Bamboo Arrow

So, you have a full length bow, perhaps made from bamboo, PVC, fiberglass, maybe even store bought, and you need arrows made for it? Don't fear, this is how I made arrows for my CPVC bow.

Split Bamboo

Feathers

Narrow Tape

Knife

Stick

Mini Hacksaw

Course Sandpaper

Fine Sandpaper

Select a piece of bamboo at least 3 inches longer then the full draw of your bow. It should be considerably thicker then the arrow you plan to make. Prefer pieces that were split or splintered off of poles, as they split and carve into the perfect shape.

Decide which end of the Bamboo piece will be your head (which hits the target) and tail (where the string is fit).

Using the mini hacksaw, cut the piece half an inch to an inch above the node for the head, and 8-10 inches past the node for the tail.

Split down the bamboo piece into slimmer pieces a bit thicker the n the final arrow by battoning the knife through it with a stick. Bamboo splits easy, much of the length you may be able to simply push the knife through, but do hammer when you split through the nodes.

Hold the selected slimmer piece down on a cloth (like your pant leg), and shave off the sharp edges so that the arrow is round and smooth. After removing the sharpest portions, the smooth outer edge. Hold it down on your trouser leg and pull the arrow through to remove long thin shavings t once. This should result in a smooth even arrow.

The nock is where the strong fits into the arrow when it is drawn back.

To make it, first, take the tail end of your arrow and carve it into a chisel shape that is parallel to the nodes.

Then, take your mini hacksaw and cut lengthwise into the end of the arrow shaft for about 1cm. This cut should be in the center of the arrow. perpendicular to the nodes. This is to ensure that the nodes don't scrape the bow when it is shot.

The groove cut in the last step is probably not straight in the middle. Insert the course sandpaper into the groove so that the rough portion is in contact with the thicker side, and rub it in to widen the groove. When the groove is wider, fold the sandpaper in half and keep going. When the groove is wide enough for your bowstring, smoothen it out on the inside with the finer sandpaper.

The groove is now a nock.

Select the pair of feathers that are the longest and reasonably similar size.

First, carefully tear off some of the fibers from the larger feather so that it is the same size as the smaller one. Then tear off fibers from the end of both feathers so that there is a leftover spine at the ends. Tape the feathers onto the arrow at the tail end, where the nock is. Attach them perpendicular to the nock.

Your finished arrow should look something like this. The two feather fletching is very effective when done right.

Use steps 1 to 9 to make as many more arrows as you need. I recommend making as many as possible from the same bamboo piece.

Like all crafts, this is harder then it looks. You can always buy from me. https://tzfz0f-nq.myshopify.com/products/bamboo-arrows