I have a wood arrow break off at the field point. I have a taper tool to taper the arrow to glue the point back on. But I get an uneven taper. I took the sharpening blade off, cleaned out any debris and reinstalled the blade. I still get the same issue.

What am I doing wrong?

Not uncommon with a pencil sharpener type taper tool. Could be inconsistent diameter or the shaft is crooked in the point end. Most likely diameter.

Did you start with a squared-up end on the arrow? I always use a pocket knife and roll the shaft under the blade (with heavy pressure) until I can just twist/snap the broken end off. Usually leaves about a toothpick behind.

Also make sure you’re using the correct diameter tool for your shafts. Seems like a no- brainer, but I have a truly unusual talent for overlooking the obvious….

Usually happens if the arrow is not straight

Use a Dixon broadhead alignment tool when you glue on the point so that it spins true even if the taper is a bit off.

Yes, the end was squared off. The diameter of the arrow is correct for the sharpener.

“ Use a Dixon broadhead alignment tool”

Where does one find such a beast?

You can make one with 4 marbles and a 1x2.

Marbles?

2x4 with nails pounded in on either side of the wide side. Like an “X”

That works too.....

Mostly likely culprit is a shaft that's a little too small for the opening. Wrap a layer or two of masking tape around the shaft just above the taper to get a tight fit. Regardless, as has already been pointed out, it's often difficult to get a perfectly cut taper with a pencil sharpener type sharpener. Some woods, like Dug Fir that has a pretty big difference in hardness between summer and winter growth rings, is particularly hard to get even.

Remove the blades and hone them. Me, I'd hone them to mirror bright with green rouge. Good luck.

Corax

https://rmsgear.com/products/dixon-broadhead-aligner-dbhacg? srsltid=AfmBOoq-FqiJ6lxpJAB6bAFTB1Vf9djqIYO_VYqSO068UxvGsNGe26u9

I'd bet other archery suppliers have them too

Your problem is one of two things, 1. the shaft is out of round. 2 the shaft guide is larger than the shaft dia., causing the shaft to tip going into the cutter. As far as I'm concerned, the most accurate tapers are made with a sanding disc, and a "V" block guide 3-4" long.

Bob

;-)

The blade is dull.

MP

Most all hand held tools will from time to time make a bad off center taper.A smaller than usual size sometimes will allow the shaft to cause the taper to start off center then it's already started cutting and its off center.have blocks I built for my drill press which makes all the tapers the same.I would try another taper tool made by bear paw if you want to use a hand held tools

It doesn't matter if the taper is off a little bit, with hot melt glue you can stil install the field point perfectly centered and true. You do have to have some kind of arrow spinner to check your progress. Put your field pont on, while the glue is stil hot rotate it around and push it in until you find the sweet spot where it will run true with no wobble.

I use this for perfect tapers but I remember the pencil sharpener days.

This has worked for me for about 30 years now. Tried the others before that but could never get consistent results.

Turn sharpener not the shaft. Bottom it out and give it a few more rounds to even put. More important how they spin when finished.

Dan in MI that taper tool is awesome!

Kelly I have been using one of Dans prototypes of those taper tools since last June. Works very well, a lot quieter than the Wood Chucks too. He’s going to sell a lot of those.

I use a high speed drill to make tapers on dozens of dowels at a time. A drill is way faster than tediously spinning by hand.

Nice set-ups guys. I made a jig for my cheapo disk sander but it sucks. I like the one Bruce posted, that's a man's jig right there ;) Didn't know they made sanding discs for table saws, might have to copy that one.

Don't make many arrows nowadays, or I'd grab one of Dan's.

For the disk type, what angle are you using for the taper?

Hunt98, see the pic

I'll some grinders at Kalamazoo.

I adjust the disc so there is no slop when the points and nocks are fully seated on their tapers.

I have two Wood Chuck taper machines that work great.

If you build a taper tool for a disc sander or taper tool, be sure to put a rib on the bottom to fit into the miter slot on the sander or saw table. With your taper tool base configured this way you can take the jig off and put it back in excactly the same spot every time, no adjustment necessary.

^ Good point. I use that type of guide on all my tablesaw sleds.

Yup, that's the way mine shown is designed. Then by pulling the table saw fence in tight against it it locks it in place.

This problem frustrated me to no end. I couldn’t get my points to be straight. They were always a little off. Like Chuck S said, maybe my shafts weren’t straight. Anyway, I found these stainless steel field points by Top Hat. The screw onto the end of your wood shaft, no taper, no glue required, super easy to do. Lancaster sells them. They’re tougher than blued steel points as well. Took care of that problem. Comes in 11/32 only, according to their catalog. The Longbow Shop in the UK sells a screw over the end of the wood shaft in 5/16”.

The adjustment issue not a problem with the tool I designed. The angle is fully adjustable for the exact angle you want.

I started out with the base plate, I put the point taper plywood on the plate with one screw to hold it down and still let me rotate the plywood. I had already marked an 11 degree line but needed to fine tune the angle. I would taper a shaft and insert it in a new but uncleaned field point. I was looking for the black crud inside the point to mark my taper. I didn't get complete coverag of the point taper at first but made small adjustments until the taper was blacked completely with a perfect snug fit.

When I was satisfied with the fit I put another screw through the plywood to lock the angle into place.

I repeated the same procedure with the nock taper plate but went for a tight no wobble nock fit.

At first I had an arrow stop built into taper tool but found this was unnecessary. I switched to wood in the early 90s, I have tapered so many shafts that I can eyeball the taper length to be consistant shaft to shaft, a 1/16" difference isn't going to matter anyway.

My taper tool was free to make from accumulated scrap wood, will last a lifetime, cuts perfect tapers every time and stores in a small drawer when not in use.

Another simple taper tool I made was a nock end taper tool to taper a 23/64" or 11/32" shaft down to 5/16". This taper tool works OK but I still finish up by chucking the shaft up in a drill to cut and smooth the last little bit of the taper. I rotate the shaft with my hands as the belt sands it down.

The picture was posed, the belt on the sander is a 36 grit belt, much too rough to taper shafts with as it will leave a very rough cut.

Your blade is dull sharpen or replace

I've always done as Jul instructed, never had an issue, just wiggle the point around until it spins true then let the glue set up.

I've used that same method for years Eric. I drilled a hole in the metal stop bar on the sander and rotated the shaft in it.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here