The last two years i had decided that it was time to step into archery.It was something that i wanted for long time and i am catching myself remembering how many times i had stolen bands from my mother’s sewing kit to make strings for my bow during my childhood.
I had bought my first bow,a Samick Field Lion bow,one piece recurve and with coaching from friends and watching videos to learn proper techniques, so i can established a good form, i started shooting my bow a lot. I really enjoy it every time!!!Now i am shooting my second bow,a Bear Archery Grizzly and i am very excited with it!
Since,i decided to go with the more traditional form of archery,i started to learn how to make my own arrows.Since i am novice,i didn’t went out to find that perfect branch to cut it and shape it to an arrow;instead i got couple pine and cedar arrow shafts so that i can experiment with them.They have different spines and size(5/16 and 11/32) but they are the same length;32 inches. So,first off i apply three coats of raw linseed oil.That, will give shafts a nice protective coat.Raw linseed oil need some time to dry,but it’s not that hard.Apply one coat each time to a dozen shafts,will take you 5 minutes.Then just let it one day to dry and then repeat.
After the drying process, i cut my arrows at the desired length.My preferred arrow length is 30 inches;and i mean a complete arrow,with tip,nock and fletching.So,depending on the tip or broadhead,i have to adjust the cut accordingly.It might be 2 inches or 2 1/2 inches. I use a taper tool to cut a precise angle (a taper) on a wood arrow for mounting nocks and points. A nock taper measures 5° and a point taper measures 11°. A tapered arrow flies better after all.
Next, i place the broadhead or field tip and then the nock,without glueing any of them;I will do that after the fletching,in case something goes wrong. I measure the length once more to make sure that is the desirable one. Then i place the shaft on the fletching jig glueing the first feather,here is the orange one;let it set for 5 minutes. I turn the jig mechanism to the next place,pick a black feather and repeat the process.Same goes for the final feather.At the end your arrow should look like this;
You can see that the feathers have equal space between them.After, i let the glue dry for couple minutes,i glue the nock and the tip or broadhead.I let it dry for 24 hours and then our arrows are ready to use.
Making your arrows ,is a great feeling and a great way to spent couple hours.The feeling that you are going to shoot or hunt with something that you had made is priceless.
Now, i hope that you had enjoyed that reading, and for your information,while you were reading, i was shooting arrows in my backyard!