Risk's
Bows and Arrows
December
2004: This page shows some of
the progress I have made in learning how to build a bow and some
arrows. After receiving Douglas Spotted Eagle's Making
Indian Bows and Arrows for
Christmas, I worked to start building some arrows.
I went for a hike and came back with a number of stems from wild roses
growing in the woods. Sitting on my porch, I scraped the
thorns and the green bark off the stems until I got down to white
wood.
I straightened the stems with my fingers - not too hard while they are
still damp - and put them in a bundle so they could dry
straight.
While these were drying, I took a dead stem from a rose bush and
straightened it by coating the places that needed to be bent with some
Crisco and then heating the area with a candle. This
straightened the stem nicely.
Using a Fletching Jig I put some 5 inch turkey feathers on the
stem. Before the jig, I had successfully split some chicken
feathers I found in the coop, but it took way too much work to try to
glue the feathers on by hand.
This is what the fletching ended up looking like. Note the
simple nock made by using a file and then wrapping the stem with thread
and then applying glue.
I cold forged a nail into a thin point, split the end of the arrow with
a band saw, and then glued and thread wrapped the end.
I shot the arrow in my front yard and it flew well and far with a
little lightweight compound bow. I guess it is time to get
started on a bow.