nice work, man
for a primitive replica to be placed somewhere as decor, this will do just fine.
there are some steps that you just can't skip when making an arrow that can safely be shot from a bow with meaningful accuracy. one of those steps is seasoning the wood properly before taking the time to work with it. with most woods around here, even cane, will bend and become curved as the wood dries. some woods will check/split in a few days if they are not sealed. any arrow that cracks prematurely is not safe to shoot out of a bow with any real power.
now as far as timing goes, it can easily take me a combined three hours to finish one good arrow.
this is from straightening, measuring, spining, cutting the nock, reinforcing the nock (sinew or thread), grinding the taper to add a field point, gluing the point, testing, straightening some more, splitting feathers, grinding feathers, fletching, wrapping the fletched ends, etc.
you'll see; as you start adding in these steps it will take longer.
if you're creating works of art, keep doing what you are doing. but if you want to make arrows that are safe and accurate to use, read into those steps above. the guys on here have a few nice arrow building tutorials. they may or may not explain everything they are doing during the builds because some of it is understood, however, if you have any questions on any part of the process, don't hesitate to ask.
now the constructive criticism (if you were going to shoot with this arrow):Straighten the arrow more (enough where you can roll the bare shaft on a flat table like when testing a billiards stick).
For most woods, it's ok to shave down the knots/nodes. This helps with the straightening process but is not entirely necessary.
Shaft direction. Next time, you're going to want to use the heavy/fatter end of the shaft as the point end. This is important in regards to weight distribution and flight. It also gives you more material on the end for hafting your points.
Fletching feathers should be from the same side wing & the same side of the feathers. If you start with three bare feathers of the same size, split and use the same side of the feathers so that the curvature of the quill and the grain of the feather better match each other. mixing left and right wing feathers on one arrow can really alter the speed & flight pattern. Grind the quills until they are even and flat, this helps when positioning and attaching. you want to create a helical effect on the end of the arrow that cause the arrow to spin evenly while in flight.
I obviously can't tell this from the photos, but read up on how to "spine" the arrow shaft; find the stiff side of your arrow and make sure that when the arrow is placed on the string, this stiff side will be against the bow. this step happens before you deep cut and finish your nocks.
Reinforcing your nock. Some do this, some don't. I feel it is good practice as it keeps the bow string from potentially splitting the arrow. After all the hours put into making the arrow, sometimes it is nice to have that added sense of security. I've also found that when shooting tight groups of arrows, it's nice to have a reinforced nock that can properly deflect an off-centered field point impact without splitting. Also, you may want to cut the nock a little deeper to lessen the chance of dry-firing your bow; again, not entirely necessary, but it is a little safer.
Wrapping those quills. Feathers are nice and soft, but their quills are a force to be reckoned with. The flesh on your hand is no match for a quill that's glued to a shaft flying in excess of 120 feet per second. Wrap those front ends so that there is no possibility of them lifting up and hooking into your skin. i use sinew on my front wraps. you can also use plant fibers, cotton thread or silk thread with super glue, or even wood glue alone to create a smoother transition from the quill to the shaft.
with some guidance from the guys on here, you'll be making some pretty sweet arrows before you know it. it takes the will to learn, and from what i can see, that's not going to be a problem.
keep up the good work.
also, what bird did the spotted feathers come from? those are nice.
