Thread: Trick arrows

Originally Posted by Marvo

edit: by the way, if this is 'illegal activity', then I'm sorry

Making your arrows? I doubt it's illegal.

Good luck, btw.

I was thinking more of the tricks, but meh.

By the way, if anybody feels like giving me a compound bow for free, then go right ahead!

Bamboo is evil. It's Japanese. Well, then maybe it's not evil, but it's rare!
Green Arrow and all sorts of non-Japanese archers don't use bamboo.

In short, don't use bamboo. Unless you're planning on travelling to Japan and remaining there forever. Japan has bamboo forests. Europe doesn't. But Japan also has normal forests. Thus, even if you were to permanently reside in the wilds of Japan, you'd be able to make arrows without the use of bamboo. But if you were to only make arrows that require bamboo, you would be eaten by a giant wild boar in the European wilderness.

Aye, I think that's about right...

I have bamboo in my garden. Lots of it.

Originally Posted by Marvo

I was thinking more of the tricks, but meh.

Why would the tricks be illegal?

Although, you might get in trouble for releasing arrows in your backyard or something...

Originally Posted by Marvo

I have bamboo in my garden. Lots of it.

In Denmark? My image of the Scandinavian Northlands is changing.

BTW you haven't by any chance being playing a lot of Thief-Deadly Shadows have you?
I'm just wondering how you came upon this idea.

I don't think so. I have a garage, and my garden is pretty safe as well.

Alban, it's not 'true' bamboo, you know, those big pipes. Just small thin stuff. They're not good for bows, though for arrows that can be used maybe 10 times, I think they're pretty good.
I actually got the idea from watching some Smallville, and the episodes with Green Arrow really intrigued me. It could truely be funny to show a bit of on YouTube with trick arrows

you can't shoot wooden arrows out of a compound bow, they'll break apart... most likely splintering before even leaving the bow. arrows shot from compound bows are either aluminum or graphite... at least that's all i've ever seen. i'm sure you could just pick some cheapo eastons up at any sporting goods store and have at it.

Yeah, that's what I gathred from Wikipedia too. Guess I'll just make my own longbow with a guide. I'm not planning to use a lot of money on this, seing as I'm not planning to become a superhero either.

I made a longbow for a school project once, I even documented it. It turned out half decent, definately lethal.

Here's a cool arrow design I was thinking of making, but I lacked the equipement (a forge, basically ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oITOeD16EIA

Can you provide a guide for your longbow? I can make my own forge, but I don't have the metal, nor the experience to work like a smith, and a longbow sounds considerably easier.

I will totally dress up in a Link/Legolas/Garrett outfit and test your arrows once you're done.

Originally Posted by Marvo

Can you provide a guide for your longbow? I can make my own forge, but I don't have the metal, nor the experience to work like a smith, and a longbow sounds considerably easier.

Sure, but it will have to wait until after New Year's, because it's all stored on my other computer. And the forge part was just for making the whistling arrowheads, the bow itself needs no metal pieces at all.

You just come over here to Denmark Mes


Spartiate, there really is no guide in the link you provided.

Originally Posted by Marvo

Spartiate, there really is no guide in the link you provided.

When did I provide a link ?

Originally Posted by Spartiate

I made a longbow for a school project once, I even documented it. It turned out half decent, definately lethal.

Here's a cool arrow design I was thinking of making, but I lacked the equipement (a forge, basically ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oITOeD16EIA

There. It's just a person who shoots a balloon with a recurve bow.


Back to topic; I think I'm gonna attempt to make a longbow. I have an ash tree, which I can probably cut some branches from. How straight to they have to be? And does anybody have some good tutorials, perhaps video? I've only found some rather primitive and badly written tutorials to far :/

i have a guide for making a bowstaff...

Originally Posted by Marvo

There. It's just a person who shoots a balloon with a recurve bow.


Back to topic; I think I'm gonna attempt to make a longbow. I have an ash tree, which I can probably cut some branches from. How straight to they have to be? And does anybody have some good tutorials, perhaps video? I've only found some rather primitive and badly written tutorials to far :/

Oh, that was just a video to show the whistling arrows. Anyways, this is what I did...


I sawed down a good sized maple sapling. Try and find one that is as straight as possible and has a uniform thickness for about as tall as you are.



Split it in half with a chisel (don't worry about getting two equal pieces, just make sure that one of the pieces is usable), then shave off the bark.

Now cover each end with some saran wrap and secure it tightly with some elastic bands. Tie the ends of the staff to something long and solid, now place something in the middle to give the staff a curve (the flat side of the wood should be facing outwards). The green, freshly cut wood should be able to bend quite easily and the curve will become permanent as it hardens. Leave it like that for at least 2 weeks, add more stuff in the middle along the way if you think the wood can handle it.



A few weeks later, you should have a nicely curved staff, now for the hard part ()... Draw the dimensions of your bow on the outside of the staff, remember to make a handle and to taper the ends.



Next you have to reduce the wood to your dimensions, the best way to do this is with a power sander. You have to find the right balance of both width and thickness so that the bow may bend easily while retaining both strength and durability. Finish it off with a good sanding by hand.

An easy way to make knocks (what holds the string) is just to sand grooves at both ends with a circular file. Your bowstring has to be a bit shorter than the distance between both knocks while the bow is unstrung. I used nylon for the string, since it doesn't stretch much under tension, which would reduce the bow's power (you want the ends of the staff to bend, not the string to stretch). Make yourself some arrows and voilà!

Thanks for the great guide! I will make a bow soon


I was thinking, are bows considered weapons, and will I need certification to have and use one in countries like Denmark?

Originally Posted by Marvo

Thanks for the great guide! I will make a bow soon


I was thinking, are bows considered weapons, and will I need certification to have and use one in countries like Denmark?

Of course they're weapons, so don't go walking around the city with one, but they're not firearms, so they probably don't require any registration or anything.

Oh and, the original trick arrows are kinda dropped. I have some fireworks left, but it will take some time to figure out a way to make it ignite on impact.

Anybody got some ideas?

shoot it into a fire?