Turkish Arrow Splices
In response to a question in another thread, I have photographed some of my Turkish arrows to show the type of repair that was used on them.
The first arrow has a single splice. The tip is missing and the splice is now crooked. The arrow is well over a hundred years old so the bend could be from glue creep caused by bad storage. The two pieces of wood were not matched for grain. There is abrasion near the where the tip would have been suggesting the arrow had been shot repeatedly.
The first arrow has a single splice. The tip is missing and the splice is now crooked. The arrow is well over a hundred years old so the bend could be from glue creep caused by bad storage. The two pieces of wood were not matched for grain. There is abrasion near the where the tip would have been suggesting the arrow had been shot repeatedly.
In the second arrow, you can see the beginning of the splice near the top of the picture. Some of the splices started almost one third the length of the shaft from the point.
This picture shows clearly that the grain direction was not important at the time. Some of these arrows had tip diameters as low as 3.25 mm.
As I mentioned in the other thread, multiple spliced arrows were common. This one has two clear splices.
Great! I would have doubted that this could really hold it together when shooting, but this proves it was made and was successful. I?ll try that on an arrow that broke yesterday ;-)
JJ
JJ
Here is one I made when I broke a tapered arrow. The arrow head was only 6.3 mm (1/4 inch) and the middle of the shaft was 8.73 mm (11/32nds). The taper is lined up so that if it failed, the sharp end would have gone up away from the archer's hand.
I would consider this THE MOST DANGEROUS thing one could do as an archer. Wish all could meet the guy I met who had to have an arrow splinter 5 inches long surgically removed from his index finger.
Jack,
I was surprised too when I found this worked. I have had arrows with hairline cracks break up on shooting. I advise all archers to check the integrity of the arrow before shooting. One of the essentials of repair splicing is to remove all damaged wood. The glue is technically stronger than the wood, but if there is damaged wood still present in the arrow shaft, the arrow will break there.
I do not suggest that people without experience use this technique. This was a technique for flight shooting arrows. The flight shooters were already at the edge of arrow performance. Some of the old repaired arrows I have I would not have been able to shoot when they were whole, but the old masters could. With a siper, you have some protection from the tabla if the arrow breaks.
When I made my repair, I made sure that the splice went up from the bottom of the shaft, when nocked, to the top to maintain the stiffness of the shaft. If the shaft had broken, the sharp end of the splice would be travelling up and away from the hand. I also tested the shaft by drawing it to the base of the splice and shooting it into a hard target to test its integrity.
I was surprised too when I found this worked. I have had arrows with hairline cracks break up on shooting. I advise all archers to check the integrity of the arrow before shooting. One of the essentials of repair splicing is to remove all damaged wood. The glue is technically stronger than the wood, but if there is damaged wood still present in the arrow shaft, the arrow will break there.
I do not suggest that people without experience use this technique. This was a technique for flight shooting arrows. The flight shooters were already at the edge of arrow performance. Some of the old repaired arrows I have I would not have been able to shoot when they were whole, but the old masters could. With a siper, you have some protection from the tabla if the arrow breaks.
When I made my repair, I made sure that the splice went up from the bottom of the shaft, when nocked, to the top to maintain the stiffness of the shaft. If the shaft had broken, the sharp end of the splice would be travelling up and away from the hand. I also tested the shaft by drawing it to the base of the splice and shooting it into a hard target to test its integrity.
I agree with Jack, a broken arrow is fire wood.
I agree with Jack that you should be careful, but what you seem to be missing is that this was really done and is a legitimate part of Turkish archery practice.
The Turks made flight arrows that were very expensive and had particular qualities. The wood was carefully selected and the arrow was crafted to take account of the special qualities of that piece of wood. When an arrow broke near the tip, it was considered worthwhile to repair. These were valuable pieces of sporting equipment being used by master archers. The repaired arrow would never be as good as the original (Kani wrote), but it could still be a very superior shaft. This is not a practice for beginning fletchers on ordinary arrows.
A different type of splicing was used for making stronger footings for war arrows. It was like the reverse of a Western style splice. The foot was cut with a long tapering wedge and inserted into the arrow shaft which had a matching slot. It was not the simple straight-line splice of English two-footed splices. The shoulders at the top of the shaft slot were rounded and the beginning of the wedge on the foot was rounded with a complimentary curve.
