Saturday, December 25, 2010

Stolen Pictures!

Let me put forth a situation and see what you think of it…
Let’s say you took a picture of something around your home, you like the picture so you put it up on a photo site like PhotoBucket or Flickr.
While you don’t mind other people taking a look at this picture, it’s still your picture and you don’t want others to steal it from you.

And then one day you’re cruising the internet and see your picture being used on someone’s website.
“Hey,” you think, “that’s my picture, I didn’t give those guys permission to use it!”

That’s the situation we’ve recently run into.

Fayme takes pictures of me building arrows once in awhile and puts them up on her Flickr site where they may be enjoyed by interested parties.

I was doing a Google search recently to try to find a picture of a particular fletching jig when I ran across pictures of my fletching jig table on sites I’d never heard of. Whoever owns or writes for these sites apparently found Fayme’s pictures on Flickr and have stolen them for their own purposes. We’ve written to the administration of the sites and have had varied success in getting the pictures removed: one site did remove it, another site returned our email, apologized for the error, tried to justify it, and then said he’d take it down when he was able to since he’s recovering from cancer. Somehow I feel that excuse is a little lacking. He probably spent more time on the email than he would have just removing the picture. The other four sites have done nothing and have ignored our emails.

Because I think a bad dog should be called a bad dog, here are the sites continuing to use Fayme’s photos without her permission:

http://www.customarcheryarrows.info/arrow-fletching-jig/
Update, December 28: The image was removed after the hosting company was contacted... Hurray!

http://www.satirica.net/arrow-fletching-jig/
(Said he'd remove it but hasn't yet)

http://www.iawgcp.com/fletching-jig/

http://www.outdoorarchery.info/fletching-jig/

http://www.bigcountryoutdoors.biz/fletching-jig/

You may notice that these sites give the appearance of trying to teach but really fall short of that goal, being rife with misspellings, poor sentences, and generally just pretty crappy, as well as chock full of ads.

Since the site administrators have been ignoring our emails, the next step is to notify their hosting companies that the sites are using copyrighted material without permission and are apparently refusing to remove these materials. Maybe that will work. If it doesn’t, I guess we’ll have to get a lawyer to write a nasty letter and go from there. I wonder what kind of damages can be collected?

For the record, because someone is bound to ask, every picture I have on any of my blogs were either taken by me or by Fayme, who has given me permission to use them. In the rare case that I have used a picture taken by someone else, I have received explicit permission to show that picture on the blog, and if anyone ever changes their mind, just let me know and it will be removed immediately, no hard feelings at all.

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gluing Arrow Tips with Epoxy

You know what’s really frustrating with arrows?
It’s when you go to pull your arrow from the target and discover that the point has stayed in the target.
Dang, that just bugs the heck out of me!

People go to all sorts of measures to try to prevent this from happening. I’ve seen it suggested to use a tap to actually thread the inside of the field point. I’ve seen people drill the point after it’s on the arrow and pin it with a nail. I’ve also seen it recommended to rough up the inside of the point with sandpaper on a stick.

Now, these aren’t bad ideas and they can certainly help, but it may be possible to avoid these steps by faithfully following two points:
Clean the tips. Metal tips come from the manufacturer with a thin coat of oil or grease. This may be left over from the machining process and also helps keep the tip from rusting before we buy it. If that oil or grease isn’t completely cleaned out of the tip, there isn’t a glue we use that will keep that tip on the arrow.
Use an appropriate glue. Traditionally, the appropriate glue has been Ferr-L-Tite hot melt glue. It’s good stuff and properly used it’s going to work well.
Another possibility is a good quality epoxy glue.
Some folks have had reasonable success with other glues but these are the two most common glues being used.

I used to use hot melt glues but quickly got tired of juggling the hot tip, pliers, glue, the arrow, and the heat source. When the excess molten glue squeezed out of the tip I either had to (carefully!) wipe it off while it was still hot or try to chip it off once it had cooled. Neither of those was really a lot of fun.

I quickly began looking for another glue to use.

