I am going to try to make some footed shafts this weekend. They will only be 2 splice, as I don't have a jig or router at the time. My question is: How long of a foot and how long of a splice would be best? I am thinking 6" on both. What do you guys think? Thanks.
You can make whatever you want, but that is a little longer than "standard." The footed shafts I have (commercially made) have about a 4 1/4 inch spliced section and 3 1/4 inch solid section, the last inch of that being tapered, of course. A longer footing will give you more FOC. Good luck.
Yep. I made mine with about 4 inch wings and 4 inches solid. Next time I am going to make the solid part longer for more FOC. If I were you I would try about a 4 inch wing, and then 6 inches solid. This should give you great FOC.
Thanks guys. Jon you inspired me to try this. How'd yours turn out? They looked great.
Steadman, they have come out great! I don't have them fletched yet, but I have crested them and stuff. I will try to post a picture. Don't worry, it is not as hard as it seems.
Sweet! Looking forward to the pics.
Damn battery on the camera is dead. I'll get them up as soon as I can. That purple heart wood looks sooo good after it is sanded with fine sandpaper, cleaned and then dipped in sealer 5 times!
Here are some not so great pics, but you get the idea Steadman.
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pics don't do much justice. They look really good. Have fun!
Has there been a good footed-shaft build-along thread here recently that I've missed? If so, can anyone point me to it? It would have to be aimed at folks like me who have never done this before and lack fancy shop machines. I have a bandsaw but wouldn't trust it for cuts so fine. If no such thread exists, maybe someone can provide us with one. Much appreciated, dave
Hey Jon those look great, I've started a few more, what a great way to recycle broken shafts.
Get some feathers on those puppies, then you can post them here for a give away.HA HA only teasing, shoot them with pride buddy.
Dave, I did these with cheap hand tools. You don't need anything fancy to do 2 wing footings, but the 4 wing footings require a jig, and it looks more complicated. I did these with just a small thumb plane like you get at any hardware store, and sandpaper. The first one took awhile, but the others went much faster.
I used the footing billets that 3 rivers sells. But with your bandsaw you could easily make your own.
my wings are around 4 inches. I cut my shaft to the length so that after the footing wsa attached it would come out the length I wanted.
Then I marked the arrow 3 3/4 inches from the point end. Now before we get down to wittling it down keep in mind that we are only planning down 2 sides of the shaft. You need to plane down the rift sides of the shaft. The idea is to take your small plane and wittle down from your mark to the point end. The arrow will come out as a wedge. Then take some sandpaper and smooth it up.
Next take your billet(either one you purchased or made yourself) and sand out the slot in it.
Now it is time to glue it together. You will need a good glue (I used gorrila glue) and three 1 1/2 in C clamps. Get the shaft wet on the end you wittled and apply the gorrilla glue. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Now just slide the shaft into the slot on your billet. Normally it is tough to get it in there on the first try, but after the glue gets in there, it becomes easier.
Once you have the shaft in there, eyeball it to make sure everything is straight. One wing may be sticking out further than the other, but it won't matter as long as everything is straight.
After the glue dries, take your small plane and simply start rounding off the corners of your billet. I normally start on the wings first. Take it down as much as you dare without getting into the original shaft.
Now just flip the arrow the other direction and plane it out towards the point. Once I get it close, I move on to the sanding stage.
For this I made a little tool that makes things easier. Take 2 pieces of 1x4 or 2x4 and cut them to about 6 inches long. Put them together side by side and tighten them into a vice.
Now drill hole longways, right through the seam where the two wood blocks meet. Make the hole just a shade bigger than the diameter of your shaft. Now undo the vice. You have 2 pices of 2x4 with a half circle groove down each side. Set one aside for now.
Take a piece of heavy grit sand paper and cut it to fit over the groove and down the sides. Clamp this into the vice with the groove side up.
Now take your shaft and sand away by pulling it back and forth and spinning the shaft as you go. At first, the shaft will not fit into the groove. When you sand it down to the point where it will fit into the grove, you can move on to the next step.
Take each block of wood and line both groves with sandpaper. Clamp it back together in the vice. Now just insert the shaft into the hole and start sanding again. You may at first need to adjust how tight the vice is. Eventually you will have it down to where the footing is exactly the same diameter as the rest of the shaft.
Clean the dust off it, straighten if needed and dip them in your sealer once.
