Making the Arrow

This bullet jacket can be fastened securely in place by prickpunching in about four places near the top of the jacket, or by drilling a small hole through the jacket and driving a small brad or escutcheon pin into the hole and shaft.

A prickpunch is just a sharp-pointed punch that will clinch the jacket into the shaft. There is no glue that will hold wood and metal together, so the foregoing method is the most reliable.

Now cut the arrows to finished length which is the distance from the back of the bow to a point of the chin directly under the right eye of the archer when in shooting position. This distance is from 24 to 26 inches for the average boy. Cut all arrow shafts exactly the same length.

Next, cut the nock (see Fig. 27), and sandpaper it smooth and slightly rounded off. To cut the nock easily, clamp the shaft lightly in a vise close to the end, then make two cuts with a fine crosscut saw to the desired depth. Smooth these surfaces up with a small file to exactly the same size, so that they will slip easily on to the bowstring at the nocking point. A very small rat-tail file is ideal for shaping the bottom of the nock.

Figures 26 to 31. Details for making arrows Click for a larger image

Now the arrow maker is ready for the feathers, and it might be well to take some time for discussion. Chicken feathers cannot be used as they are too small and light in weight. Turkey-wing feathers will serve well, unless one is fortunate enough to have rare wing feathers from a peacock or great American eagle. White, turkey-wing feathers, while hard to get, are easy to find in the grass, and are very striking. Gray, turkey-wing feathers can be used with a white cock feather to aid the archer in placing his arrow to the string without any trouble. Gray or white feathers may be dyed. The cock feather is the one away from the bow. (See Fig. 26.)