From Feather to Fletching
I take a full length right wing turkey feather and split the quill down the middle.
Place the feather in my homemade feather grinding jig.
Put jig on belt sander and grind it flat to about a 1/16 of an inch thick.
Remove ground feather and Place in chopper.
Chop feather into a finished feather ready to fletch.
Very cool. Cheap n easy.
PSE EVO 62lb 29" draw Golt tip pro hunters 100gr slick tricks 380gr arrow 300fps.
Very cool, Jason, same way I do mine. Here's a pic with some I did with the turkey feathers off one of my birds on the right. The rest of the feathers I bought. I really think wood arrows should have at least one real turkey feather on them, just looks right.
[QUOTE=Red Feather Archery;31683]Very cool, Jason, same way I do mine. Here's a pic with some I did with the turkey feathers off one of my birds on the right. The rest of the feathers I bought. I really think wood arrows should have at least one real turkey feather on them, just looks right.
Absolutely! Wooden arrows will probably be my next step in my traditional adventure. Maybe you could make me an instructional video on what to do and tools needed! LOL Have you died feathers? Just wondering how that would be done as well.
Just got in another chopper from a good friend. Its in a parabolic cut. I tried one out and modified it to do a 5.5in and a 4.5 in feather with a little electrical tape in the right place!
Great job I may have to invest in an arrow chopper now
New Breed Archery Samurai Genetix 82lbs 29" 550 Grains 16% F.O.C. 282 fps, RFA Phoenix and Razorhawk Broadheads
Hey Jason, I might get some time to do a video, but in the mean time heres some photos I took a long time ago of making some wood arrows. Theres lots of ways to do it and I'm hoping some guys on here can add their thoughts and methods. Tremendously rewarding. If you've got any questions, fire away.
For this particular set of arrows I started with some three foot Port Orford Cedar 2x2's. I ripped these on my bandsaw to rough width.
A simple little V jig will let you knock off the corners with a little block plane. I go from four corners to eight to sixteen with the plane.
After that they are pretty round. I finish it them up by chucking them in a drill and using some sandpaper.
I really believe that a taper on the nock end makes for a better arrow so I use a little jig to help set that up. This one used sandpaper set on the adjustable blocks with contact cement. A pair of files works even better. To make the taper I loosen the bolts and put the arrow shaft in the front end and a 5/16th drill bit in the back end to make the taper and tighten the bolts. With the shaft chucked in the drill I spin it through the jig to taper the shaft. I often taper the front end just a little as well to make a barrel taper shaft. If the jig isn't working so well you can rough taper a little with the block plane first.
If you start with round shafts you can go straight to the taper step. After tapering I double check the spine with a very high tech spine tester. Looks bad, but it actually works pretty well...and it's cheap
More to come.
After spining the shafts I straighten them by hand, cut to length (an inch longer than I need from the throat of the nock to the back of the point to allow for point taper) and then taper on the table saw with another simple (and cheap) jig.
After sanding smooth I wipe on a couple of coats of Watco's and let dry.
In keeping with the cheap theme I built a dip tube for finish (I like Daly's Profin or Deft) out of PVC fixings. The reservoir is very handy in a dip tube, but not entirely necessary. I dip a coat before cresting.
Next comes cresting for me. I sometimes use a crown dip, which I would do after the first clear coat, but any more I just like to crest them. Gives them a nice look I think, but definitely play around with crown dips and cresting to find what works best for you. For me less is more.
After cresting up, I go with a couple more coats of clear coat. Be sure your paints and clear coats are compatible. I use cheap acrylics from Wally World. If necessary you can put a light coat of Deft spray on the shaft to seal in the cresting before dipping to keep it from running. I hang mine on a line with clothes pins to dry them out.
On wooden arrows with both Daly's and Deft I've had very, very good luck with Fletch Tape.
These didn't get any real turkey feathers on these, but like I said, I think they look better.
Ask 'em if you got 'em, I'm sure I left something out.
Last edited by Red Feather Archery; 08-17-2011 at 05:47 PM.
Pretty never killed anything , but it sure makes the whole experience better. Very nice arrows.
I don't know if I would want to shoot those arrows! HAHAHAHA. Very nice Stan!
Nice arrows guys! That's cool.
A.S
Hutch~n~Son Archery, We build custom bowstrings
Need a string? PM me or email at hutchnsonarchery@yahoo.com
Very inspiring guys makes me want to try something similar with my carbons.
New Breed Archery Samurai Genetix 82lbs 29" 550 Grains 16% F.O.C. 282 fps, RFA Phoenix and Razorhawk Broadheads
Ya know i was just thinking the very same thing.Originally Posted by 05_sprcrw
Hoyt Vector Turbo 65 lbs @ 27.5 in Carbon express piledrivers 433 gr.
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