Update on making bamboo arrows .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Thanks to a couple of Ddeans posts and other advice I have been making satisfactory progress on my bamboo arrows . Taking the best of home depot
garden stakes I straighten them out by heating the nodes over a hot plate element and aligning the sections in that manner . There is a fine line between pliable and scorched . I am going to try and invert an iron griddle I have over the element and roll a hot iron over the nodes . I hope that the griddles even distribution of heat along with the irons pressure and heat will allow me to keep the heat down a bit and so prevent scorching . I am concerned that the iron will slip on the node instead of rolling it . If I can get this procedure down it will have the added effect of flattening the node to some degree which makes for a prettier arrow .

I would also like to devise an all steel roller . If you are familiar with the conveyor rollers in grocery stores ? About two feet wide by one inch steel rollers convey the boxes from one place to the other . I want two rollers as close to each other as possible . They would have to beat least halved in diameter so the bamboo aligned between them would stick up 1/16th to 3/64ths above the circumference of the rollers . I could then roll my hot iron
over the bamboo and hopefully the rollers would allow the bamboo to roll between them . If not I can manipulate the end of the bamboo shaft so as to make it roll . If this assembly is about six inches long it could sit on top of the iron plate over the element and so keep the bamboo at the proper temperature .
Does anyone know of a set-up I could modify or parts I could aquire to make this set-up ? It has to be all steel or at least heat resistant .

I am almost at the stage where my arrows are pretty enough to photograph .
If I get through this stage I promise a couple of pics .
 
Astrodada said:
How do your arrows fly ?
Click to expand...

multiple choice test:

1.they flap their wings of course.
2.they don't, they take the train.
3.like bumblebees, science says it's impossible.
4.they fly Easyjet.
5. some of the above.
6. none of the above.
7. all of the above.

p.s. - kevin, finished product photos are mandatory. also pics' of you firing them would be nice. watermelons make nice targets.
 
kronckew said:
multiple choice test:

1.they flap their wings of course.
2.they don't, they take the train.
3.like bumblebees, science says it's impossible.
4.they fly Easyjet.
5. some of the above.
6. none of the above.
7. all of the above.

p.s. - kevin, finished product photos are mandatory. also pics' of you firing them would be nice. watermelons make nice targets.
Click to expand...

I'll take No.6

They fly Cathay Pacific ! :D
 
Kevin the grey said:
Thanks to a couple of Ddeans posts and other advice I have been making satisfactory progress on my bamboo arrows .
I am almost at the stage where my arrows are pretty enough to photograph .
If I get through this stage I promise a couple of pics .
Click to expand...
This is interesting.
Could you suspend a piece of bamboo, attach a heavy weight to the bottom and heat it with a torch or paint stripping heat gun or something to soften the bamboo and let the weight straighten the shaft?
 
Astrodada said:
How do your arrows fly ?
Click to expand...

being as they are rat tail tapered their spine is a little different . I placed one in the space between two arrows about two inches apart in the target .This was at twenty yards . I am not usually that accurate . One of my bow building buddies commented on how pretty they were and I told him just what I,d do and the arrow did just what I said . They are still a little too crooked and crude to make up a dozen similar enough to call them matched . When I get them the way I want them I,ll fletch some with my dragonwing feathers . I,m waiting till then cause its real hard to pluck a dragon ! L:O:L

Its enjoyable and I would work on them full time except I have to keep myself supplied with regular arrows as well . Flu-flu season is coming up and the most important outdoor tournament of the year is coming in a months time .It is just outside of Ottawa and is an absolute hoot . One year I even saw the man who inspired me to make the boo arrows . His boo arrows are works of art .Damascus steel crescent moon broadheads ( I won,t tell you what they are for . ) that somehow would fit in just right with a Khukuri .
 
ld57 said:
This is interesting.
Could you suspend a piece of bamboo, attach a heavy weight to the bottom and heat it with a torch or paint stripping heat gun or something to soften the bamboo and let the weight straighten the shaft?
Click to expand...

While the paint stripping gun with a heat spreader is viable much more finesse is needed with the straightening .There is a real difference in the pliability of a properly heated or a just too cool or hot shaft .You get a putty like feeling in your hands . Like you are trying to hold a piece of stiff putty between two chopsticks .(Yum Yum ! L:O:L ) At this point its a hands on approach . On a separate note I have found leather gloves to be a good idea ! L:O:L
 
I have seen a tv documentory showing an arrow in flight in very slow motion, and that arrow shaft, how shall I put it ? twist in a spiral.....like you strike a guitar string, sorta like a figure 8 with the center of percussion not moving and the front and end part of the arrow spinning out . Is that how it's like ?
 
Sounds cool, man. I used to make my little arrows with bamboo as well. Could you describe what you're using for fletching, & how you attach it?
 
the possum said:
Sounds cool, man. I used to make my little arrows with bamboo as well. Could you describe what you're using for fletching, & how you attach it?
Click to expand...

Justin I,m on my way out the door to go to my birthweek party . I,ll get back to you on that one . I got your envelope .Happy birthweek to me ! My e-mail is down so I couldn,t say how much I appreciated it . My buddy will get them in a few weeks and he,ll have plenty of time .He is used to captain Black sweet so this will be a challenge . . I,ll see ya later tonite or tomorrow .

