Well, I've been wanting to make arrows for a long time, and finally got around to it over the last week.  Since these are my first real arrows, I'm pretty excited about it.  I did make one other arrow before, but I don't count that one for obvious reasons:

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/tf/lw/thread2.cfm?forum=23&threadid=128395&messages=3&CATEGORY=2

These are walnut and maple.  I haven't shot them yet.  I just fletched them tonight.  I still need to put a dab of glue on the ends of the feathers.

 

Awesome Footing, i'd like to try that sometime.

Great Arrows. What type of jig did you use?

Thanks.  I didn't use a jig.  If you mean the fletcher, I used a jo jan.

The type of jig for the footings?

Oh, I cut them out with a band saw.  I didn't use a jig.

Really nice job. I love the footings. Jawge

was making them footed hard ???

Thanks Jawge.

They weren't as hard as I thought they would be.  The hardest part was getting them lined up perfectly while gluing them together.

Nice arrows. Any pics of the process, and what did you use to turn them down? Also, really nice work on the bow with the footed limbs. That's awesome. How about some arrows footed with the same woods to match it?

That's a good idea, FD. Why didn't I think of that? I didn't take any pictures of the process on these arrows, but I'm in the process of gluing up some more right now, so I'll post some pictures of that maybe tomorrow.

First, I take a walnut flooring board.  My brother gave me a whole butt ton of these, so I have a good supply that didn't cost me a dime.  Notice how straight the grain is.

Next, I set the rip fence on my band saw to just slightly more than 3/8".  Then I cut the board.  After each strip I cut, I turn it 90 degrees and cut it again.  That way it's perfectly square and just slightly more than 3/8" on both sides.

I do the same thing with a piece of maple.  Then I measure off 5" from one end and draw a line.  Then I find the center mark at the end and mark it with a pencil.  I try to set my rip fence with the mark on the maple lined with the blade.  Then I cut just a little bit.  After cutting just a hair, I can tell whether it was perfectly centered or not.  I adjust accordingly, and then cut it the rest of the way to the line.  That's a 5" cut.  I wanted it to be perfectly centered so that I don't have one end bending more than the other when I glue the arrow together.

I put a tiny clamp just past the end of the cut so it doesn't split when I slide the walnut into it.  I mark 5" from one end of the walnut, and then make a mark at the center on the end just like I did the maple.  Then I draw a straight line from that mark to the edge of the walnut at the 5" mark on both sides.  Basically, I draw a point.  Then I use the belt sander to grind down to the line.  As I get close to the line, I site down the blank to make sure the point is centered, and then I tweak it with the belt sander until it is.

Next, I put a little glue inside the maple and lots of glue on the walnut, and I slide them together.  I line it up one way, turn it 90 degrees and line it up that way, too.  Then I put squeeze clamps on there and check again to make sure it's all lined up.

That's as far as I've gotten on these.

Thats som nice work! I love the look of footed arrows. I have a question that has to do with the theroy of a footed arrow.

Would it be more benificial on your next set to move the footing closer to the point end of the arrow as opossed to the middle? It would seem that that would grant you a more durable arrow?

Junior

Thanks.  I don't know if it would make it more durable or not, but that is how I'm doing the arrows I'm working on now.  The first three were just experiments in splicing, and the walnut I used wasn't long enough.  Technically, I guess those arrows aren't really footed.  It might be more accurate to say they are spliced.

Fine looking arrows!

Sam,

Either way you call them, they are awsome and the craftsmanship is impressive.

Junior

ephphatha - Thanks so much for posting an impromptu build-along on these arrows! I spent more than a couple minutes looking at your first pic thinking, "How in the world did he do that?" because I'd love to make a set of my own.

Beautiful work, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the build-along!

ephphatha - Thanks so much for posting an impromptu build-along on these arrows! I spent more than a couple minutes looking at your first pic thinking, "How in the world did he do that?" because I'd love to make a set of my own.

Beautiful work, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the build-along!

Yeah I want to see how you round them to size! Does that splice affect spine?

Very nice. I didn't realize you did the shafts from scratch too. Nice job. Jawge

Thanks y'all.

Tiapan, just from hand bending the arrow, it seems stiffer at the glue joint.  Since my glue joint was in the middle of the arrow on my first arrows, I'm sure it stiffened the spine.  It probably wouldn't affect spine much if at all if the footings were at the end like they're supposed to be.  I'm still working on my spine tester, though.

Jawge, I don't think I'd feel like I made arrows if I didn't make the shafts from scratch.  I have fletched shafts before and glued on points and nocks.

I'll try to finish the build-along in the morning.

Very nice! I don't know why I expected to see carbon arrows when I opened this? ;)

eph, you are a man after my own heart. jawge

Those are beautiful.  I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the buildalong as well.  My mind went to some walnut scraps I have layi . . . but I tore it away.  I have some unfinished kids board bows calling my name.

