Arrows from boards?

[TreyNC]

I know I have read an article some where about doing this. Could some some direct to some directions please. I have an unlimited supply of western red cedar and doug fir I can use currently from scrap at work, but my time working here may be limited and I want to stock up soon.

Thanks
Trey

[Pat B]

Trey, With straight grained wood you split out billets about 1/2"x1/2" then reduce them by removing the 4 corners with a plane(cheap thumb plane works fine) then remove the 8 corners then 16. Now you should be able to sand them round. You may have to reduce the diameter more and the thumb plane will do that also. You can also saw out your billets to about 3/8" square and reduce the same as above.
   There are other methods and better explanations about this method so lets wait to see what others say.     Pat

[JackCrafty]

Haven't tried cedar but Douglas Fir has worked well for me.  There is some variation in boards, though, and I like to choose the ones with the highest number of growth rings.   These boards seem more dense as well.  IMO, arrows made from dense boards with lots of growth rings are tougher and more consistant (in weight/spine).

I rip the doug fir on a table saw and then plane down the edges and then sand them round with an orbital sander.  Not very primitive but it works.  It takes me about 8 hours to make 100 raw shafts.  I've seen others use doweling jigs to make the shafts round but I haven't tried this method....it's probably faster.

I've had some trouble with doug fur heating up too much and burning while ripping on the table saw.  I think this is caused by high moisture content.  My advise here would be to make sure the boards are very dry before you cut them.

[TreyNC]

Thanks guys. I have ripped the some fir with out it burning but dont' know about the MC, I think what I had has been inside for a while. I tried a steel plate with holes decreasing in size and used a drill to spin the billet but had no success, not sure what I did wrong. I assume that a dryer board will have less tendency to warp the shaft due to further drying. I am eying more wood than I could reasonably use. I guess I'll get on it tomorrow.

[Pat B]

Trey, Where in NC are you. You should have river cane or switch cane near you.    Pat

[Kegan]

I made some for ash boards, red oak, and aromatic cedar, in both cases I ripped them out to slightly larger than 3/8" and planed/sanded them down by hand. Bad idea. Cut them to 3/8" squares, then do jsut as Pat said.

I've also used the method you're refering too. Hard, dry woods don't work well with that method. I could do it with wet hickory, but dry oak and I'd be going nowhere. Hand planing 3/8" squares is easier suprisingly, at least for me.

[TreyNC]

Pat, I am outside of Boone. I do have some river cane dried right now, but it aint straight at all, not like I was expecting when just looking at it. I got that near Asheville before moving up in elevation. There is some river cane up here but not much. How difficult is cane to straighten?

[Hillbilly]

Trey, cane bends like butter with a little heat. After getting the hang of it, you can straighten a shaft in five minutes or so-and unlike wood, it will stay straight. Cane is the primo arrow material. As for the boards, I've made some good arrows by ripping them into 3/8" squares and hand planing them. Just try to keep the grain straight with no runouts.

[Pat B]

Trey, What you have is probably hill cane(Arundinaria appalaciana), a newly designated native American bamboo. That is what I have growing here along my driveway and it makes excellent arrows.   Pat

[TreyNC]

How do you deal with the nodes, I guess sand them down but not completely. I can't wait to try it this week end. Do you guys use a hard wood plug in the ends?

I just keep hearing that one thing I was told years ago "any idiot can make bows, but arrows are art". Well I'm still and idiot trying to make bows.

[Hillbilly]

Trey, I usually always take the nodes down even with the rest of the shaft with absolutely no problems. Just straighten them before you smooth the nodes down. Some people plug them, but you usually don't have to. I cut self-nocks behind a node. If the cane is thin-walled with a good sized hole, you may have to plug the forward end with a bamboo skewer or small dowel if you're tapering it for commercial field points or glue-on broadheads.

[TreyNC]

Thanks for your help guys!!