Making wooden arrows - advice and experience sought.

ArcheryFox

Active member
Hi All,

Compound archer here.
I have a 58" one-piece traditional recurve (off the shelf) that I want to shoot for pleasure.
Part of the plan involves making some wooden arrows (I don't really care about scores, it's more for light relief and 2D/3D playtime).

I know there are various guides to building wooden arrows online, but I'm struggling to get my head around them all and they often offer conflicting advice.
I know when I tried to help someone make wooden arrows before we got into all sorts of trouble with tapered/parallel/screw points, varnished/waxed/untreated shafts, spine selection etc.

Therefore I'm after recommendations and explanations from experts on here to get me started.
As I say, I'm, not after competitive grade wooden arrows (yet...), but I'd like to spend the time making the properly and at least have a degree of accuracy.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Riceburner

Active member
Buy well-matched shafts (I'd recommend Carol Archery)
Buy a good fletching jig (again - Carol Archery do a very good one)
Practise practise practise, and don't over-think things.

If, as you say, they're for fun shooting, then let them be for fun. Archery should be fun.


Personally I prefer the Top-Hat screw on points over having to taper the shaft and glue on a point. It means that if the arrow breaks in the field it's very easy to remove the point (assuming you can find the thing!) and keep it for the next set (or the next arrow that breaks).

I also tend to cut mine about an inch or so over long so that when (not if) the point snaps off (that tends to be what happens if the arrow hits something more solid than expected), I can fit another point on and keep using the arrow, albeit the arrow is now only 1.2 an inch too long. :)

Concerning wax/varnish/oil - just do whatever you think gives the nicest finish or whatever gives you the quickest finish - your choice. I tend to use a stain simply because I like my arrows to be a different colour than 'light wood'.
 

ArcheryFox

Active member
Thanks for the reply!
Completely out of my depth here but excited to learn!

Are these screw in points the ones that have a shank that screw onto an insert, or do I screw the wood into the back of the point?
If the latter do I need to buy a tap for end of the shaft?
And do I just screw the point on, or add some adhesive as well?

I'll be using feathers, what sort of size do you suggest, it's a 35# and I'd like to be shooting out to around 60y OK, and able to have a stab at the odd 80y ;) I'm guessing 3", with little/no offset?
On that note, any recommendations for glues? I use maxbond for my carbon arrows, but no idea how it fares on glue/oil/wax/stain.
Similarly adhesives - I usually use coolflex, but have some hot-melt around somewhere.

Looked at Carol archery and prices are's as crazy as I'd imagined for matched sets, though I might try some retailer ones for my first attempt.
Most shops seem to provide decent spine/length/diameter/draw weight tables.

In terms of repairing broken arrows or cutting to length, can I do it with a circular saw (or junior hacksaw in a pinch)?
 

wully

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
The shaft screws straight into the Top Hat points - they are excellent.

I used 11/32” shafts, stained with Danish oil (2 coats) 3” feathers fixed with double sided tape (Barepaw)

I broke so many I didn’t spend a load of time building them. I also invested in a handful of Top Hat long aluminium repair points so that when I broke a point off I could just screw the shaft into the repair point which kept the sight picture the same.

I have a box of variously matched woodies of different lengths, spines, diameters that I’ll get back to shooting off the shelf sometime - there is something nice about wood arrows.. Once I’ve gone the collection them I’m going to buy a batch of 100 and do some serious arrow building -weighing, spine checking etc.
 

4d4m

Active member
In no way an expert but this is what I do, and probably will continue because it seems to work for me.
Pick your shaft size, This will depend mostly on your spine range and arrow length. For me 11/32” was the only sensible choice. No science here but if for fun shooting it’s not critical if you’re in the ballpark. Buy a taper tool in that size. A cheap one worked for me,

I waterproofed the shafts with yacht varnish. First coat thinned with 75% white spirit so it soaks in. Second coat 50:50, then a coat out of the tin.

Points I just use normal taper fit, glued on with hotmelt. Ordinary DIY hotmelt. BUT i thoroughly degrease the inside of the points with acetone and a cotton bud. I also taper the shaft carefully checking the fit against the inside profile of the point. Ones I’ve used have a flat inside at the end and I make sure the flat end of the shaft is roughly the same size, otherwise there will be an air gap in the point. I then roughen the surface with 40 grit sandpaper, or score it with a nail point.

Fletches I used 3” or 4” feathers. I bought a bearpaw jig with a helical clamp, but it’s up to you. There’s a debate that helical makes any difference. I use fletch tape to stick them on.

For nocks I just use whatever superglue I’ve got laying around. Pound shop stuff has been as good as any. Again, degrease inside the taper.

Quite a long process but satisfying.
 

Riceburner

Active member
As said - the Top Hats screw straight onto the shaft (obviously they come in different sizes). They are more expensive than plain glue-on taper points, but the convenience far outweighs that.

Similarly, the service from Carol Archery is second to none, and far outweighs the extra expense (if you visit, take biscuits).

As for fletchings - you'll need to find out what works for you. Personally mine are (iirc) 4" long, and I use HMG glue - never lost one. I use the same glue for the nocks.
 