I,ll also say how I see my arrows fly . (Wounded duck ! )
 
Japanese arrows are made of long, slender river reeds. (say that five times fast)
I dont know what process they use to straighten them, but I will find out if I can and get back to you...
 
I am begining to think bamboo has elastic and plastic characteristics depending upon the treatment . Straightening by elongation would result in shaft failure except under narrow guidelines I am neither equipped to duplcate or experienced enough to understand . Rolling seems to be the way to go though with me this new at the game there is always the possibility of something I,ve overlookied . If you can come up with a source for theparts of the roller mechanism I would like to make it would be appreciated .
Any input on other methods of straightening , heat treating and designs of bamboo or reed arrows would be great .
How do my arrows fly ? Suprisingly well considering they are not that straight or concentric. The most important thing in arrow building is to have the point and nock aligned with each other .The next most important thing is the inch behind the point and in front of the nock and so on. As long as point and nock are aligned there is a chance it will fly reasonably well .

How an arrow flies depends on the type of bow . The more primitive the style the more the arrow must flex(Paradox ) to fly properly .
Flex is determined by spine (stiffness). An arrow out of a primitive bow will almost seem to swim until it stops flexing radically . Any feathered grain or curves or other eccentricities will add their own possibly undesireable influence .This is where feathers come in . depending upon fletching configuration they will make the arrow spin and so even out the little differences, natural or introduced variations . The only thing else that will even things out is drag . The point wants to pull the arrow down range the feathers resist that pull and between them they keep the arrow as straight as possible This all consumes energy . It is said the best fletching is the ones not on the arrow . more speed, ,flatter trajectory, less misses . A perfect shot from a perfectly tuned arrow ,bow combination could require no fletching .

.
 
This is silly.

I know it is silly.

But...

'member those pants pressers folks used to buy for the home? Worked kind of like a waffle iron, but with steam coming out on the pressed pants?

Gotta be some around somewhere.


Like I said, silly.
 
Kismet said:
This is silly.

I know it is silly.

But...

'member those pants pressers folks used to buy for the home? Worked kind of like a waffle iron, but with steam coming out on the pressed pants?

Gotta be some around somewhere.


Like I said, silly.
Click to expand...

All I can say is it takes a fair amount of pressure . Bamboo between the nodes is actually pretty straight . It is at the nodes that one straight section doesn,t align with the next . For the moment I am working on heating the nodes to align the sections and in the future compressing and perhaps slightly elongating the nodes . Your idea would heat the an entire section . i do not know if it would be desireable to heat between the nodes unless I am prepared to deal with the slight to the point of being negligible imperfections between the nodes . Steam would spread the heat evenly though moisture added to wood shafts is a really bad idea . What it would do to a grass like bamboo is unknown to me . Its not a silly idea . It may become problematic .
 
what happens to the air inside the sections when heated? or is that where the idea for the Big Bang came from?
 
Kevin I use River Cane similar to bamboo for ndn Flutes sometimes as well as several other folks. One other fellow does the same as I do and files and sands the nodules flat making them even with the straight araes between the nodes.
I don't know what this would have on the effect of straightening the bamboo but it may help or then again it may make it worse, but would be worth a try methinks.
I don't know about arrows but river cane as well as bamboo Flutes will crack at sometime in their lives if not wrapped with something down several areas along the length. It's not a matter of if they will crack but when.:(
 
Could I at least have my morning coffee before you get ahead of my plans for the day ? L:O:L

You guys at least paralelled my thoughts of last evening and in one case leapt ahead .

It is supposed to burst the hollow sections in between the nodes if a fair amount of heat is applied . The literature I have read on this speaks more of larger diameter bamboo . It may be that the air/moisture volume to bambboo wall thickness ratio differs in the larger diameters . I have had no problems and have read no cautions in dealing with arrow sized shafts

River cane is a project I would love to deal with in the near future . Because of my shorter growing season no cane of adequate size or type grows here . It requires a different approach but one that adds beauty to the arrow . River cane usually uses a hardwood foreshaft inserted into the cane . This allows for the maker to choose pleasing colors of wood that compliment the color of the shaft . I have some 5/16th rosewood dowels begging to be used .It is a pretty light colored wood with pinkish swirls that reminds me of cherry wood I once saw .
The sanding of the nodes is also done in some kinds of bamboo . As in rivercane I think it is done with species where the taper is gradual and so the disparity between node and shaft is not so pronounced . It may be that the node is more concentric but I am guessing .
A buddy of mine on an archery site is supposed to send me cane one day . Unfortunately there is illness in the family and though I have told him to take care of family he insists on doing it one day . It is available at some specialty archery shops . They want more for shipping than they do for the cane . I am going to make a couple of shafts up using garden stake bamboo and perhaps experiment on my node flattening technique . Thanks for the great ideas . . . .
 
Kevin the cane we have her is sometimes straight enough to make arrows with as it is. It does have to be dried in a special way though, cut and trim it and then wrap it in a bundle tied up and then laid flat. I have a bundle drying right now because I ran out but it's not for arrows but other crafts like dance rattle handles and the like. Also can make a pretty Peyote Staff with them as well.;) :D :cool:
 
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