Arrows from Victorian reclaimed timber

[Phil Rees]

James Duff in his book of 1910 Bows and Arrows, wrote that the best arrows he ever had were made from pine  boards and joists reclaimed from demolished houses. I've recently acquired a large batch of Pine floor boards removed from a friends house who are installing under floor heating. The house was built around 1860 and has never suffered from damp, dry rot or any other detremental infestation. All the floor boards have been carefully removed and stored in a dry environment.
The grain of these boards is absolutley astonishing, dead straight and even, with no pins or large knots.

So .... I'd appreciate advice as to how I can turn there boards into arrow shafts.  I can get them sawn and planed into very very accurate squares, thats no problem. I'd like to know if there's a tool or a jig I could buy or construct to turn the squares into rounds.

Thanks guys

[bobnewboy]

Hi, I know that the UK bowyer Chris Boyton has done just this himself, as he hates to see good wood wasted.  If I remember correctly, he said that some of these older boards were the best wood he ever used for shafting, with outstanding straight and even grain, very stable moisture levels etc.  He cuts the boards into clean square pieces, and then hand planes them into shafts of the appropriate size on a shooting board using a half round plane, with minimal sanding required.  These are for his own arrows of course 

[Pat B]

I would imagine that old wood like that would be very stable for arrows. You would have a hard time finding such wood growing today.
  There are a few different ways to tackle this...you could reduce the boards to 3/8"x3/8" square stock and hand plane them for shafting by removing the 4 corners, then the 8 corners then the 16 corners. This will give you an almost round shaft. Sanding will complete the process.
  Another process uses a pencil sharpener type dowel maker you can buy for about $20. You feed the same squared stock into one end using a drill motor to spin the shafting and get round shafting from the other side.
 The third way is with either a "Shaft Shooter" shafting machine(Stringstretcher, Charlie, has one he wants to get rid of) or make your own using a router mounter to a table with guides appropriately placed.

[DanaM]

Would like to see some pictures of the boards and/or some finished shafts

I've got a line of some old hickory flooring, at least they claim its hickory which I find odd as hickory doesn't grow up here

[Phil Rees]

Thank you for your replies.
I've ordered a Veritas "pencil sharpener" type dowel maker that should arrive in the next day or so, but does anyone have any further information on the Shaft shooter?

[mox1968]

the veritas one is the dogs!! just got one myself and used it on ash squares today zipped through it like butter!!

[artcher1]

You'll not learn more from making arrows or know more about the wood you're using than by hand planing your shafts. Something to consider. ART

[Phil Rees]

You'll not learn more from making arrows or know more about the wood you're using than by hand planing your shafts. Something to consider. ART

Strange you should say that Artcher1, this evening I've hand planed one of the squares down to an octogon then rounded it by hand in a drill with sand paper. i'm very pleased with the result even if I say so myself.

[artcher1]

You can further reduce the remaining edges (after removing the four corners) using a scraper or knife to speed up the sanding process Horace. ART

[sonny]

some might argue I suppose but there's nothing any more rewarding than hand planing square stock into arrow shafts...
I need to find some more poplar square stock 

[Hillbilly]

I like to hand-plane shafts, too. It's not too hard or time-consuming once you get the hang of it. I use a small Stanley thumb plane and a simple sizer that's just an 11/32" (or whatever size of shaft you want) hole drilled in a piece of wood. I plane off the corners and keep working it down starting at one end until the shaft fits through the hole. I do the same thing with hardwood shoots.

[ken75]

danam might be pecan its often sold for hicory just not as tough. horace your gonna love the dowel maker, i only use hand planes to taper

[Phil Rees]

Well .... my Veritas dowel maker arrived today ... and ... WOW what a tool.  After a couple of attempts with some off cuts , and getting the hang of lining up the stock pine it just cut through  squares like butter. The finish is very very good and with a little extra sanding in the drill the finish is superb.
I'm delighted with the results and thanks guys for taking the time to reply

[Lombard]

I hand plane mine even though I made the router jig that zips them out. No need to hurry unless your short on time, or building arrows for a living. By hand planing I detect flaws that I never saw zipping them through the router.

[Phil Rees]

By hand planing I detect flaws that I never saw zipping them through the router.

I think that's a very important comment Lombard. Hand planing does allow an indepth examination of the quality of the timber your working with.