A number of years ago I built custom fishing rods. I remembered reading about guys building big game rods here on the west coast who were unhappy with using Ferr-L-Tite for rod tip guides and went to using epoxy. They maintained that the epoxy was easier to work with than the hot melt, it was more secure, and if a tip guide was broken they could easily remove it for replacement by a careful application of heat.

Dang, this sounded custom made for what I was experiencing in arrow making!
I’ll tell you what, once I tried using epoxy for arrow tips I never went back to the hot melt glues.

I recently got a little bug in my pants and decided to try my hand at video production. I chose epoxied arrow tips as my subject and I don’t think it came out too awful.



There was a brief bit of excitement when the arrow finish ignited but that was quickly snuffed. Let that be a lesson to you, some of the finishes we use are flammable so watch that flame!

Something I mentioned in the video but didn't get into detail on is cleaning the tip before gluing. I can't stress enough how important this step is. If the tip isn't squeeky, perfectly, immaculatly clean, the glue will be compromised.
I currently use denatured alcohol for cleaning the tips. This is a mild solvent that you can buy in any paint store or paint department of the home improvement store.  I soak the tips and then clean the inside with an inexpensive cotton swab. Keep a pair of tweezers or something handy because sometimes those cheap swabs leave a ball of cotton in the tip.

Happy Archery!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Great Event!

Wow, did we ever have a great time at the SCA Agincourt Tourney last Sunday.
In the days leading up to the event I was being a bit of a weenie worrying about the weather. I hate trying to keep my goods dry under the overhead and I didn't want to get all the way to the site and find out that it was canceled for rain.
Luckily, the day was great. Weather was a little bit overcast and cool but there was no hint of moisture until right as we were packing up to leave.

Typically, I don't sell a lot of ready-made arrows. I have a few dozen on my table so people have something to look at and see examples of the art I do but I have always thought that the chances of an archer finding the right arrow dynamics (spine, tip weight, length, etc.) in colors that they like are rather slim. That's why I make true custom arrows, so we can get all that stuff done right.
Well, this event proved me wrong. Of the five or six sets of arrows on the table, three of them are now in new loving homes. I don't really have time to make more arrows for the table before this coming weekend's Queen's Champion event so I hope everyone understands that my display will be a little bare until I've had a chance to get more put together.

Those Asian flavor bow socks I just made got a good reception. One gentleman was looking for a bow sock for his Asiatic recurve and when I showed him those cases it turned out to be just perfect. If you're gonna have utility, there's no reason why that utility can't be beautiful.

After this weekend's event I have a suggestion: if you get a new set of arrows start out close to the target.
One gentleman this weekend had the first two shots with his new arrows sail right over the target. The new arrows were apparently faster and had a flatter trajectory than what he was used to. One of those overshot arrows was recovered but the last I heard, one was still out there in the grass.
Lesson learned, start close to see how things go before backing up.

Happy archery!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Important Links

See all those links over on the left side of the page?

Those are all links to places that I think you may be interested in for one reason or another. Some are good places to buy things and some are good for information.
I guess it’s about time that I give a few minutes to explain them.

Greenman Cooking Blog
This one is a little self-explanatory, it’s a small time cooking blog that I write. I really enjoy cooking, and while I’m no famous chef I have managed to keep my girlfriend and I in good food and occasionally manage to cook something good for friends or family.
In the Greenman Cooking blog I may discuss recipes I’ve tried or want to try, things I want to buy for the kitchen, cooking programs I like to watch (I love PBS cooking shows), or just about anything else that comes to my mind on the subject.

Greenman Gourds Blog
In addition to making and selling arrows I am also a gourd artist, and perhaps I am using that term a little loosely… I am no fine artist by any stretch of the imagination.
Gourds give me a good outlet for art that really isn’t suitable for the 11/32” dowel of an arrow. With gourds I can paint them, stain them, burn them, carve them, or just leave them natural. I particularly enjoy making usable gourd art like drinking vessels, bowls, canteens, cups, and drums. My gourd art runs towards the primitive style, partly due to that’s what I like to do and partly because my artistic talents don’t extend to more complicated art.