And now the rest of the story...

You guys are going to be disappointed when you find out how I make the shafts round.  It's really anticlamactic.

Before making the shaft round, I wanted to smooth down where the maple flares out.  I tried the plane and the belt sander and found the belt sander to be quicker and easier.

Next, I plane the corners.  This step isn't necessary, but I figured it would make my dowel maker work better.  This was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be, and it got me to thinking that it wouldn't be too hard to just make shafts this way.  I could plane down the corners and then sand it round.  But that's not what I did.  Instead, I stuck the end in the square end of a socket and chucked a bolt to fit the socket in my drill.

And I clamped my dowel maker on a chair.

Then I just drill the shaft through.  I really need to make an infeed hole guide to hold it steady, because whenever the drill gets close to the dowel maker, it starts to wobble a little, making the cut not quite as clean.  I have a variable speed drill, so I just slow down when I get close to finished, and that reduces the wobbling.

Next, I chuck the shaft in my drill and spin sand it with this doohicky. 

I can get any diameter I want with this.  I check the diameter at the ends by sticking it in my taper tool.  The infeed is 11/32".  I can do tapered shafts, too, just by sanding more and squeezing more on the end.  I use my 5/16" plastic nocks to see when I get down to 5/16".

And here it is, smooth as an android's butt.

The end.

D'oh!  I forgot to post the picture where I planed the corners.

WOW, Thanks for the Info.

Very nice! Where do you get a dowel maker?

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=52401&cat=51&ap=1

ephphatha, you've inspired me to try making my own arrow shafts. I might not dive into trying the footed beauties you've just shown us, but I'll definitely be cutting some 3/8 squares and building a spine tester in the next couple weeks.

And I second camo5's question on where you got that dowel maker? How much do they run? I'm heading to a big woodworking show next weekend in Columbus and might try to pick one up.

TyPierce, that makes my day!  I've inspired somebody to make arrows, and I've only just started making them myself.  :-)

Click on the link above.  That's where I got my dowel maker.  With shipping, it came to about $20.

You must've posted the link while I was repeating the question!

Thanks, though - I can't quite justify a shaft spinner from 3 Rivers, but $20 is a bargain and a half!

I might do the corner-plane method first, mostly for the experience of doing it, but that dowel maker you have is perfect.

Nice idea, eph. Jawge

Nice arrows! thanks for the web site on those dowel makers, I am new to the bow crafting area so I won't be making arrows right away, but there is no doubt that I will be trying it!

Very impressive........you have talent,

Just out of curiosity, what's the diameter of the hole in your sanding doohickey?

Well, TyPierce, when I made that hole, I thought it mattered, but having used it, I've discovered that it doesn't matter much.  You see, first I drilled a 3/8" hole in it.  Then I cut it in half.  The kerf, of course, made it smaller than 3/8".  Then I glued sandpaper on the inside of it.  I figured that I could sand until it was closed all the way and the arrows would be the perfect size.  But two things went awry.  First, the sand paper wore out fast.  Second, I had to sand the inside surface with the belt sander to get the hole even smaller.  Eventually what I discovered was that i can just fold a piece of sand paper in half and squeeze it and the arrow.  The groove, regardless of the size, prevents it from moving around while I spin sand it.  This way, I can get whatever diameter I want just by sanding a little or a lot, and I can use whatever grit I want.  I also took off the sharp corners on each side of the groove.  That helped the sand paper wrap around the arrow better.

ephphatha..You 'da man !! BEAUTIFUL work !! Thanks for the lessons !! Chuck

Cool. I've always wanted to be 'da man. Thanks.

Now that you have posted this, it is far superior to the method I used when footing one arrow last summer. The splicing I did the same, except used two or three clamps on the block to prevent splitting. I used a chundoo shaft, since I got plenty of those around. I sanded the wedge on the belt sander, same as you did. After the glue dried, I again used the belt to cut it down to a manageble diameter, then chucked it up in the drill, and used sandpaper in my hand to spin it round. Crude but it came out ok. Now, I got to get a bandsaw to cut the material for my footings, so I won't lose as much as the table saw kerfs cost me. Then get busy making the other tools you use to round it off. Those are cool, thanks for sharing them with us.

WOW, freakin awesome!!!!!!!!

BEAUYIFUL ABSABALUTELY BEAUTIFUL

DREAD

way kewl man, lets see some more when ya get around to it!!!

Nice arrows Sam, great work.

chris.

WOW! this is my first visit to this site....posted a question about footing arrows before i did a thorough investigation of what was already here... man, what this is cool.... by george, i think i can do it....i'm impressed...THANKS! Ephphatha!!!!

you make it look so easy and really nice Thanx

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