Taper jig

[Kegan]

Heavy arrows and light points don't make for a very balanced arrow, but alot of my shafts have swirls in the grain to prevent my from using hand planes. So I made up this sander jig- two guides and two runners with sanding belts glued to the inside. Tapers a 3/8" down to almost 5/16" in a few moments with a power drill. I drilled holes through the bottom of the channel for dust too. I was suprised- they come out alot ncer than I'd hoped they would, and balance properly .

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[swimbill]

Kegan  could you explain that jig some more, I have a bunch of 3/8 shafts that I would like to make smaller.  how does this jig work
swimbill

[Tom Leemans]

Swimbill-

I've seen a couple variations, but they work the same. The two long boards with the sand paper applied to the inside are mounted to the base, at the taper you are looking for. There is an arrow stop at the far end. Looks like the cleats on top are used to keep the shaft between the sanding boards. You chuck a parallel shaft in your drill, then use the drill to spin the shaft as you push it towards the arrow stop. When you get to the stop, you have your taper! Simple and brilliant!

[Kegan]

Tom- coudn't have put it better myself!

It's basically a guide of the desired shaft taper with sand paper on the inside. Works suprisingly well- even on less than perfectly straight arrows (but that does help) . Had to do alot of fiddling with it to get it perfect- some had 1/4" nocks but didn't start until 5" from the end. After about six or seven scrap arrows it got to the point where I was happy. After running them though I just smooth them off with a piece of 150 grit by hand.

[swimbill]

looks great thanks
swimbill

[Pappy]

Good idea,I have one made that way but it is only about 8 inches ,I use it to tapper the knock end or barrel tapper.I don't usually tapper them if I plan on a self knock. The holes is another great idea,I need to do that to mine it gets full of dust quick.Thanks.
   Pappy

[Cromm]

Great idea thanks for that.

[Kegan]

Thanks guys. I'm expecting some more shafts soon enough- think I'm going to have fun playing around

[El Destructo]

Good Idea Keegan....but how long does the Sand paper last....and how hard is it to change out?

[Pat B]

Dick Bernier has a taper jig that uses files instead of sand paper. He tapered some ash dowels that Jamie Leffler made and sent me a few years ago. They shoot very well and the finished arrows are still over 600gr. I believe Dick was having trouble with the files loading up with saw dust. He also drilled holes in the bottom to give the sawdust a place to go.

[Kegan]

El Destructo- I used glue and stabples, but the pieces they're aligned on are jsutscrewed on. As for how long it would last, it's heavy duty stuff- but I haven't had enough arrows to use it up yet

[Tom Leemans]

Cut some strips from sanding belts for your sandpaper. If you want it to last a really long time, get a blue Alumina Zirconia planer belt from Klingspor.