Radical Flight Arrow

 After the Character Yew ELB exploded I needed a quick fun project that wasn't a bow. Well I had this idea for a flight arrow. The premise was you start with a shaft that is smaller than normal diameter, but because of that it is too flexible. Long wooden vanes are added to both stabilise the flight and stiffen the back end of the arrow. I expect it's been tried before, but I wanted to see what it would do.
I started with a 9/32" shaft of about 30 spine and add three long thin shallow fins of Ash, a brass point was added which get the balance point to just about centre.
I tested it this morning, It left the hand with no problems but the back end was swinging round (nutating) in a circle. As it started to come down it flattened out and started twirling round like a Sycamore seed drifting in the wind! Highly entertaining!

I'd also made another flight arrow (32") taking the best performing arrow that I'd made for my mate JT as the reference/start point, and making minor changes that I hoped would improve it.
I kept the same 5/16 shaft as the basis for the arrow but narrowed the front end much more, adding a wooden footing for strength (and to keep some front end weight). the back end was similarly tapered to the reference arrow. I used the same profile fletching and kept the balance point just about the same. These changes resulted in the arrow being slightly lower spine at the front, but slightly stiffer in the rear, it also reduced the weight by 50grains.
JT had a quick try out for comparison using the bow he'd been roving with (about 90# ? ) and the new arrow flew 18yards further. hardly a conclusive test, but highly encouraging. I think it went about 285 yards, which is OK considering it wasn't a flight bow. I told him to shoot another 100 shot for comparison and to tabulate the results ;-)

They Tell Me it is Character Forming

 I had a guy drive 2 hours to collect that character Yew bow (in the last post). He shot about 10 arrows through it, we had a nice chat and tried some of the more exotic bows including the Chinese Repeater of course :-)
He drove home, messaged me thanking me for the bow and my hospitality... about 3 hours later he sent 2 pictures of the bow smashed! Apparently he'd been enjoying shooting it and it just went bang! H'e paid me by Paypal, so I just got on there and did a refund. We were both gutted.
I don't often go the whole hog on finishing a bow, I see them as more utilitarian than decorative, but that one was done as a masterpiece.

Well that was yesterday and I was rather down, but I've cheered up now. There are plenty of worse things happen, and as for all the time and effort I spent... well at least I wasn't painting skirting boards!

Anyhow, I've laid off working with wood and Yew in particular for the last week or so and my niggling cough has substantially improved. I think that over the years I've become sensitised to Yew dust and it's almost impossible to keep the workshop dust free even with my dust extractor and mask. So, I've invested in a Trend Airshield Pro respirator which blows filtered air down over you face behind a face shield/hood. It's pretty good, took a bit of fiddling to get it comfortable, it doesn't mist up which is a big advantage. The fan is a tad noisy, but can't be heard if using the bandsaw or belt sander anyway!

I'll lay off the bows for a bit while I fiddle with an idea for a radical flight arrow. Of the three staves I was recently given, that's the second to have exploded... I may dump the third (worst one) into my off-cut sack and quit while I'm behind.

Yew Character ELB

 

The character Yew ELB is virtually finished now, I got the horn nocks on it and shot 50 arrows through it indoors. Yesterday I took it out roving, it was a tad under powered for some of the longer marks but shot well and I was pulling the arrows right back to the tip with the point lying alongside the grip (the arrows are 28" to the base of the point and 29" overall). I shot another 55 arrows, so the bow has certainly been shot in.
This morning, I strung it, flexed it a few times and tried it on the tiller to 28", it weighed in at 44# . The guy actually wanted 43#, and that's what I've labelled the bow as, because it will doubtless settle by a pound or so. I normally only weigh 'em to the nearest 5# as the weight shifts over a days shooting and with age, weather etc.
There's a bit of a bulge at the grip, and the back is slightly concave across the width which would make it uncomfortable, so I've padded out the back with leather, built up and glued with UHU glue then rasped/sanded down. I'll get the black leather grip done today... I've taken the trouble to colour the leather black where the seam will be so that no pale leather shows through. I'm taking a lot of trouble with this bow as it is a bit of a stunner to look at.

I've just finished the grip, here are some pics.