By Johnny Snyman

Set aside your preference of bow and archery gear. Do you as an archer recall your childhood days of playing “bows and arrows”? Rekindle those warm memories. Reflect back on those little arrows you and your compatriots made with zeal, pleasure and delinq­uency.

You may have used flattened nails to compliment your arrow heads, a mixture of any feathers you could lay your hands on for fletching, and for your arrow shafts you used Khaki Bush stems, dowels, young bamboo shoots, or just about anything that would fly from a home-made bow. Yes, those little darts you made were crude, but for as long as they could fly, their whispering songs wrote beautiful carefree music under our African skies. Mersimized by their flight, it inspired boyhood dreams. Dreams of hunting; of being the great gatherer; or perhaps, Robin Hood. When following the flight of your boyhood arrows, what are your warmest memories today?

Now, just for a few moments, forget about your busy lifestyle and its woes. Be honest with yourself, ask yourself whether you had fun those early days. Yes? No matter how primitive your tackle was, enjoyment filled those moments right to the brim of the cup of your youth. Are you having the same enjoyment and satisfaction today? And if you had a choice, would you wish to have your youth or your youthfulness back?

You may ask, what does your youth, youthfulness and the flight of an arrow have in common today? The answer is: A great deal, as the aforementioned questions show. Under the shady green patches of an evergreen forest you will find delicious, succulent mushrooms. Look around carefully. Just a few feet away among the rain-dampened moss and undergrowth are a few small convex bumps. Gently uncover the moss to discover your prize. They are best when picked fresh. You may eat them raw, fry them up with butter, lemon juice and garlic, or even dry them for later use. They are one of Mother Nature’s wonders.

A few days may pass until you feel the need to find more. You set out on the same path, searching a little here, a little there, only to find that nature’s little treats are gone.

Such is youth. Some of us outgrow bows and arrows. Others rediscover archery later on and reap the rewards of an ancient sport, once known as the sport of kings.

But as youth has faded, so has archery of yesterday. Today, the greater half of our sport has been re-invented.

For instance, let’s have a look at our arrows today. Effectiveness and deadlines is the aura surounding them. Today’s arrows are marketed by clever manufacturers as “missiles” and “rockets”. What sirs, do missiles and rockets do? They demolish and they kill. They leave paths of destruction.

What do today’s arrows have in common with missiles? Think about it. Could we perhaps call it: “The bravery of being out of range?” As a matter of fact, today our archery gear comes straight off the shelf, the same way we obtain our meat.

When we search the boundaries and frontiers of our souls today, do we find them wild, carefree and free-spirited? Hardly. They are bound and cultivated, lost in a world thriving on success and the urge to widely announce it. We need to forget the term “hunter-gatherer”, for today man has become a gatherer only. We “hunt” from trees and blinds. We no longer smell the breeze carrying the scent of our prey as we slowly walk, nor feel the grass-stems brushing our fingertips as we stalk. No longer do we return stiff-legged to rest under the stars after a day’s hard hunting. Instead, we return to cozy lodges, our posteriors stiff from “hunting” out of a chair. Camouflaged behind an enclosed perch called a “blind”, we no longer blend in with our surroundings but rather with an image. Our will and urge to hunt fairly is rapidly fading. We seek quick results with as little effort as possible. Our excuse? Limited time. Our busy lifestyles and bank balances justify putting the odds in our favour. We have become chocolate hunters that melt in the sun. But carried by the very air breathed as we hunt, rides and remains a Higher Presence who watches and sees.

Serious archers in the days of all-wood Yew, Osage and Lemonwood bows scored their ends right up to the 100-yard mark. Their arrows weren’t crooked and certainly didn’t fly off the mark. They flew true and were of the finest quality. Archers of yesteryear mostly made their own tackle, or else professional guildsmen made it for them at the cost of a week’s wages. They took pride in their craftsmanship. Archer-hunters hunted the hard way; with self-perseverance, woodmanship and true adventure in mind. Their arrows were made of wood.