Jesse's Hunting and Outdoors Forum
Jesse’s is an internet forum covering hunting, fishing, and all the attendant variations of such. The forum is based in southern California and that is where many of the participants are located. However, as it has grown we’ve seen Jesse’s gather a much wider following.
The forum is broken up into sections covering a wide variety of subjects. If you are at all interested in the outdoors there is a good chance that you’ll find something of interest and other people to chat with about it.
Membership in Jesse’s is free.
Warning: if you’re anti-gun, anti-hunting, or vegetarian, it is very unlikely that you will enjoy the site.

Paleo Planet
With the help of the late Kris Tuomala, Tom Mills has created what is possibly the world’s best forum for pursuing and sharing knowledge of the old ways of doing things.
If you’re interested in flintknapping, primitive pottery, primitive living, primitive archery, metal forging, or any number of other subjects, you’ll probably find it at Paleo Planet. One of the really incredible things about Paleo Planet is its international membership. There are literally participants from all over the world.
Membership in PaleoPlanet is free and there are basically only two rules: no politics and no religion - two subjects that can be quite divisive.

Richard's Bowyery
Richard Saffold makes wood bows. He makes good wood bows and he makes them for a very reasonable price.
While Richard uses and is familiar with a number of different woods, he particularly loves to use ipe, a tropical hardwood. Ipe was originally brought to the US to use in the construction of backyard decks. Richard was one of the first bowyers to see this wood’s possibilities and has written a number of articles about it for major traditional archery magazines.
Steven Saffold, Richard’s oldest son, has become a pretty accomplished knapper. His work is also available through Richard’s Bowyery.

Sagittarius Archery
The Sagittarius website is pretty bare and basic. You won’t find flashy pictures of what they carry or a bunch of text. What you will find is just about the best price on feather fletching that’s out there. It’s where I get a lot of the feathers I use.
For the best service, give Ruth a call at the number listed on the Sagittarius site, she’s great to deal with and she’ll set you right up.

Trad Gang
Trad Gang evolved from people who got tired of another traditional archery forum. It quickly grew in membership and is now one of the leading forums on the subject of traditional archery with over 25,000 members.
Within the Trad Gang forums you’ll find sub-forums on many different aspects of our passion: collecting, making, selling, shooting, events, politics, photography, etc.
Membership in Trad Gang is free.

Vador Fletching Jigs
A question that comes up pretty frequently in archery forums is, “what fletching jig should I buy?”
The usual answer is Bitzenburger. While there is no doubt that the Bitzenburger is a great jig, I tend to see them as too pricey, especially if you need more than one. When it was time for me to buy my first jig I got a Vador Uni-fletch. I’ve never regretted that decision and now have a table of 12 Vador Uni-fletch jigs as well as a couple off to the side for small jobs and repairs. Some of my jigs are now about 15 years old and I can’t tell the difference with a jig I bought two months ago.
If you are in the market for a fletching jig, email Vador and there is a chance that they will have cosmetic second jigs available for a good price.

Victor Smith Knives
I first met Victor at the old Wrightwood knap-in in Wrightwood, CA. He let me shoot his Bear Kodiak Magnum and that was it, I was hooked on those beautiful short bows.
Victor makes some of the nicest and best performing hunting knives that you can imagine. He’s done extensive testing to figure out what makes a knife perform to its utmost and does everything in his power to make a knife that makes your hand happy to hold and use it. Victor's 40 years of traditional archery hunting have served well to teach him what's needed in a knife.
Take a look at Victor Smith Knives and you'll see handmade tools crafted by a man who puts a lot of love, passion, and hard earned skill into his craft, and that knife will do the job for you.

White Wolf Custom Bows
Tony Semenuk is the owner and bowyer for White Wolf Custom Bows. While I’ve never shot a White Wolf bow I have it on very good authority that they’re great shooters. Tony leans more to colored actionwood instead of expensive exotic woods in the risers. This keeps the cost under control and gives a very unique look to the bow. There are White Wolf bows that are a little flashy for the range as well as bows that are a little subdued for the forest.


