My first arrow

Gianrico; Nice arrow, looks like you are going to be a craftsman. Can I make some suggestions?

A leading fletch lash is a useful thing. Make a point out of the quill. Take a hard, smooth, rounded object and slowly crush the exposed quill at the leading part of the fletch. When it is very flat, lash it starting at the vane and work forward onto bare wood. It can be good not to lash the trailing end of the fletch. If the fletch comes loose, it can be reglued. Otherwise the quill can stretch preventing regluing.

Don't forget the decoration. It proves that you weren't swamped by the project.

You were smart to make a prototype. We, unfortunately, learn as we proceed. Don't want a quiver full of the wrong arrows.

Your plug nock has a dangerous joint. Too much end grain where the plug ends. Try tapering the plug to a point. Grind your drill bit to match. This is called a "tusk tennon". The plug should look more like an icecream cone, ie. a cone with a ball on top.

Just some suggestions. -j-

jack farrell wrote:

Gianrico; Nice arrow, looks like you are going to be a craftsman. Can I make some suggestions?

G: ^______^ You're welcome, Jack. It's just what I need...

A leading fletch lash is a useful thing. Make a point out of the quill. Take a hard, smooth, rounded object and slowly crush the exposed quill at the leading part of the fletch. When it is very flat, lash it starting at the vane and work forward onto bare wood. It can be good not to lash the trailing end of the fletch. If the fletch comes loose, it can be reglued. Otherwise the quill can stretch preventing regluing.

G: I've not made lash because I don't liked the thread I used for the nock. I find it is too thick. I've finded and ordered silk thread, I will try it on the next arrow...

Don't forget the decoration. It proves that you weren't swamped by the project.

G: Really, I wasn't? ;-)
My source of inspiration was a Korean arrow which has a simple but beautiful decoration in black-red-white. I would like to try a painted decoration, but it requires to be done before fletching and as I was not sure of the results of basic steps, I don't wanted to waste the time and materials of decoration.... 8)

You were smart to make a prototype. We, unfortunately, learn as we proceed. Don't want a quiver full of the wrong arrows.

G: We all learn that way. But I'm at the beginning of the beginning and I must perhaps proceed a little more slowly than other peoples.
I have a difficult situation in my family (someone I love is not well) and energy, enthousiasm and time to dedicate to my interest are difficult to find. So I try to compensate my lack of skill with a stronger will. It is perhaps not enough, but I don't know a different way to go forward.

Your plug nock has a dangerous joint. Too much end grain where the plug ends. Try tapering the plug to a point. Grind your drill bit to match. This is called a "tusk tennon". The plug should look more like an icecream cone, ie. a cone with a ball on top.

G: This would be like the joint of plastic nocks/wooden shafts? If it's right, the difficult I have is to make a hole which has the same shape of the tenon (positive/negative). Have you some technical hints to solve this problem?

Just some suggestions. -j-

Thanks a lot, best regards

Gianrico

hi Gianrico,your arrow looks well and it will fly......

what I prefer is to fix the fletching with real sinew from buffalo,elk or deer soaked with hideglue.This is the best fletching you can do,much better than every fletching done with modern glues.
For the nocks I prefer horn,done right you will never have a problem.If you use wood maybe beech is not the best choice,you will have better results with very hard woods like maple or boxwood.

Gianrico;

I am sorry to hear of your loved one. They will probably want you to continue following your course and there is great release in craft. Take it from an old timer that nothing is required except wanting to.

I will use this Moghul style arrow to illustrate the technique. The bone nock piece is roughed out at the far left. It was made from a cone shaped piece like the one to its right. Alternately, horn works well, to the right. The bamboo shaft is cut square, roughened slightly so glue will stick, lashed to prevent splitting. The tapered drill bit, ground from a "paddle" bit like the one to its right. is inserted into the open end of the bamboo and the inside flared as desired. The shoulder on the two upper blanks are not necessary. The bamboo (or wood) can be flared to a paper edge and a cone-shaped nock blank inserted. This is also somewhat stronger.

The tang of the nock is whittled or rasped to the approximate shape and glued in place. The nock is shaped. More lashing, or new lashing takes place, then decoration, fletching and finishing.

To replace a broken nock or to insert a nock into a wood shaft, cut the nock off square. Drill a small pilot hole into the end with a twist-bit, far right; this will guide the flaring bit. Continue as above.

Any questions? -j-

Jack,

Thanks a lot for your help. I have a holiday week, I will buy other tools I need and will try to start on a new basis following your instructions.
I have some questions on details/choice of materials: the lash in the mongolian arrow in photo is made with vegetal fibers? I'm just curious since I think it can be made with sinew (thanks to Redhawk, but I find it difficult to obtain, to prepare etc.), silk, linen or other. I do not have horn at this time, I have some ivory handles but they are not thick enough to make nocks. I have a good quantity of wood, one is a kind of mahogany and another is boxwood. I also have a little board of a (relatively) rare variety of pear tree, which is very white, fine grain and high density. You think I can use one of these woods instead of horn?
And other question: I have readed on a french archery forum of a method to cut fletching, this person use a metallic thread that is simply connected to a 9v battery. You think this could work well? This is surely not an ancient system (XVIII century being a point post quam), but if it works... :roll:

Thanks also for your kind words,

Best regards

Gianrico

Gianrico:

Bone can be obtained from butchers. They regularly sell cow femurs (thigh bones) for dogs to chew on. The femur happens to be one of the toughest, strongest bones in the body. Thick too: enough to get nocks from, I would think.