Go back further in time. If you’re an archer, you should know about the great battles of Hastings, Halidon Hill and Falkirk. Battles won against the French at Portiers, Agincourt and Crecy. The Englishman conquered his freedom not with infantry forces and knights in armour, but with the longbow and the cloth yard arrow.

As far back as 900BC on the plains of Central Asia and in the Middle East, arrows made of wood didn’t mean success or failure, but life or death, the conquered or the vanquished. The Egyptians, Persians, Scythians, Turks and Huns all used wooden arrows, shot from their highly stressed, short composite bows. Some of these bows were capable of casting a flight arrow to distances of almost a mile. Again, arrows of wood.

Sadly, today the wooden arrow is branded inferior. Amaz­ingly, a certain brand of alloy arrows is available, complete with natural wood grain neatly impregnated throughout their entire length, supposedly “to upkeep traditions of yesteryear”. What will be next? Probably recycled food. Still the trusty old wooden shaft of yesterday has fallen within the lower ranks of shaft material choice of today. Is it perhaps because we have traded in our youthfulness for the price of success? Nevertheless, the wooden arrow has been around for thousands of years, and the (mis)conception of the wooden arrow being inferior, for around 50.

So dear archers, especially those of English origin who scorn the wooden arrow, best you waste little time. Haul out the axe and chop down those family trees. For the longbow and cloth yard arrow saw to the preservation of your heritage, and that of the frog’s legs too.

Wooden arrows crafted with care from a single block of wood, spined, weighed and matched to the bow. Wooden shafts, after being rounded and sanded smooth as silk, stained and crested with your own mark, sealed against moisture and the elements, and finally, fletched and properly tipped with a point intended for its crafted purpose. The effort and time invested yields a final product that radiates the warmth of not one, but a thousand campfires. Its whispering flight has a substance that embraces freedom. That is the way it should be, and should always remain.

In his classic book, The Witchery of Archery, Maurice Thompson vividly describes a few weeks spent with a virtually wild Seminole native. On a particular day, Maurice was observing the wise Seminole craft his arrows. The native described to him the effort needed to make them. It was translated as something like: “Any bow do good, but arrow heap much work”. Maurice looked on as the so-called “primitive” fletched his wooden arrows by hand, perfectly. And fly perfectly true they did. Together they hunted in the wild uninhabited Florida Everglades, and although eventually the time came for them to part, they never parted in spirit, otherwise Maurice Thompson would never have contemplated recording the impressive accuracy of the wise Seminole.

Wise words from a great man: “Credibility comes from first-hand knowledge, whether writing or speaking. Assumption, rumors, hearsay won’t do it.” - Glen St Charles.

The challenge is to make your own arrows of wood, from scratch. Allow yourself to test the credibility of those loosely made, modern accusations against these faithful, feathered darts of yore.

Getting Started

Understanding the selection of arrow-quality timber is import­ant when planning to handcraft a set of wooden arrows, correctly termed “self-arrows”. As with the self-bow, the term means a product crafted from a single piece of wood.

Your arrows should match your bow with regard to stiffness or “spine”. If the bow is made of wood, it will have a wider handle section, and the spine should therefore be more flexible or weaker, thus allowing the arrow to correctly flex in tandem with the law of physics around the shelf of your wooden bow. The self-bow’s non-centred shot shelf is compensated for and that arrow flies true to its mark. If you’re shooting a laminated recurve bow, which has a shelf far closer to centre shot and more highly strained limbs which store more energy, you will use an arrow with a stiffer spine. Try to make the margin between your arrow weight variances as narrow as possible. Ten grains between each arrow is fine, but five grains is even better. They must all be straight and cut to the same length, with the last third or so towards the nock ends – the area where their fletchings will stand proudly – tapered to a narrower diameter. This make allowance for superior arrow-to-shelf clearance and good recovery after the arrow leaves the bow.