The Turks made flight arrows that were very expensive and had particular qualities. The wood was carefully selected and the arrow was crafted to take account of the special qualities of that piece of wood. When an arrow broke near the tip, it was considered worthwhile to repair. These were valuable pieces of sporting equipment being used by master archers. The repaired arrow would never be as good as the original (Kani wrote), but it could still be a very superior shaft. This is not a practice for beginning fletchers on ordinary arrows.
A different type of splicing was used for making stronger footings for war arrows. It was like the reverse of a Western style splice. The foot was cut with a long tapering wedge and inserted into the arrow shaft which had a matching slot. It was not the simple straight-line splice of English two-footed splices. The shoulders at the top of the shaft slot were rounded and the beginning of the wedge on the foot was rounded with a complimentary curve.
I think like Jack, these are for experts only. I'd feel uneasy shooting one of these repaired arrows.
Bede, do you have photos of the nocks/fletchings of these arrows?
I think that they should be safe to shoot. It's really no different than arrows spliced in the western way. 1, 2 or 4 feet on the splicing probably doesn't make a huge difference in strength if the joint is close fitting and done with proper glue. Obviously I see it also as another place that can fail, just like an other footed shaft or a poorly done foreshaft in a bamboo arrow.
I think that they should be safe to shoot. It's really no different than arrows spliced in the western way. 1, 2 or 4 feet on the splicing probably doesn't make a huge difference in strength if the joint is close fitting and done with proper glue. Obviously I see it also as another place that can fail, just like an other footed shaft or a poorly done foreshaft in a bamboo arrow.
I have pictures of the nocks. One arrow had parchment fletching that appeared to be re-attached some time during its life. A target arrow from this group had one feather intact. There was also an abrish arrow in the group with intact spiral fletching.
I will post the pictures soon.
I will post the pictures soon.
I have some experience shooting a single spliced arrows and I can honestly say that those are as good as 2 and 4 point footed arrows.
The Ones I had were assembled from pine and purpleheart using simple jig like the one on the picture.
Obviously you don't want any type of joint near center of the shaft.
The Ones I had were assembled from pine and purpleheart using simple jig like the one on the picture.
Obviously you don't want any type of joint near center of the shaft.
The Turks used a knife with a blade in line with one side of the handle. A Japanese single bevel making knife works. If you tie the two pieces parallel to each other, it is easier to make matching bevels at the same time. This was a trick that Dr Grayson showed me. He could make perfect matching bevels in a couple of minutes on a belt sander. It is only slightly harder with tapered arrows.
Brilliant, Bede!
This is a good example of how important the historical (and archaeological) material really is. I don't think anyone would dare to assume that such simple splices were used on such highly developed arrows. - without actually seeing it :)
Thanks! I will probably try this with a few of my broken flight arrows for this years competition.
This is a good example of how important the historical (and archaeological) material really is. I don't think anyone would dare to assume that such simple splices were used on such highly developed arrows. - without actually seeing it :)
Thanks! I will probably try this with a few of my broken flight arrows for this years competition.
One thing to remember is that you should make sure the break is in the section of the shaft nearest the point and that the rest of the shaft is not damaged.
I once had a very exciting experience with an arrow I cut down to a flight arrow from a broken target arrow. It had broken off near the nock and I had no idea there was any other problem. However, in shooting the shortened arrow I found that it had an invisible hairline crack partway down the shaft, nowhere near the previous break. The result was a three section shaft and a broken watch band.
You must test the parts of the spliced arrow for weakness and the glued together shaft as well. Test shoot it, drawing to just before the splice, and see how it behaves.
As I mentioned previously, flight arrows are right at the edge of their capabilities. Whole ones sometimes break in shooting.
I once had a very exciting experience with an arrow I cut down to a flight arrow from a broken target arrow. It had broken off near the nock and I had no idea there was any other problem. However, in shooting the shortened arrow I found that it had an invisible hairline crack partway down the shaft, nowhere near the previous break. The result was a three section shaft and a broken watch band.
You must test the parts of the spliced arrow for weakness and the glued together shaft as well. Test shoot it, drawing to just before the splice, and see how it behaves.
As I mentioned previously, flight arrows are right at the edge of their capabilities. Whole ones sometimes break in shooting.