From there you can go on to cresting and then dip 4 more times. After that all you have to do is put the nocks on, fletch them and taper the point end.
I hope these directions are not to difficult to understand. I'm making some more next week, and maybe I will try to do a buildalong.
The Spring 1991 issue of Traditional Bowhunter explains how to do all of this.
Forgot to mention that when you put the 2 blocks of wood together for the last sanding stage, you are using ligh sandpaper. The footing comes out so smooth it is almost like marbel.
By the way, if for whatever reason the footing end does not come out straight, you can straighten it by heat treating it pretty easily.
Before you seal them take an old sock and clean the shafts. This will get all of the dust out of the pores, and makes it look much better when it is done.
Unclewhit, I have actually thought about that. But first I better make a few dozen more for practice. Mine are coming out very well now, but there have been a few screw ups along the way.
Dave2old there is a video on you tube, how I make arrows. I split four of my shafts the other day and as, unclewhit said, thought I would recycle some shafts. I did the same thing except, instead of spliting the foot I cut it.I would post a pic, but don't know how. My foot was 12" so I could make a 30" shaft.
Jon those look great!! I have some rosewood I'm gonna try if it doesn't snow 6" tonight. Thanks for the input. What does your small hand plane look like? You could send me your shafts and I'll fletch them for you. Of course I wouldn't be responsible for any lost in the mail when I shipped them back. :goldtooth: ;)
Hey Steadman. It's just a little plane made by Stanley. It's 3.5 inches long. The model number is 12-101. Once you see it in the store, you will know what it is. I got mine at ACE hardware.
Great info Jon! How wide was the split in your footing? I'm going to cut mine on my bandsaw, so should I make it 2 blade widths wide or so? Also, what were the dimensions on the footing?
Co Redneck, the slot is 1/8 inch, and four inches deep. The billet is 7/16 square. It is 8 inches long. But If I were making my own, I would make everything the same except make it 10 inches long. This would give you better FOC. So make the slot 4 inches, but the whole billet 10 inches. I have not tried that yet, but that is what I am going to do on the next batch!
Thanks for the info. Problem is that my arrow split 5.5 inches back from the point. Since my arrows are 28.5 untapered, I was thinking about cutting the shaft about 10 - 11 inches back. Is that going to be way too much or would I be alright with a 4.5 solid piece and a 5.5 inch foot or should I go with a shorter solid piece?
You the man :notworthy:
CO Redneck, I think that will work fine. Afterall, that is how the english used to do it. For sure it will shoot as well as it did before. The ideas I talked about would just increase the FOC a bit, and only apply to making new arrows, but it will most likely not be noticable.
If it split 5.5 inches back, I think I would just plane it down from there, and then make your billet long enough to get it back to where it would match the rest of your arrows. Don't forget to allow for 1 inch for the taper on the end. By the way..if you have a tru center taper tool..you can use the little round guides that come with it when checking the diameter of the shaft after you begin shaving down the billet. If not, a caliper works well, and if not that...you can get it really close just by feel.
Awesome! :notworthy:
The split was 5.5 inches from the end of the taper, so maybe I'll start planing them at about 6 - 6.5 inches. My arrows are cut at 28.5 then tapered. The guys at the local shop said to leave .5 an inch for the taper, should I leave more? have one of Bearpaw type taper tools.
Thanks for all the great info, you are a great help!
- Grant
No, you need to leave 1 inch for the point taper. They were probably talking about the nock taper when they told you that. I believe the nock taper is .5 inches, but every broadhead and field point needs 1 inch.
There are a bunch of wiser old timers on this site that have been doing all of this for a long time. Hopefully one of them will chime in.
Don't plane them at 6 to 6.5 inches.. Plane it for however long the slot in the billet is (4 iches or so ) and then leave the billet long enough to make up the difference. Otherwise I fear you will not get the strength you need.
In other words, start planing them about 3.3/4 inches above the break. Then make sure the billet is long enough when it is attached to match the rest of your arrows. And again...don't forget that there will be a 1 inch taper at the end! Have a ball man!
Much thanks, Jon. Your instructions make it sound doable, and I will give it a try. And I especially like the hand-made aspect Huey, what is your You Tube flick link? Thanks all, Dave
Dave someone else made the video just go to you tube and search how I make arrows and you will see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nve9CetSKg&feature=PlayList&p=4425942429BA6627&playnext=1&index=64
You Tube video on footed shafts