Westminster Abbey and Mary Rose replica arrows

[WillS]

Finished these up a few days ago for quite an important customer, and I thought they might be of interest.

The Westminster Abbey arrow is 28 7/8" long, barrelled according to Warbow Wales' specifications (11mm at the head, 11.2mm at the breast and 7.5mm at the nock), fletched with goose primaries and the head is one I forged inspired by the Westminster Abbey head.

The Mary Rose arrow is 30" long, tapered from 1/2" at the head to 3/8" at the nock, with the taper starting somewhere around the middle of the shaft.  Fletched with swan primaries and fitted with a head I forged based on a Museum of London artefact, but also (to my pleasant surprise) pretty similar to the head on display at Winchester Museum in both dimension and form.

Both arrow shafts are made from hand-planed European aspen, and both feature a 1.5mm slip of cow horn, a beeswax and pine resin verdigris compound and the fletchings on both are bound down with pure silk.  Neither arrow shaft is oiled or sealed as there is no evidence of that being done and no need when using aspen, but simply burnished. 

[Del the cat]

Very nice work . The verdigris comound over the binding looks V tidy and effective.
Del

[stuckinthemud]

Very nice work, I'd love to get into forge work but too much else to learn! So, is the verdigris a glue to mount the fletchings or a sort of mastic to smooth over the silk?

[Ruddy Darter]

Great arrow-smithing WillS, nice work  .
(I got some verdigris coloured watercolour paint, a very good colour match to yours, I  might cheat some with a p.v.a mix some time )

 R.D.

[wizardgoat]

Very nice arrows Will

[Adam]

Very nice work sir.  This is off topic a little, but is tge Westminster arrow on display?  I was there a few years ago and don't recall seeing it.  Unfortunately, I didn't know about the arrow until after I returned home.  Thanks.

[WillS]

Very nice work, I'd love to get into forge work but too much else to learn! So, is the verdigris a glue to mount the fletchings or a sort of mastic to smooth over the silk?

The compound goes on before the feathers and binding.  The fletchings are bound down into the compound, and it's heated gently to flow over the bindings and seal them in.  The end result is a smooth hard plastic-like finish and you can't feel the bindings at all.

[WillS]

Very nice work sir.  This is off topic a little, but is tge Westminster arrow on display?  I was there a few years ago and don't recall seeing it.  Unfortunately, I didn't know about the arrow until after I returned home.  Thanks.

It's not on display at the moment but they're setting up a new gallery for the next few years and it will be displayed then.

[Adam]

Wonderful!  I'll have to make it back someday. Thanks for the information.

[mikekeswick]

Nice work
Just wondering why you say that there is no need to seal aspen? I understand if there was no finish on the originals and you are copying them then authenticity is important.

[WillS]

It's partly that, and partly the fact that aspen is incredibly rot-resistant.  That's probably the reason so many of them were used for the arrows stored on ships, despite not necessarily being the best timber for heavy arrows. 

[DC]

Nice work
Just wondering why you say that there is no need to seal aspen?

Probably budget cuts

[penderbender]

I never tire of seeing your arrows. Very nice workmanship. Cheers- Brendan

[mikekeswick]

It's partly that, and partly the fact that aspen is incredibly rot-resistant.  That's probably the reason so many of them were used for the arrows stored on ships, despite not necessarily being the best timber for heavy arrows.

Not to detract from your very nice arrows at all but everything I've read on aspen shows it to have poor resistance to rot and 'bugs' like it. I have no personal experience with it though.

[Ruddy Darter]

I thought the same Mikekeswicke,  but I read this on wiki,  thought I'd post this bit...

 'While standing trees sometimes tend to rot from the heart outward, the dry timber weathers very well, becoming silvery-grey and resistant to rotting and warping, and has traditionally been used for rural construction in the northwestern regions of Russia (especially for roofing, in the form of thin slats).'

 R.D.