And because I enjoy making my own gear,
I shopped around and bought a lot of shafts, points, feathers, etc.
Made my own jigs (see my other posts on archery gear) and proceeded to make a dozen arrows.
I had purchased a set of cedar shafts from Oregon with points and feathers,
then another set of shafts and points from China as an experiment. I don't recall what the Chinese wood was and the company, though priced right and delivery was quick they never replied to any question. Although advertized as 11/32", China does metric and 11/32" = 8.7312 mm which they don’t so so you get 8.5 or 9mm.
Regardless, I made 6 shafts from each with different heads to tell them apart. Below are the shafts with the Chinese points.
I also cut my own nocks and reinforced them with cotton thread but did NOT put inserts. I figured that with a 45# bow, there was no need.
I only made six of each simply because if I messed up (these were my very FIRST arrows) I’d have some shafts as a back-up and fix my mistakes.
Here are the finished shafts. The only difference between these and the Cedar is the point design (the cedar shafts have traditional target points and are a fraction smaller in diameter…. Plus the wood whose name I forgot.
It took me forever to get to the range, my archery buddies kept cancelling and getting sick and the range was closed for the holidays but yesterday I got there… for about an hour.
I took both my 45# GIBows with me, the longbow and carriage bow, plus a dozen of the arrows I had made.
My first dozen shots were all over the target BUT I DID hit the target each time and didn't have to chase any arrows!
After about the third quiver, I got used to the bow and arrows and put them all on the paper.
By the time I had to leave, half my arrows were in the center. Had I been able to stay, I would have gotten much better.
I did notice that I had two problems.
1) my shirt sleeve was too baggy and would occasionally catch the bowstring. Wear tighter shirt next time.
2) when I was trying to show-off, I messed up but when I relaxed and focused, I struck paper easily.
Both sets of arrows performed the same despite a fraction weight difference because of the wood and point. But both were made the same.
Note that no arrow broke or was damaged in flight or impact.
I DID take the precaution of drilling a hole in the point and driving a pin to hold the point to the shaft which prevented tip loss.
I had reinforced the nocks with cotton thread but no inserts and never suffered any damage to the nock.
So, as these arrows are a success, I can spend the next week making another dozen arrows and put hunting/war points on them. I think I can get some inexpensive Period broadheads on amazon for a couple bucks each.