Selecting your wood

Of the many imported woods available at most large timber dealers, a variety of arrow-woods is included. No matter which wood you eventually select, a few important points will help you avoid certain pitfalls. One of the most important factors lies in the selection of straight-grained boards or planks. Grain running off the plank will weaken the arrow and greatly influence its strength, straightness and integrity. Also avoid planks that have “shifted”. Remember, you are making arrows from wood that has been kiln-dried. Wood that has reacted to moisture retention will have shifted along its entire length on one or even both sides. Such timbers are useless, no matter how straight the grain may be, and will never make a quality wooden shaft. Also, avoid timber that shows any sign of cracks along its length.

When looking for timber, a general rule of thumb is the higher the specific gravity or density, the heavier the arrow.

Examples of arrow-woods

• Ash: a heavy, straight-grained timber that makes a tough and stable arrow. It was also among the preferred shaft material of the English longbow men.

• Maple: a medium-weight, straight-grained timber and also a tough arrow-wood.

• Douglas Fir or Oregon Pine: a very straight-grained arrow-wood that is stable, lightweight and excellent for target arrows. It also gives off a lingering aroma while being worked.

• White and Red Oak: makes good medium-weight, medium-strength arrows.

• Pine: knot-free and straight-grained pine is excellent for young archers.

• Sitka Spruce: makes a tough, medium-weight arrow.

• Highland Pine: medium-weight, relatively tough with excellent “spine adaptability”. (I once obtained two dozen Highland Pine shafts from Derek Nourse, South Africa’s leading bowyer and a dear friend. The puzzling fact was that although the arrows were spined for a 63-pound non-centred shot selfbow, they performed equally well from a heavier, more centred-shot longbow.)

• Curry Gum: makes a heavy to very heavy, narrow-diameter and medium to high-spined arrow. It’s a very tough wood, but tends to cling to its natural moisture after being felled. Allow lots of drying time.

South Africa’s own native hardwoods also have great potential for arrows in the heavy weight range:

• Candlewood (Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus): this hardwood occurs from the Cape Peninsula to KwaZulu-Natal. It is pink-to-dark-red in colour and very straight-grained. Candlewood is a beautiful wood, but also very heavy. With an air-dried weight of 1042kg/m3, a 9mm-diameter x 77mm-long raw shaft weighs around 840 grains. The same category shaft, tipped with a 160-grain broadhead, fletched with three feathers and sealed with two coats of polyurethane varn­ish weighs 1001 grains. Yet an Oregon pine arrow, fully made up and of the same dimensions as the Candlewood raw shaft, weighs around 470 grains. Candlewood’s weight for African big game hunting purposes is self-explanatory.

• Assegai (Curtisia dentata): Assegai is obtainable from the Cape Peninsula along the southern coast to Mozambique. Its air-dried weight is 929kg/m3. During the times of wagon transport, many a wagon wheel-spoke was made of this tough and resilient wood. Today it is used for tool handles and other demanding tasks requiring elasticity and strength. Seasoned Assegai makes a tough, heavy and stable arrow. The reddish heartwood is where the magic lurks. Assegai will yield an arrow that truly lasts in the field and is reliable on the hunt.

• Ironwood (Olea capensis): a near relative of the African Olive, it grows in the Western Cape towards KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng areas. This timber’s heartwood is a rich brown-to-almost-black colour and its even texture is fine and straight-grained. It is also a very heavy wood, having an air-dried weight of 1025kg/m3 and yielding arrows up to the 1000-grain plus weight range, depending on their diameter. When working Ironwood, rest assured that it will have no mercy on your tool blades. It deals with a regular skip-tooth band saw blade in no time, but its final finish is smooth and silky to the touch and appealing to the eye.

Equipment and tools

First, you need a V-block – the jig wherein the arrow billets will lie as you work them round. It can be made from any straight 100mm x 50mm x 50mm length of hardwood. With a suitable router and bit, mill out a shallow V-groove into the hardwood’s centre, along its entire length. Close to one end, drill a 8mm hole about 25mm deep into the V-groove and gently tap in a 8mm dowel. The dowel should protrude roughly halfway through the V-groove.

