I really enjoy shooting wood arrow shafts. Surewood shafts are my go to choice right now but I'd like to start making my own. Mainly just to have more control over the process and maybe save some money in the long run.
My plan is to get a veritas dowel maker and build a spine tester.
For those of you who make their own shafts do you think it is worth the effort?
Is there any money saved in making your own vs buying them?
The joy is learning how to do it. You may not save a lot of $$ if you consider your time worth much - but it will teach you a lot about grain and spine and hopefully the old ways. I still lay with some. I have a good stash of Lodgepole pine (Chundo) fir and spruce. They are 36" logs from good straight grain trunks - average 7" diameter. I will split with ax and/or froe and trim the final splits with an old wood handle thin blade 'Old Hickory' butcher knife that I can sharpen up nice. I split into 3/8" squares. I have my Veritas 3/8" dowel jig tweaked to just under 23/64" and the shafts run quite nicely. I built a multi hole wood jig that I spin the rounds with a drill motor and sand the shafts to 11/32" I have a very old Teichsers Spine tester (looks just like an Adams - probably was the forerunner)The spines will surprise you - they may run a 'Bell curve' from 30 to 70 lbs spine that is all about density and tightness of grain. You may have to run a lot to get a dozen or so that suits your needs. I just don't have the time to play with that many shafts with all the bows and arrows that I make. Mostly I get it out to teach others how to do it- then teach the rest of the skills needed to make 'primitive' arrows'
i have the veritas. it works good. still have lots of sanding after you run them threw the dowel maker. as far as saving money i dont know it all depends on how you value your time, and you will have some TIME in each shaft. the trick will be finding 1/2 dozen shafts in the right spine and weight you want. mite have to make 2 dozen to get six that you want. its fun a would be very rewarding. do have a would supplier?
good luck
Here's a link to a thread I did years ago that shows how I made shafts with my bandsaw.
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=043864
Just ran a few this afternoon on the patio. Not sure how much money is saved. I made nine shafts from one six foot pine board that was a few inches wide. Could get a few more out of it but have had better luck with a full 1/2" blank. I don't have a spine tester, so I guess ignorance is bliss. :) I can pretty much get any set made so far to shoot in at least one of my bows with a little adjusting to the shelf depth, arrow length and point weight. They seem to shoot pretty much the same so the spine can't be to varied.
The ones I made today will go into arrows for the grand kids. I do save a lot in $ but the time that goes into it would make it a loss if time were counted and valued.
For my own arrows I look for straight grained doug fir with as tight a grain as possible but plan to try some poplar next time around.
The local shop can sell me one dozen 11/32 compressed cedars matched within a few grains of weight and a few pounds of spine for $42. I thought that was pricey till I discovered what it would take for me to produce a set to equal that. :scared: When I shoot my own shafts alongside my closely matched "store bought" shafts, the groups shot with the commercial shafts are about half the size of those whot with my home mades.
Still, I'll keep making them just because it's a pleasant process and I have the time. You may or may not enjoy it but you can find out for about the price of a dozen shafts.
Back when I made my wood shafts, it took me 50-60 shafts just to get 6 that we're close enough in SPINE and WEIGHT . It's a lot of fun to make shafts and very rewarding, but now days time is more important and I buy my wood shafts.
It's fun but you wont save any money at all as a matter fact you will probably loose some. On the other hand you will have lots of small game arrows and stump arrows you can trash.
Tracy
I'm not going to tell anyone not to try to make their own arrow shafts out of a piece of wood, I like to make all mine own equipment too. But we run hundreds of shafts to get several matched dozens. With the rejects, matching in spine and then matching up in grain weight, you will need around a hundred to get maybe 2 dozen, and that is if you start with a great piece of wood.
Overall I found the cost of the wood to produce enough matched shafts to be too expensive.
It was a good experience but one I won't repeat.
Now I'm liking bamboo shafts.
I have made my own arrow shafts from Red Osier Dogwood shoots for many years. Matching spine was an issue until I built a simple spine tester. Now I can spine match the shafts as I'm making them and avoid culling as many as I did before.
A spinetester and dowel maker are expensive. I always order shafts which are hand weighed and spine tested. Normally I get them with an accuracy within +\\_ 5 grains and +\\_ 1 lb.
I pay a little more for this service, but it saves me a lot of effort. I cut them on length , straighten them, and make arrows out of them. I buy at least a run of 24 pcs and when I am ready with making arrows out of them, I weigh them and make groups which are as close in weight as possible. Works fine for me.
This is the cheapest and fastest way to get good arra's but you have to find a supplier who wants to match the shafts for you.
If you decide you like making your own arrows, then you can buy the other stuff.
Btw: if you put carbons on the spinetester you might be surprised how much they differ in spine.........