None of the sites listed above give me anything to be listed in my links column. In many cases they have no idea they are even there. But for each one of these links I feel strongly enough about it to include it here and recommend it to my readers.

Happy Archery!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Thanks Everyone!

You can't see it but there is a hit counter on each of my blogs.
Besides the number of hits I get on each blog I can also see interesting information like where a particular visit is coming from and if a visitor uses a link from the blog to exit.
Trust me, I can't tell who anyone is or get specific information about them. The best I can do is see about where a reader is in the world.
Speaking of which... take a look at this map, it shows the general location of recent visitors to Greenman Archery:

(click to enlarge)
A visitor from Johannesburg, South Africa... is the Internet great, or what?

From the time I started the hit counter to today, when I am typing this post, there have been 8,375 visits to Greenman Archery, 999 visits to Greenman Cooking, and 409 visits to Greenman Gourds (that's always been a slow blog, both in my posting and in visits).

Thanks to everyone who reads the blog on a regular basis and to those who just stop for a quick visit. Thanks especially to those of you whom I have had the pleasure to communicate with and answer your questions. 
Not a whole lot of people sign up to follow the blogs or actually leave feedback, but that's just human nature. I still appreciate everyone who has been here.

Happy blogging!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Hand Dyed Canvas Bow Socks are Back!

I’ve been running low on the longer lengths of canvas bow socks so I finally bit the bullet, bought another roll of fabric and made another order of dye.
For about the last week I’ve been cutting, washing, dyeing, washing, and sewing bow socks in the 70” and 80” sizes.
While I personally don’t care for padded bow socks I realize that some archers like them. Problem is, most padded socks are made of wool or fleece and those materials tend to collect stickers and pine needles. Both of which can be a real pain to remove from the fabric.
This go-round I’m making a few fleece lined canvas socks to see how they are received. These socks will have the advantage of a strong sticker-resistant canvas outside and a padded fleece inside. I will have some in both the 70” and the 80” bow socks.
I recently saw some really nice fabric with a decided Oriental flare to it. I’m going to get some of that and make a few canvas lined bow socks out of it. These will be really striking and unique socks that will be just the thing for an Asiatic recurve bow.
The new roll of canvas I got came at a higher price than the last roll I bought so I’m afraid these new socks will be a little higher price than in the past:
Hand dyed 10oz canvas bow sock - $10.00
Hand dyed 10oz canvas bow sock w/fleece lining - $15.00
Asian pattern bow sock w/canvas lining - $15.00
Bow socks that I still have in stock from before will remain at the old price of $8.00 each until they are gone. I’ve never really understood why stores raise prices on old stock when the new stuff comes in higher. I’m sure it makes sense to an accountant somewhere but it doesn’t to me.

Events Coming Up
It looks like the next event I'll be at is the SCA Altavia Agincourt Archery & Thrown Weapons Tournament at Woodley Park in Van Nuys, CA on Sunday, October 24th

After that is Queen's Champion Equestrian, Archery, and Thrown Weapons on October 29-31 near Santa Barbara, CA. (not yet confirmed on this one, I'll make a note when I am). Confirmed!

In November is one of the premier 3D shoots for Southern California, the Gene Foster Memorial Traditional Rendezvous, November 13-14 up outside Fresno, CA. A good friend has been trying to get me to this shoot for a few years and this year it will finally happen. I'm really looking forward to being there.

Finally, the Shire of Heatherwyne is holding Medieval Marketplace on Saturday, November 27, Kunz Park in La Verne, CA. Not an archery event but this one promises to be fun.

Testimonial
I got this in an email recently. While I am normally fairly modest it made me so happy I just have to share it:
Greetings Guy: I just wanted to give you a BIG Thank you.  I have had and shot alot of arrows over the years but your arrows are superior. They love my longbow and it loves them. I am shooting groups with your arrows I have not been able to shoot with other arrows. Just wanted to say GREAT JOB and keep it up. Thanks again. Don

Woo hoo!
But, lest I forget myself and try to take all the credit, good equipment will only get an archer so far. It still takes a skilled hand at the string to get the arrow going to the target.

