Field points have a larger diameter than the nominal size arrow shaft they fit- e.g. a 5/16” point has an OD of 0.327” vs. 0.3125” of the shaft. And it’s worse on the under-size shafts I'm experimenting with. The mis-match causes the arrow to be difficult to pull from the bag targets I use. I suspect such arrows are even more difficult to remove from foam targets.
The pic below is a 0.327” OD point crimped on a 0.295” OD shaft so the transition between the point and wood isn't abrupt.
Here's how it's done:
The point (sans shaft) is chucked into a drill and a file is applied to create a taper on the aft end of the point. The end should become sharp but not too thin.
The point is glued on the shaft with hot melt glue using just enough to avoid it flowing out the back of the point. Excess glue interferes with the crimping.
The end of the taper on the open end of the point is then crimped down with the modified coax cable crimpers shown in the pic below.
To hack the coax crimper:
File down the flat parts of the jaw of the crimper so that they mate fairly exactly. Drill out one of the holes in the business end of the crimper with a tapered drill thingee until the smaller end of the hole just a sliver larger than the shaft diameter. Lightly chamfer the sharp shoulders of the hole where it mets the flat part of the crimper’s jaws. Test crimp a point using light pressure while rotating the point/shaft- i.e. crimp, rotate and repeat to create a smooth and round crimp. If needed, drill the tapered hole a smidgen deeper.
c.d.
