How to Make Arrows Out of Ironwood

Making your own arrows provides you with a sense of pride and accomplishment as well as furnishing you with cheaper, yet still very effective, arrows. Arrows made from ironwood are heavy and strong, both good qualities for wooden arrows. Ironwood is a very dense hardwood that will last many years without any treatment or preservation, so the arrows will be strong enough to reuse over and over and will not break as easily as arrows made from softer, cheaper wood.

Things You'll Need

  • Ironwood plank
  • Table saw
  • Hand plane
  • Sandpaper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut the ironwood plank into 1/2 inch wide strips using a table saw. Cut these strips again into 1/2 inch diameter square dowels.

    • 2

      Plane the corners off the dowel carefully. Use a hand plane lengthwise to follow the wood grain and create rounder dowels.

    • 3

      Pull the arrow with one hand through your other hand holding a sheet of sand paper to smooth and further round the dowel.

    • 4

      Check the doweling for straightness by rolling it on a flat table. It will roll smoothly if it is straight. Sand down the high points and check for straightness again if it wobbles.

    • 5

      Attach your desired fletchings, arrow head and nock as you like.