Happy Archery! 

Monday, September 20, 2010

A Day at Pasadena

For quite awhile I've been wanting to do a blog post showing what goes on at the monthly Pasadena primitive skills gatherings. The time is finally here.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, once a month, generally on the third Sunday of the month, a bunch of people gather at the Pasadena Roving Archers range in Pasadena, CA.
Lots of different things happen at these gatherings. Some people work on wood bows, some on arrows, some make bowstrings, people play with hardshell gourds, make music, trade or give away materials of all kinds, plan trips, do an atlatl contest, work on making atlatls and their darts... really, the things that happen are virtually endless.
Many of the participants are visitors of the internet forum, Paleo Planet. But not everyone is and it's certainly not a requirement that they be.

I took a lot of pictures this past weekend so I'll just get those up here and let them, and their captions, speak for themselves.

Nobody said it would be pretty getting there. A fact of life for most of us in southern California: a drive on the freeway.


Finally, that's the offramp coming up.


Pasadena isn't a young town and there are some really cool homes in some neighborhoods. This is at the top of the offramp.


On the way to the range we go under the Colorado Street Bridge, built in 1913.


This is certainly one of the greener streets I've seen in southern California.


Here we are, the Lower Arroyo Park. Home to the Pasadena Roving Archers and the Pasadena Casting Club.


The road down into the arroyo is pretty narrow. With two cars coming out I'll have to wait my turn to go downhill.


The parking area is off to the left but where I want to go is straight ahead. We're not really supposed to drive across the bridge but the club is very helpful in realizing that we've got loads of stuff in our vehicles. So long as we don't abuse the priviledge, we can unload and then get back out to the parking area.


Across the bridge and there we are! By the big canopy I can see that Chris has come up from down south but it doesn't look like a whole lot of other folks are here yet.


Chris Henry of PaleoArts alongside a table full of the beautiful atlatls he crafts (and sells) along with a rack of atlatl darts he also makes. If you can't read his t-shirt, it says:
Guns are for sissies. Real men hunt with spears.


Dave  (on the right) is a friend of Chris and came to visit us for the first time. He had a table full of the beautiful work he does as well as a blanket of staves he brought along. Here he's showing some of his work to Frank (left) and Greg (middle).


Dave and Chris did some knapping together.


And Tom joined them a little later in the day.


Tom spent some time with this fellow showing him different aspects of primitive archery.
I wish I could remember his name, he found us through PaleoPlanet and this was his first visit. Mom seemed to approve.
Tom has sent a note that the young man's name is Toby. Thanks, Tom!


Derek didn't have enough time to bring his tools and work on a bow but he brought the dogs out for a walk. I wish I'd thought to get a picture of the English longbow style bows Derek makes. He's a pretty talented craftsman. I think the dogs are hoping for a piece of pretzel.


Paige has found a friend.


Kate is doing the final sanding on a bow. I think Steve helped her with this one but I doubt she'll need any help on the next one. Kate has an inner bowyer that is beginning to show.


It's not all work. Sometimes we shoot the bows. Tom has probably forgotten more about bows and arrows than I'll ever learn.  He also makes his own knives and leatherwork.


Tom with Paige and Mike discussing the fine points of archery tackle.


Folks wander in and out all day long depending on their personal schedules and the time they can spare on a Sunday. Don't think you need a truck to get there!


This man and his son were shooting the course with their recurves and ended up hanging out with us for quite awhile trying different primitive bows.


Tom is a past president of the World Atlatl Assoc. and periodically he'll hold a registered atlatl contest that anyone may participate in. Here's he's giving instruction to a couple new guys before the scoring starts.


Going for score now so Chris is getting serious.


Kate getting her form set for the throw.


Tom's follow through as a couple out for a Sunday walk look on in the background. We definately get a lot of people asking what we're doing.


Chris' significant other, Carey, is a skilled atlatlist in her own right.


It's not all archery and atlatls. Aimee is working with a project on her beading loom.


