hunting point speck's

[anasazi]

What are the average  dimensions on your hunting points. Length, width, thickness, and grn wt. I know laws in my state (7/8" wide min)  just seeing what you all are doing. Thanks for your help

[iowabow]

This is the hunting point I killed my deer with this last year. It went through both sides and cut through a rib. Note it did not even chip the point. This was about 650 grains shot from a 60# osage long bow. 

[iowabow]

The deer was at 20 yards

[iowabow]

The point was made using a paleo flaking technique and was ABO. The point was lens shaped and very sharp which is why I think it held up so well.

[iowabow]

The point was 135  grains.

[iowabow]

Turkey tail feathers and a dogwood shaft, this arrow was painted with red iron oxide yellow ochre and white clam shell paint. The binders for the paint were pine pitch and beeswax the black was made from charcoal and egg yokes.

[anasazi]

Thanks for responding i really appreciate your help.

What stone did you use?
i would assume the different stones differ in weight for pieces the same size but do they differ verry much? All i have available here is obsidian and a rare piece of jasper but i am having a tough time getting heads with much weight on them or much bigger than legal minimum size.

[JeremiahVires]

Jeeze!  I thought MY arrowheads were big...

[aaron]

I make obsidisan points for my hunting. 7/8 wide by about 2 - 2 1/4 long. they are almost as thick as my sitka arrows, 3/8. I also wish they were heavier. I don't think different stones weigh much different. You can try to add weight to the front of the shaft either with a footing or by inserting metal into a hole drilled into the end, or you could wrap with very fine wire. I have not tried any of these methods, but on my next batch, I may try drilling. I think 3 rivers sells a jig for this. Come to think of it, you could use bamboo shafts and fill the last node with metal...Also, you could use some heavier shafting such as ocean spray.

[JeremiahVires]

Also, if you want to add weight and some strength, you can use bamboo shafts, then add a high density foreshaft.  It adds a substantial amount of weight and adds some more a an umph to your arrows.

[anasazi]

The one shaft i have ready weighs about 480 to 500 grn but the majority of my heads i think are in the 50 to 75 grn range so i think the overall weight is ok. I could be wrong. Most of the heads i have made lately are arround the 7/8" to 1 1/8" wide and i dont think much longer than about 1 1/2"

[Stringman]

With practice you will develop different styles of hunting points. When you settle on a particular style that appeals to you, then just work to make em the weight you want and mostly sharp!!

Here's a few pics of my hunters...





I can usually match weight from 75 up to 165 grns with 135 being the most common. Some of my points end up looking pretty long, but penetration won't suffer as long as you keep the angle low and the point sharp.

[anasazi]

To get them sharp you just take low angle flakes from the edge?

[aaron]

for sharpening, I don't nececarily use "low angle" flakes, I just try to take flakes where the flaker does not hit the edge after the initial flake. I mean it does not matter as much what the angle is , just make sure the flake detaches cleanly, leaving a razor edge. to do this, I use a platform preparation different from normal. normally, i prepere a paltform by abrading, but this abrading kinda destroys the sharp edge for on either side of the intended flake. so instead i prepare the platform with multiple, minute pressure flakes, which does not harm the adjacent edges. In the end, some parts of the edge have a low angle , super sharp. But other parts of the edge have a much steeper angle, but still super sharp, and with no gringing remnants.
am i making sense here?
the main point is that a sharp edge is a series of clean flake removals with little or no abrading.
at least that's how i do it...

[iowabow]

An important thing to keep in mind when making a point is what do you want it to do. A narrow point will not leave as wide a hole  so if the arrow comes out it will close up. Now you dont have a good blood trail in some cases. You might think this is bad but a narrow point will  penetrate better. Maybe the  better penetration will hit vitals with a low poundage bow. A higher pound bow can drive a wide arrowhead deep. This will give you a good blood trail. Nothing is free there are always trade offs. In some cases the opposite might be true. Now comes many other questions like do I want the point to detach or remain on the shaft and what are the advantages or disadvantages.  There are many factors that play into the the point selection question. One question might be shaft material as it relates to the balance issue. There is a lot to think about but you will find what works for you in the end. I dont deep notch my points because I believe it weakens the point. But others do because they believe it makes for better attachment. Another good question is what are you hunting. Different point types function better for some game vs others. For example shooting fish works best for me with a small point. The smaller point enters the hard surface of the water better and will penetrate the fish deep enough to lift the fish into the boat.