Arrows, arrows, arrows

[Mark N]

I'm conflicted. And nearly broke. I've been buying dowels for $1. apiece to make arrows with. My 14 yr old can go thru a dozen a day. That's another reason I'm broke.
I remember seeing an arrow making article, where sq. 3/8" shafts were turned into round dowels. I can't find the issue. Does anyone remember the source for the "thingy"? I believe it had a cutter inside.

[FrankM]

I haven't seen that. Curious though, what kind of arrows do you make? What bow does he shoot?

[Grey Taylor]

Is this it:   Veritas Dowel Maker  

Guy

[lpcjon2]

You can get Easton game getters or Cabelas carbons cheap they will last a little longer till he gets better at shooting.Just a thought And you tube has a video on making footed shafts that shows a dowel cutter.

[Mark N]

Thanks for input and links. The item I saw, I think it was in Trad. Bowhunting mag, was a block with a cutter inside. You put the sq. stock in a drill, ran it thru, then thru compression blocks, as desired. I know where the compression block is sold. The Veritas looks like a good possibility, and priced reasonably.  My son, and I both shoot 45# bows. He likes the PSE Kudu recurve, I have a PSE longbow. Truthfully, without embellishment, he's pretty good. The straightness of the shafts I'm making is probably a factor. The wooden backstop when there are misses is to blame for many breaks. I think the neighbor would get a bit testy if an overshoot went into his garage window. Or his dog. I'm going to set up a lg pc of carpet hanging a foot from the wood backstop. This should slow them down enough without as much breakage.

[Killdeer]

Good idea about the carpet in front of the backstop. As a side note, at 14 he is old enough to make his own arrows. Funny how many fewer lost or broken arrows you get when you make them yourself.

I'm evil, I know.    
Killdeer

[Grey Taylor]

Just to be sure you know, the link I posted is for the arrow size inserts only. You'll also need the   Veritas Dowel Maker   body to put the inserts into.

Guy

[Ssamac]

I think if you look in the Classifieds under arrows and arrow components you can get some pretty good deals esp from guys who bought the wrong shaft or who have broken sets.

In terms of lost arrows, get some rubber blunts and a big piece of carpet as a backstop and you'll be ok. The blunts don't dig into the ground so you won't lose em that way and they won't go thru the carpet either.

The veritas tool is over $300 plus the wood and the components, tips, feathers etc. You can buy a lot of good arrows for that money

Good luck
sam

[Grey Taylor]

I agree with getting componants from classifieds when possible. But just to be clear, the "over $300" price is for the complete master dowel kit. To make arrow shafts you don't need to spend that much.

Guy

[Brently]

Viritas makes a dowel cutter in 3/8 for around 25.00.  I have one and it works pretty good.  I made a compression block out of a piece of steel that I drilled out to 23/64,11/32.  It works pretty good but it is picky on the type of wood you use though.  There was a article in TBM a year or so ago on using this tool.

[hillbilly61]

Try 3 Rivers. The guy I build Bows with. I make cane arrows he makes wood arrows baught a dowl?shaft maker fro around $25 He mounts it in a vise and uses a drill to spin and push the square wood through. Makes som great shafts.