Arrow Making

[beehlebf]

everyone says you need all of this fletching equipment to make arrows but can i just make decent arrows with basic tools thats how people used to do it or can i make a tool to fletch arrows thx

[crashdive123]

You can make your own, and don't need a lot of specialized tools. Think about when man made them to hunt their food before guns were available. They could not go out and buy a fancy fletching jig, but rather made what they needed. As to the how to do it .... we have several members here that can probably answer that question for you that have done it, and still do.

[canid]

everyone says you need all of this fletching equipment to make arrows

no they don't. i make plenty of arrows completely by hand. for simple, expedient arrows at home, you can easily make some simple duct tape flectchings. a search will tell you what i'm talking about if you haven't seen them before, i'm off to dinner.

[canid]

ok, so the most important issue when making arrows is spine weight. this is a measurement of the stiffness of the arrow shaft. for a given bow, there is a range of spine weight that will shoot properly and predictably, so your shafts will have to be resonably within this range.

if you are not going to be hunting with them, or shooting competitively, this range is pretty broad, and a little experimentation with the stalks of woody shrubs should give you a good idea of what diameters you want to use for given shrub species.

this is what i use for a lot of the arrows i make. small diameter bamboo garden stakes also work great. if you try this, you will want to cut sections at least a couple inches longer than your arrows are to be, and choose those with no significant side branches. what small side branches there may be should be trimmed off, and the shafts tied together into a bundle to begin to dry.

when they are mostly dry, you can heat bend them, by gently heating any area with a kink or bend over a fire, or a stove burner, and then gingerly correcting the bend untill the heated section cools.

the duct tape fletchings (http://www.primitiveways.com/pt_qikfltch.html) are easy as pie, and i highly recommend them for expedient arrows.

[beehlebf]

Thanks canid and all of u guys on the archery tips. I guess when I meant everybody it was everyone I talked to had something to do with the archery business. And I have bought a 30 pound recurve I'm learning to shoot. My other question is how to curve the duct tape fletchings and what spline weight I need for this bow. Will simple dowel rods work as arrows I can get those at walmart cheap.

[FVR]

Look up the Cherokee two fletch arrows. The arrows use two turkey feathers = 4 fletch and they fly great. I've made them by just wrapping sinew around the two feathers and the shaft.

In my younger days, I would do this with reg. old bird feathers that I found laying around.

[Coote]

YES !! You absolutely can make your own simple and effective bows and arrows without 'proper' jigs and tools. I have done this, and I've successfully taken game with my own home-made, crude-looking gear.

My bows don't seem to be as powerful as the bows I've read about. And none of my gear looks like anything you'll see on the cover of 'Traditional Archer' magazine. I have given little heed to arrow spine theory, and my fletchings are often not perfect. Yet I get pleasing results.

I've had great success using soft adhesive tape for fletchings. I prefer to make a three-fletch. Here are some pictures showing how I do it:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h71/kiwicoote/tapeflsv.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h71/kiwicoote/tapeflev.jpg

It can be a bit tricky to get the three bits of tape into position without having them stick in the wrong place, but even if you do get a few lumps and bubbles you will probably find that the arrow still flies pretty well. I stick these fletchings on straight.... helical fletchings are not always essential.

Best wishes.... Coote

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

I have a video on making arrows, its called making the primitive arrow.