I too have heard of the wire cutting. It doesn't cut the feather in half, but is used to shape the fletch to profile, yes? I've no doubt it would work.

Dave

Gianrico; This arrow is in the Moghul style, as in Indo Persian. The lashings are deer sinew. As Redhawk points out, sinew is so perfect for this opperation. But it is also traditional for Indo persian arrows. If you want to reproduce Korean-style arrows, sinew is not appropriate, thread would be. Have you thought about polyester sewing thread? Very thin, stretchy, strong. Only with a scanning electron microscope can you tell the difference.

Without bamboo for shafts and pheasant for fletch, brass points, you will have a difficult time approximating Korean style arrows.

Think about using the self nock cut into the shaft. Whittle down the arrow into a barreled shaft with the nock expanded. This is a traditional method of Turkish, Central Asian and Chinese, among others.

A lot of archers think about bows but few consider the ammunition. -j-

hey,Jack this is a great arrow.Where did you get the cresting?Could you post other crestings of mongolian or western asian arrows or maybe there is something to be seen in the web?
Gianrico,to burn the feathers into shape is an old method to prepare the fletching.Our ancestors did it with glowing charcoal.I?m not so clear,why it was done,maybe the ends of the feather are merged a bit?You can buy modern feather-burners(filament) for about 100EURO at www.black-Flash-archey.de .

Gianrico wrote:

Hello,

...
the thread is shoemaker linen, i find it a little bit too thick, but not finded silk thread (but I have a very good link for other silk articles, I will post it).
That's all, I will try it on the field...

Best regards

Hi Gianrico, have a look on tooth-silk (not waxed of course) ;-) . I finally seal it with cyanoacrylate glue (sure not authentic, works very well)

But, to ber honest, sinew is the first choice for nice arrows. The only drawback for me is that the glue tends to stick to the fingers.

Regarding nock, for bamboo arrows I drill a 4mm hole and glue a piece of hardwood (beech or what i can find in do-it-yourself shop) and wrap with silk or sinew. I had only problems when the noch was too narrow.

For woodes shafts I cut a selfnock into the shaft and wrap. Never had a problem.

Thanks for your tips and advices.

I have now a kind of tool like the one Jack showed me in photo, I'm working on it with a file (perhaps I will buy a grinding wheel to fast a little the work), It seems that the angle I will obtain will work (the tool was very 16 mm. wide, no other diameters availables).

I think I must to get more serious and wait for sinew and horntips to make nocks and lash. I will order them; I hope this will not stop me for a long time. Holydays week I have is everyway almost gone...

A question about these arrows: on the site of Korean Archery Museum, I noted in the pics that nock was not cutted in the bamboo shaft, but was a kind of wood with still the bark on it. Have you some more details on this way to made nocks? Just a curiosity...

I just wanted to made something which is not only shootable but has also a little aesthetical "added value". I see, like all things related to aesthetics,
it is not so fast and easy. I need arrows so I will perhaps try to made some self-nocked with simple fletching, waiting for materials I need.

Thanks a lot and waiting for the episode 2,

Best regards

Gianrico

Hardwood nock inserts can be made from Cherry. For strength, it is important to drill a hole into the cane at one of the nodes, and not just to insert the nock into the natural hole between the nodes.

When I see the silk binding at the nock, I an not sure whether it is intended for strengthening or as a form of cresting. I suspect it is more the latter.

I was just looking at an old cane Japanese arrow and cane Korean arrow here. Both have self nocks cut at the node with lacquered silk binding in distinctive colours. They have survived well.

Stephen and all; Old Japanese war arrows have the nocks cut above the node. Modern Japanese target arrows have a horn nock insert between the nodes. Beware; the lashing is an absolutely essential structural element of the arrow. A strong bow can easily split the arrow down the middle if it lacks a lashing. This includes self nocks.

Redhawk; This is Persian style arrow making from India prototypes, ie Mughal, or Indopersian. The Grayson collection website has the best decorated Persian arrows that I know of, probably Kashmiri. Other examples (many) are to be seen in Indian Archery, book. In case one should wonder if bows were similarly decorated, there was the "Turkestan" bow , Hermann Historica site, recently posted. My fascination frequently leads me from Indian out onto the Silk Road

Forgive me those who have seen this reproduction arrow on the left before, and somewhat beat up. It is composed of elements; fine lines. ladders. florals, and dots, reconstituted from old arrows. The origionals were of much finer workmanship.

Second and third from the left are old, maybe 200 yrs + or -, presumably from southern India, and are from a group with the same cresting. Solid blocks of color, fine lines and ladder designs. The one on the right has a shouldered ivory nock like my previous example. The other two have fantasticly intricate designs which are faded and weren't captured by the scanner.

Do others enjoy Persian art? -j-

Thank you Jack,I?m always fascinated by arrows:how much time you can spent to do an arrow,how easy to loose an arrow.An arrow is the best example for the consensus between design and sense.I really start to like more and more the Arabian and Asiatic style of decorating bows and arrows and I got a feeling about the attitude why our ancestors did this time-consuming job.Many bowyers and arrowsmiths are satisfied when their work just functions.