ArcheryFox

Active member
Amazing, thank you everyone!

The top-hats look like a really good idea.
Do you use a thread cutter before screwing the point on, or do you find that cutting the thread with the point is OK?

I'm guessing I'd need a tapering tool to do the nocks?
 

LittleSkink

Active member
Lots of good stuff already, some thoughts from me having built a few dozen arrows (so still novice)

Tophat are nice but not that easy to get hold of round me so I also use taper screw fit tips (KG seem to make the most secure)

Like others I use Bearpaw fletching tape but also cheap wraps to have a really clean surface to work from

Shafts I get locally as well (Shire Archery ones are very good value and decently matched) Pine and Spruce work well

Taper glue nocks I use AAE (again easy to get locally) and a spot of UHU clear or fletching glue

I also glue the feather front and rear, just for stability / safety. If shooting off the hand I whip the front of the feathers too

My top tip would be to build 12 but fletch 9 or 10, so you can bare shaft tune - if you are in to that
 

Riceburner

Active member
Amazing, thank you everyone!

The top-hats look like a really good idea.
Do you use a thread cutter before screwing the point on, or do you find that cutting the thread with the point is OK?

I'm guessing I'd need a tapering tool to do the nocks?
No - you don't need a thread cutter, they're effectively self-tapping.

I think I buy mine direct from TopHat (or did, before the world started falling apart).
 
Couple of things also to remember as ‘best practice’ if you are cutting self knocks ( although I guess you will be using plastic knocks for a recurve?) they should be cut a 90 degrees to the grain of the wood. Also, probably more important, is to make sure that where the rings are cut through on the length of the shaft, which they often will be, make the pointed ends of ring violations will be pointing forward at the top of the arrow when knocked and vice versa. I’ve never seen it happen but the idea is if the arrow breaks along a ring then there is less chance of the sharp bit going into your hand!

Also just a thought, and others may disagree, but you don’t mention the draw weight if the bow but there there will be a natural max you can get the spine to with standard width arrow ie 5/16 or 11/32 which is usually about 50-55lb. If you have a very heavy draw weight recurve then wooden may not be the best way to go as recurve will be much faster and impart more stress on an arrow than a primitive or traditional design bow.

Agree that Top Hats are good (I’d do have the pre cutter tool which Iike). Shire archery do do good shaft at a good price but if you can get to a shop like Carol ( she has literally hundreds of arrows to test with) to get the spine matched to your bow then that is probably worth it - first time at least ;0)

I use superglue for fletching but others like HMG mentioned are also good - just takes a bit longer :0)

I use several thin (wiped on) coats of danish oil to seal shafts after a very lightly light (nothing that will affect the spine) sanding of the shafts.

Have fun with it - it feels great when you finish your first dozen!
 
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Gavin Eisler

Supporter
Supporter
Some wooden arrow tips .

A slightly bowed shaft may be straightened by rubbing along the high point of the shaft with a smooth glass bottle , this slightly compresses the fibres and corrects the warp.

One coat of varnish weighs approx ten grains, unless you want pretty points dont bother. Wax instead.

Spruce is an excellent light weight shaft material, but cannot be tapered with the pencil sharpening tools, needs to be ground/ sanded on a jig. More robust than POC, less prone to snapping behind the point , good for longer distances .

Barrelled shafts are a good thing, for 11/32 shafts, fit 5/16 nocks and points and taper two inches behind point , 10 inches at nocks,, shafts need to be 5# stiffer than equivalent parallel before tapering.

If the arrows match the bow well, 3 inch fletch is adequate and better for down range speed.

One way to fine tune wooden arrows, start with shafts which are over stiff, ( RH archer) ,at 20 yards shoot arrows, they will hit left, sand rear of shaft with 120 grit rolled round shaft, shoot again, rinse and repeat till arrow fly true to centre. Surprisingly little sanding needed to make corrections.
 

4d4m

Active member
Spruce is an excellent light weight shaft material, but cannot be tapered with the pencil sharpening tools, needs to be ground/ sanded on a jig. More robust than POC, less prone to snapping behind the point , good for longer distances .
I guess it's a good thing nobody told my spruce shafts, as they tapered just fine in my cheapo plastic taper tool.
 
Maybe even try bamboo if you can get them? I know not strictly wood - natures carbon - but very strong and no need to worry about grain then either. Only problem is sometimes you need a selection of knock and point sizes as they aren’t as consistent as the ones turned from wood. Naturally tapered though ;0)
 

Gavin Eisler

Supporter
Supporter
I guess it's a good thing nobody told my spruce shafts, as they tapered just fine in my cheapo plastic taper tool.
Well, mebbe I should not have said "cannot", if your tapering gadget has a keen blade it will work on Spruce, mine struggles, I found it caught on the grain. If you have a disc sander its easy to make a tapering jig, if you dont make sure you have a fresh keen blade in your pencil sharpener.
 

rfd

Supporter
Supporter
I like a good woody mated with a good longbow. I make my woodies with self nocks.

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rfd

Supporter
Supporter
With woodies, a good spine meter is a must, IMHO. I built mine easy peasy ...

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