What do you use to make square arrow blanks?

[Hunter Van Winkle]

I'd like to get into making my own arrows.

I have a bandsaw, and a veritas dowel tenon cutter. I'm having trouble with draft on my bandsaw. Would it be worth it to get a $100 table saw?

What is an ideal shaft producing setup for a poor arrowcrafter?

Also, where would you acquire your lumber for producing blanks?

Thanks everybody.

[Bevan R.]

I used up one of those light table saws. made bunches of shafts. much better than the bandsaw.
A friend of mine would buy fir 2x12 at a lumber yard (lots of searching to get good grain, fewest knots) and rip stock out if that.
I would buy the split cedar (western red) fence posts and use that. Half Eye has some stunning cherry shafts. I have heard of hickory shafting as well.
Making your own split wood shafts just adds to the neck twisting that bow making does. Now you not only look at things and wonder it they will make a bow, now you will look at material and try to figure out how to make shafting.

[bowtarist]

I've not cut my own from boards, but it appears most guys use a table saw w/ the fence set @ 3/8" and cut 3?8" squares to whatever length board they want.  Then they take those and stick them in a block w/ a 90* slot cut full length, so a square on it's side.  They stick the sqar. shaft in the slot and plane one edge @ a time until they have planned all four edges, then they plane the eight edges and now there are 16.  I hear @ this point you can sand it smooth.  Maybe a fence set up on your band saw might work, that's were I'm gonna start...when I start. 

Good luck and post pics. dpgratz

[Bevan R.]

Even with a fence, the only way I got my bandsaw to be consistant, was by using a 3/4" blade.

[Bevan R.]

There was an interesting article on shafting some time ago in PA. The guy was making laminated shafting. he made laminated 'planks' then riped them into square stock then rounded them. Looked pretty sharp. I want to try than sometime.

[Hunter Van Winkle]

thanks for the info guys.

until I can afford a table saw, i may try some ceramic bearings & guide thrusters on the band saw. Right now my thruster bearing on the bottom is jammed and stuck, and the plastic guides melt away pretty quickly, making it rather difficult to get perfectly straight lines.

[Peacebow_Coos]

One of my friends Dale told me he uses a carrot peeler after he gets the blanks out of the table saw, but yeah it's worth it for sure.  Carrot peeler works good and it's real cheap, just gotta watch the grain.

[Bevan R.]

You can make your own fence with a level clamped to the bandsaw table. Go slow, let the blade do the work.

[stringstretcher]

Hunter.  If you set you fence to the drift of your saw blade, it will cut as good as any table saw.  If you need help, give me a pm.