I crafted my first arrow!
It was very shabby and it took me several hours from forage to fletching, but it was so fun and it got me outside.
I got the wood from some creek plant in Puget Park; clipped from the dead. It ended up being super brittle. Because the plants were dead, the wood was dry enough that I forewent heat treatment.
The fletching was made from goose feathers I had laying around, and the tip was from a tin roofing shingle.
I followed instructions from a Comanche fletcher. With the exception that I used glue on the fletching instead of sinew.
He used dogwood branches harvested in the winter.
I followed the process, but i used materials available to me. His techniques were really creative and perhaps even genius.
The arrow failed the flex test and snapped in half. I glued it back together so that I could keep it as a decoration ; but not before shooting it, of course.
The knock point did not survive the force of a 45lb recurve bow at full draw haha. The arrow did fly and strike my target, though. The tip is sound.
The Comanche arrow design is meant for their unique shortbows.
But with the right materials, I think they'll work with the recurve.
If I can get this technique right, I may never have to pay for arrows again. I can scour grass fields for feathers and hopefully find some plants with sturdier wood. The tin I got from my sister's partner who's a roofer. Not sure how many of those he will hand out to me. I wanted to use flint, but I didn't find any during my forage.
I did find plenty of slag from the old copper mill on the beach. Oooo, i could use the slag and chisel it!!! Heavy metals poisoning be damned. Never has a creative outlet had me this engaged.
