This is a short video I made on how I make arrows.
Very useful stuff to know, especially with the horrendous weapons restrictions abound in the UK...
I buy the shafts on Ebay.
The thickness you want depends on the power of your bow.
Also to take into account is the 'spine' of the arrow. Normally the seller of the shafts will tell you what this is. But a rule of thumb is the thickness of the shaft along with the length of the arrow.
Watching how the arrow fly's is a final indicator. Too little spine means it'll flex too much and could potentially shatter on being shot.
Too thick a spine will strain the bow instead, potentially 'tiring' or weakening it over time.
As if this wasn't enough to know, the arrow will fly off to one side if the spine isn't matched. The more the mis-match, the more the offset it's flight path will be.
As long as you are within 5 - 10lbs of the 'spine' matching your bows power it's usually ok though.
Mine is 55lb so I normally get arrow shafts of 11/32 or even 3/8.
Lesser powered bows go in the range of 5/16s.
Lengths vary again. I go for 31 - 33 inches.
(18 November 2012, 17:58)Metroyeti Wrote: [ -> ]How do you know the lb of your bow, is there a method other than guess work? Got a 54" recurve bow for 5quid at a carboot.
In your case you woiuld need to borrow a spring loaded drawgauge to read your bows draw weight.
(18 November 2012, 18:35)Highlander Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you, thats a real help,.. can you help me with information on a Jaguar recurve 175 pull Crossbow,... 17 inch arrows please
Its a beast of a bow, massively powefrul with a good reputation, a similar pedegree to the 150 pound draw Petron Sniper that fooked my back. Its a full sized rifle crossbow and its 17 inch BOLTS on a crossbow.
(18 November 2012, 19:02)NorthernRaider Wrote: [ -> ]
(18 November 2012, 18:35)Highlander Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you, thats a real help,.. can you help me with information on a Jaguar recurve 175 pull Crossbow,... 17 inch arrows please
Its a beast of a bow, massively powefrul with a good reputation, a similar pedegree to the 150 pound draw Petron Sniper that fooked my back. Its a full sized rifle crossbow and its 17 inch BOLTS on a crossbow.
lol,... yes, its a good weapon, and does the job well,... and ofcourse its bolts as opposed to Arrows,... can I make the bolts in the same way though
Most modern crossbow bolts appear to be made of 9 or 10 mm thick alloy tube compared to 5.6 or 6 mm arrow tubings, but I'm sure a design would be suitable for making at home, perhaps one of the ancient traditional short iron tipped bolts could be made ??, But as for modern bolts I dont see why not providing you can find the material ??
(18 November 2012, 17:47)NorthernRaider Wrote: [ -> ]Question, can I use wooden arrows in a 25 pound draw compound bow???
You mean like a recurve right? Not the pulley-driven bow?
If recurve YES, but match the spine to the poundage!
For compound I don't know is the answer.
For sure you should never use a fibre glass/carbon arrows with a longbow.
They can't take the shock-loading on the spine.
(18 November 2012, 18:35)Highlander Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you, thats a real help,.. can you help me with information on a Jaguar recurve 175 pull Crossbow,... 17 inch arrows please
That's a good question.
Ok, I think if you bought a bunch of normal arrows (they tend to come in the range from 25 - 33 inch) and cut them down to bolt-size (17 inch say) you'd be then requiring to fletch the shafts as normal.
For the spine matching on crossbows that's interesting.
The following is my thoughts that are not certain...
I believe there's no archers paradox with crossbows (one of the reason's they are easier to shoot), but obviously you want the wood to withstand the shockloading of being shot.
One rough method of working out the equivalent spine for a crossbow to a bolt....
A longbow is roughly three times as powerful as a crossbows drawweight.
That is to say my 55 lb longbow is about the same as a 165lb crossbow.
However you'll be cutting down the arrow shaft to fit so that will mean a change to it's spine-strength. It's weaker the more you cut down *I think*.
So get some shafts made up and experiment 'carefully'.
I wear gloves when shooting...
Ok, I think if you bought a bunch of normal arrows (they tend to come in the range from 25 - 33 inch) and cut them down to bolt-size (17 inch say) you'd be then requiring to fletch the shafts as normal.
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....or leave the fletching and add a broad tip,... maybe
