Arrow tapering plane/jig?

[Kevin G]

I've been looking at the taper plane as sold by Kustom King for tapering some 23/64" fir shafts down to 5/16" on the nock end ... has anyone tried that and what did you think? I also searched past posts and noticed a homemade tapering jig using aluminum angles with sandpaper or files mounted to the angles and then mounted on a board which looks pretty slick (and cheaper) ... what works best?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Pat B]

A cheap thumb plane(about $8 from Tru-value, etc) and a length of board with a "V" groove cut down the center, lengthwise will do the same and with little monetary investment.
  There is a good example of the angle iron type tapering jig on PA just recently. This one used files on the angle irons instead of sandpaper. Pat

[Orion]

I use a small block plane to rough teper and then the sanding jig to finish the job.  The commercial version works, but not any better than the set-up Pat mentions, IMO.

[mrkbsm]

I took about 45 minutes to build a plain old wooden jig that does the job just fine - I think it's very similar to the build alongs you'll find here and elsewhere on the internet.  I wrapped some aggressive wood sandpaper half around two long wooden blocks (10" or whatever you want your taper to be), used drill bits to space them out on each end (with sandpaper attached), and screwed them down to a baseboard.  Chuck up a shaft in a cordless drill and run them through - takes about 30 seconds per shaft and they come out just fine.  I then hand-sand them with a few finer grades and they come out slick.  
End result isn't a work of art but it was quick and works.  
I'll post pics later tonight if I get a chance.  Total cost equals the price of sandpaper, a few screws and some wood scraps.

[bowhunterfrompast]

ttt

[mrkbsm]

So as promised, here are some pics and a bit more explanation - coincidentally I just built it yesterday so I'm pretty happy with my frugal woodworking and glad to talk about it!
Starting with a top view... as I mentioned earlier - plain ugly scraps!
   
These are leftover pieces of 2x boards that still each had 1 factory edge left (clean and straight, buzzed over a belt sander to double check).  They're measured and chopped off at 11".  Why 11"?  B/c sandpaper measures 9" x 11" so no paper trimming is necessary        
Fold square edges on the sandpaper around the wood, place it where you want it on the baseboard, drill pilot holes and screw down the first piece.  Then using a 5/16 spacer and an 11/32 spacer (appropriate size drill bits work, but so do bits of 5/16 and 11/32 shafting), space out the position of the second board (w/ sandpaper), then drill your holes and put in your screws.  At that point you're left with a not-quite-parallel sandpaper channel that starts at 11/32 and ends up at 5/16.
 
If you look closely you'll notice some small pieces of wood at the bottom of the channel - as a person does more and more shafts you can add those in as spacers to get to less worn spots on the sandpaper.  
At this point you're ready to measure off 11" on your shaft, chuck it up in the drill, and start feeding it into the 11/32 end until you get to your mark.  In about 30 seconds you'll have a tapered shaft - check it with a 5/16" nock and you're done.
 
EDIT: as pointed out by rbbhunt below, nock-tapering your shafts before running them through the jig is a very good idea.  I had all of mine nock-tapered beforehand so that step slipped my mind at the time.  Otherwise running them through something like a Tru-Center afterwards could get difficult due to the varying shaft size.  

Really that's about it...
 

• 1 flat baseboard
  2 sturdy/clean-edged scraps of wood
  4 screws
  2 chunks of sandpaper
  1 5/16" spacer
  1 11/32" spacer
  

A (very) poor man's taper jig with no bells or whistles!  Works for laminated birch, so it should work for most everything else I'd imagine.  Of course you're not starting with 11/32 according to your post - the idea is the same, just the spacers are different!
The only immediate change I would advise for others would be to use finer sandpaper - I used some sort of 3M 60 grit which turned out to be way overboard.  100 or 120 grit should easily be fine.
Thanks,
Mark

[cvarcher]

ntt

[Orion]

mrk:  Could screw, nail or glue a stop block to the narrow end.  That way you wouldn't need to measure 11 inches on your shafts.  An extension on the lower end -- a 4-inch or so parallel channel, as pictured in some of the build alongs -- also helps guide the arrow and prevents bruising/gauging of the shaft at the wide end of the taper.  Fun stuff.

[tim-flood]

I have seen this done by rolling the shaft over the belt sander takes about 10 seconds and the sanding is going the right way.  I think this works better than the plane method.  Practice on a dowel

[rbbhunt]

I was thinking along the same idea as Orion and adding a stop and a guide.  Also, some wood will taper better using this method than the plane.  A friend tried planing some Poplar shafts a while back and it wasn't a pretty sight!  Also, I would nock taper the shaft first and then pencil a line where a 5/16" (for 11/32" shaft) nock ends for an additional guideline so the safts are all tapered the same.

[mrkbsm]

Yup, I did actually nock taper mine before running them through but neglected to mention it - it was getting late and the difficulty of nock-tapering a tapered shaft with something like a Tru-Center didn't jump out as a red flag in my mind.  I'll go back and edit the above post.  
Putting a stop block at the end wouldn't be hard, and probably also advisable.  As for guiding it on the way in, mine is built at the edge of the board so hand-guiding it works for now.  
I'm sure the one I built will get revised just about every time I use it, but that's the way those things go!

[Ray]

Hey,thanks I CAN DO THAT,and I like the way tapered shafts shoot.

[Kevin G]

Thanks all for the responses. Some great info and ideas.

Kevin

[Rob DiStefano]

Taper Jig

[R. Combs]

Thanks Rob,

I made a taper jig like yours today using 2 mill files instead of the sand paper like you suggested and it works great.

Thanks again, Rick

[firewater100]

I know this is not part of building the jig but any ideas of how much spine you loose when tapering?

[R. Combs]

I am getting a 9" taper with my set up and I haven't checked yet, but from what others are posting there is only 0-2 lbs of spine difference.

Rick

[trashwood]

I find that Dean Torges's Bowyers Edge and the process he sets out to be very effective.  

rusty

[M60gunner]

To answer your orginal question I have that taper jig. The jig itself works great but the plane and the blade that comes with it are not the best. The blade does not stay sharp long enough to do a dozon shafts. It also has trouble with grain that runs both ways. I guess I am spoiled using my Lee-Neilson low angle plane. It has the A-2 blade. It will not work with the taper jig by the way.

[Eric Krewson]

If you make a Trad Gang taper jig, cut a slot in the bottom to let the dust fall through, your sand paper will last much longer.