontap]

I'm surprised that jig works as well as it does.  I really like my router jig so I don't really need an alternative, but that is pretty cool that you can make a decent shaft in under two minutes without spending a bundle. 

One thing you have to understand about the hand planing and Strunk-style plane is that your results will vary a lot with how good of material you have.  With Doug Fir, you can expect some rustic shafting as the blade tends to gouge a little.  If you have POC, your results will be better.  But, if you have a tennon jig--you may have something better already.

        J. D. Duff

[sumpitan]

J.D.,

I wouldn't be too quick to give split timber shafting a C+ on the Primitive scale, considering that the oldest arrows in the world (11000BP), from Stellmoor, Germany, were made from split pine, and the same technique was used on the world's second oldest arrows, too (from Mesolithic Denmark, and of pine and birch). For all we know, split timber shafts predate shoot and reed shafts!

Now, router fixtures have been in use only since the 1920's, I guess, but even that is still more ancient than the plainest fiberglass longbows.

Tuukka

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Excellent point-hand planes or doweling jigs make some wonderful shafts-C+ i dont think so-bob

[Mazku]

Sorry that I bump an old topic.

I would like to make a plane like that you use in method #2. Could you explain more how to make it?

[Kegan]

Sweeeeeeeet. There's tons out there on how to make bows, not so for arrows! Thanks J.D.! I use s piece of metal with gradutaed holes instead of the router though. Don't come out as nicely (they have grooves on 'em), and time depends on how hard the wood is.

D.Tiller- I still have to make on of those things! My dad has a very old 1/2" model, but I'm sure I can rig up a wooden 3/8" model .

You guys keep adding to my to-do list !