Anyone on here building 4 wing footed arrows? Ive been building them lately and need to find a way to do the final sanding on the footed part of the arrow to match the arrow shaft. Trying to figure out a jig to get down to the last bit of sanding before finishing off by hand. Got everything down pretty good except that last part. Thanks ....Frank

Bob Burton and I think JusPassin does as well. They will be along.

Sanding book. Hinged block swithnandpaper-lined grooves. Grooves need to be sized slightly bigger than finished shaft to leave room for the sandpaper.

I also use the sanding book method of sanding the footed end. I insert the nock end into a cordless drill to make the process easier and faster. I make sure the shaft is made longer (when I make my own shafts) because the nock end gets ruined by the drill.

I use a belt sander that has a pivot pin mounted to the metal sanding stop bar. Once adjusted I just have to rotate the shaft as the belt is running. The shaft also has to be supported about 12 inches back of the point to prevent over grinding.

It's hard to explain, but it sure works.

For those that don't have the machinery, the sanding book is the easiest method to use. I would suggest more than one, using various grits of paper to get the desired results faster. You can spin them with a drill or just rotate the shaft with you hand.

If you have a belt sander you can make an adjustable jig and hand rotate the shaft. The jig will need adjustable stops the will control how much material is taken off. Sounds difficult but it can be done.

Bob

I built a jig to trim the fingers flush with the shaft on my router table. Then a couple of swipes with sandpaper and the shaft is done. Have used the sanding book but prefer the router method.

How about a picture of that jig Paul.

Ive been racking my brain on how to build a jig using the router. I think Ive come up with a simple plan that should work. Ill build it today and post some pictures if it does work. Thanks to all that have posted.

I do it like Jim then after all that work you drop your bow while your in your stand. This happened to me yesterday on the Mn opener.

a variation of this should work.

JusPassin I have some pictures on an old computer. I will see if I can come up with some pictures for you and fn. I did a build along of the footing process using the jig back in 2013 but those pictures no longer are available on the LW.

Here are the pictures of the router jig. I just built this as a proto type out of some scraps to test my idea and it worked so well I never got around to making a good one. I might do a build along later when things slow down a little if anyone is interested.

Paul I assume the shaft is spinning when it passes by the router bit?

No, but that would be a benefit. I was repairing broken arrows, complete with feathers and nocks for stumping arrows. So I rotated the shaft by hand for each pass by the router bit.

Love the looks of footed shafts. I have a block of Wenge would it make good footings? >>>---> Ken

i would worry about getting a blowout, using a router, i would trim down the wings of the foot first,

Has anyone tried turning them down on a lathe? Like the small “pen” lathe. Making footed, tapered shafts has been a dream of mine for years. Unfortunately my efforts at making the jigs hasn’t worked out.

I'm interested Paul. I think it's a good idea.

grizzley21, Blowout is a consideration but the whole reason for the router jig is to trim down the wings of the foot. If you have grain runout on the wings blowout can happen but since I am controlling the jig by hand it is easy to control the depth of cut and feed rate to nibble away the wings on any feet with grain run out. I try to make my feet out of straight grain wood anyway and have never lost a foot due to blowout.

I get the principle Paul, but how do you move the shaft left to right with that system?

JusPassin, I move the jig by hand. The router bit is a pattern bit with a bearing at its base. I adjust the jig with its sliding dovetails so the bit cuts parallel to and just shy of the arrow shaft when the base of the jig is riding along the bearing. I just simply move the jig along the bearing from left to right turning the shaft a little between each pass.

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