The only hand tool you will need is a small palm plane, a worthwhile investment that will serve you well over the years. The palm plane is small and light enough to fit comfortably in your hand, making it easy to control and guide along the narrow surfaces of the billets being trimmed. Its blade depth is also easily adjustable.

You will also need access to a jointer and band saw or table saw.

The only power tool needed is a hand drill with 8 to 112mm wood drill-bits.

You will also need a few sheets of 60 to 120-grit sandpaper for final finishing.

The following illustrations are a step-by-step guide to aid you through the various crafting processes for wooden arrows. The timber used is Candlewood. You will have purchased a supply of wood cut into lengths two to three inches longer than your draw length, and at least 2 inches (50mm) wide and thick.

Step 1. Square the edges of your billet blank. This is best done on a jointer.

Step 2. With the billet squared, begin to downsize it on a band saw. Have the band saw’s rip fence-to-blade distance set one millimetre or so larger than the diameter of arrow shaft you intend to make. Carefully begin ripping the billet block into slats.

Step 3. With your slats ready and using the same distance adjustment of the rip fence, begin to reduce the slats to shaft billets.

Step 4. You now have a bundle of billets that will soon become arrows. Before doing anything else, study each individual billet. Just as you selected straight-grained timber free of any deformities, do the same with the billets. Discard any that show pins or knots. Next, sight along their lengths and discard the ones with any radical bends or twists, as they will never make a good arrow. Those billets that show slight bend may be set aside. They can usually be straightened. Make your selection carefully while taking your time.

Step 5. Secure the V-block in a bench vice and rest a billet in the V-groove. The end of the billet must jam up against the protruding dowel.

Step 6. Set the palm plane to a shallow cutting depth. This will make progress easier and more controllable. The idea is to remove enough material from each of the four edges so as to create an octagonal shaped billet. Use the wood grain as a guide. If the blade “grabs” the grain a little, turn the billet around and work from the opposite side. As you progress, use the ends as a rough guide to keep track of where you’re heading. You will soon develop a “feel” for the planning process. At first, this may seem to take ages, but persist, for there is no excellence without great labour.

Step7. Trim four corners to eight.

Step 8. Trim the eight corners to 16.

Step 9. With a little trimming here and there, and a turn of the billet after each gentle pass of the planer, you will soon have a 16-sided shaft that is in its final stages and virtual- ly round. A very handy measuring gauge is a simple template block. Drilled with the desired shaft-diameter holes through it, check the shaft diamet­er every now and again. Make a pencil mark around the area where the raw shaft jams up inside the hole and commence trimming.

Step 10. You’re satisfied that each shaft is perfect- ly round and fits snugly through the template block. If you are making a 11/32-inch diameter shaft, taper the last third of it down to a diameter of 5/16 inch. This tapered end will accommodate the arrow nock. Before sanding the shaft to a fine finish, you may find it useful to make a simple, yet effective little device known as a “sandpaper book”.

Drill a hole through a piece of scrap wood roughly 40mm square. The diameter of the hole should be a touch bigger than that of your arrow shafts. This allows room for the sandpaper that will be glued in place. Use a band saw to slice through the length of the block, bisecting the centre of the hole you drilled. Attach a small hinge onto the two halves and then glue some 60-grit sandpaper into the halves. The sandpaper book is a great help in rounding the raw shaft perfectly. If you are new to wooden arrow making, let your desire to make them be your guide. In the early stages it is not an easy technique to master. Practise on the scrap billets you have discarded, and before long you will be able to make one arrow, from billet to 16-sided stage within ten minutes.

In the next edition, we will look at spining and weighing our arrows, as well as sealing, cresting and fletching techniques, and different style arrow nocks. How to keep your arrows straight and gluing points will also be discussed.