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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: dj on March 30, 2007, 04:54:00 PM
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I'm in the process of putting the point and nock tapers on my very first wooden arrow and I'm confused. I cut the nock taper first, cut it intentionally too long and the cut the shaft back until end of nock and end of taper matched. I ended up with a taper about 1/2" long. When I tried the same with the point taper, the taper came out appprox. 1" long. That seemed too long and thin to me, so I called 3 Rivers for tech advice. I was told that the point taper should be about 3/4 " long, no matter what size shaft ( 5/16, 11/32, or 23/64 ). Of course I can't see what's going on inside the point when the shaft goes in, but 3/4" seems awful short to me. I know most of you guys just eye-ball your taper lengths, and I should probably trust 3 Rivers, but until I can get my eyeballs adjusted, if anyone can give a rookie an idea of how long that point taper should be it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks dj
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I make my point tapers about 3/4 to 7/8. I know some guys will make them longer but 3/4 will fit into about every point without a problem. Longer tapers tend to bottom out before they seat in some points. dino
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I'm the same with Dino, aim for 3/4's and end up there or a tad longer. I'm shooting 5/16 - not sure about the bigger shafts.
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3/4-7/8 here, too. I guess if you need them exact, you could do like your nock tapers and start long and trim a little at a time until you get the desired fit.
Steve
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My point tapers for a 23/64" shaft are 1 3/16ths long with a pdp point. Slightly shorter for a 11/32's shaft, cant remember off the top of my head. I dont make arrows for folks anymore and basically only make 23/64ths these days for myself, so all of my tapers are the same.
If you do like maxing out your tapers, get 2 woodchucks, or two bench top grinders with two seperate jigs for this next step. Once you get it setup up for 23/64ths, it really stinks having to change to 11/32nds or back.
I recommend shouldering your point tapers. Basicially it's a very slight lip at the start of the taper on the thick end. A lip or step if you will, just ever so slight where the taper starts cutting down into the shaft. Allows for PERFECT bh alignment 99.9% of the time! Takes a bit of playing though to get the taper right with the shoulder. YOu can do this on a woodchuck or pretty much any disc sander style taper jig. YOu cannot do this very well with pencil style cutters....atleast what little I tried I had no luck at all with doing it and I dont recommend it as they dont quite cut as cleaning.
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Just measure the inside taper length of the point you are using. Stick a tooth pick or nail inside and measure the depth. Set you taper jig for that length with a bit of trial and error on a piece of shaft. I use PDP brand field points that have a taper length of about 1 1/4". I make my tapers to completely fill the inside of the point which in this case would be 1 1/4". Good luck...Van
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I really appreciate all the tips here guys, especially yours Van. I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that if the taper wasn't long enough, there couldn't be a good glue bond. I've also discovered how many variables there can be with wood shafts. I thought I would struggle mostly with straightening in the beginning. This first shaft that I am experimenting with had some flat areas around it's circumference. This produces a wavy shoulder between the taper and the full size shaft. The end I chose for the nock was perfectly round and produced a nice straight shoulder. I guess that since with a spinner, it will easier to align the point with the shaft than it would be to align the nock, I'd better keep this less than perfectly round end for the point if the other 11 shafts are the same?
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Getting the nocks and points to fit straight is my only concern and whatever amount of shaft is required to accomplish that goal is the right length.