Q&A for How to Make an Arrow

For crafting arrows, I typically purchase shafts made from materials like Douglas fir or Cedar, commonly used for wooden shafts. Begin by selecting shafts with the appropriate stiffness, considering the spine ranges. This advice is specific to wood shafts; carbon shafts follow a different process. Choose a shaft that aligns with your bow weight, draw length, and desired arrow tip weight. Taper the tail end, attach the nock angled back, and dip the arrow in a sealing solution to maintain consistent moisture content and prevent weight changes. Affix the nock, use a fletching jig to position three fletchings at 120 degrees apart and secure them with glue. After drying, cut the arrow to length, taper the tip, and attach your chosen field tip or broadhead.

Oak and softer should work the same, more or less. But the arrow needs to be able to flex in order to get around the center of the bow.

You can use other materials, like copper, hard plastic, etc. You could also make the wood into a point and fire harden it.

Fletching, or feathers, are there to help the arrow fly straight with as little resistance as possible. They can also help give the arrow a spin as it flies through the air.

Any kind you want. Bird feathers come in many colors. Use the one you like best!

If you are in training then sharpening the end of the arrow, but if you are in a competition then you should use a rock.

You can probably just align and place them by sight. Unless you plan on shooting in a state or national level competition, you won't need a special jig or exact measurements.

You don't NEED feathers to fire an arrow, but feathers do help a lot with accuracy. I use the flight feathers of geese.

Look at the bottom of a cliff and dried riverbeds.

Not really, but make sure the stick is strong enough and the rock isn't too heavy.

Use the arrow without an arrow head of any kind. It will still shoot fairly well if you're only using it for target practice.

Feathers that are synthetic but look and feel like real feathers. You can buy them from your local craft shop in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.

Splitting the feather down the middle will help it lay flat against the arrow.

No. You'll have to use some binding material to stick the feathers onto the arrow.

Yew is one of the best woods to make a bow, but it can be a little difficult to find. You can also use more-common woods, such as ash, elm, maple, and oak.

No. If you are looking for an authentic look, then real feathers are useful, but imitation feathers will also work.

Those who make arrows are called fletchers (they are called this because the process of adding the feathers is fletching). Those who make the metal arrowhead tips are called arrowsmiths.

Use a saw or a sharp rock to cut a notch in the back of the arrow, and make sure to have the feathers lined up so when you fire it they don't get ripped off.

Try to find thick or only slightly curved branches, which you can then sand and shape. Otherwise, search more widely.

in the forest, look for straight weed branches. You don't have to get a perfectly straight branches because you can straighten them with fire.

It depends more on the hardness of the wood rather than type of wood. The arrow needs to be hard enough that it doesn't break, but soft enough so that it can flex and get around the center of the bow.