Paige is making a stamp for leather working.


And Mike is knitting some chain maille.
The variety of talents we have always amazes me.


Chris at a table bearing more of his incredible work.
Check out the spear in his hands. Remember the t-shirt? You didn't think he was kidding, did you?


James (left) and George (right) contemplate the layout for a new bow.


Big George (left) and Salvador (right) discussing the fine points of an old compressed wood arrow shaft that Tom dug out of his stockpile.


Salvador doing his impression of The Horned God.


All too soon it seems as if people start packing in and saying their goodbyes. Then you look at the time and realize how long you've been there.


You look around and realize it's going to be a long four weeks until everyone comes back for next month's gathering of the clan.


I hope you've enjoyed this photo journey of a Day at Pasadena. I know there is a lot of pictures so I trust I haven't choked your computer. I actually have a lot more but felt I had to trim them down at least a little bit.

My sincere apologies if I missed getting a picture of anyone or didn't name you in a picture. There really is so much going on that I gave up on getting everything and everyone.

Addendum!
Sorry, I had to wait for permission before I posted this...
The Pasadena Roving Archers is putting together a calendar as a fund raising item. The same day I took my pictures some members of the club were at another part of the range doing the shoot for the calendar.
The subject of the calendar is Women Archers Through History. All the models are actual members of the club, as is the photographer.
Here is a teaser shot...


Photo by Jhoneil Centeno, the model is Jaylee.
The primitive skills gathering was honored to supply a few props for the shoot: Derek's longbows, Chris' arrows and knapped knife, and Dave's Native American bows and arrows.

Happy archery!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Nice Work From Others

Every once in a while someone will contact me regarding the blog and I get to chat with other artists who have similiar interests to mine.

Jeff from the UK was interested in how I did some effects on the arrows so we went back and forth on that for awhile. While I haven't yet seen the arrows we discovered a common interest in basket quivers and he sent me a picture of the one he recently made.


Jeff did a great job on the quiver and I hope mine (when I eventaully get to it) looks half as nice.

Kathy (Killdeer on TradGang) has been making her own arrows for a long time. Recently she made some and honored me by incorporating a painting technique I explained here on the blog. Kathy doesn't make arrows professionally but I suspect her style and skill could give a number of professional fletchers a run for their money.


She also takes better pictures than I do!

Many thinks to both of you for reading the Greenman Archery blog and for allowing me to use your pictures here.

Happy archery!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Finally... A New Post!

I was hoping for more feedback on the cresting question I had on the previous post so I've been delaying making a new post so it would stay on top.
I've waited long enough and it doesn't look like I'll get a whole lot of feedback there. Thanks very much to those who did put in their thoughts on cresting.

On to the new stuff!! Hang on, this may be a wild ride, we've got new arrows for Mike, Delia, Sarah, Don, Derek, Alex, and Lloyd.

Let's do Mike first...
Mike and his significant other, Paige, are faithful attendees of the monthly Pasadena Primitive Skills Gatherings. Mike has been doing pretty good on making bows and has recently begun learning how to forge hot metal, too. Paige does some wonderful needlework and her Japanese cord braiding is just a joy to look at.
Paige contacted me recently about doing some arrows for Mike's birthday. We figured out what he'd like and I went at it. One special point Paige wanted on the arrows was Mike's nickname, "Murph," written on the arrows in gold ink. Let me tell you, that gold lettering gave me hairballs! Not only did I have to scramble to find something that would be compatible with the finishes I use but the gold ink had a tendency to spread. I went through two gold inks, three nibs, and two paint pens trying to find something that would work. Next time I do something like this it will be in good old black ink.



Moving right along, let's see Sarah's arrows.
Sarah is a wonderful woman who has been shooting at the Pasadena Roving Archer's range and getting instruction and feedback from some of the more experienced archers there. When she said she wanted to get wood arrows they referred her to me. Thanks, guys!
For her first wood arrows we decided to keep the cost down and go with something somewhat plain, but we still wanted them to be Sarah's Arrows. We did good.


Sarah met me last Sunday while I was at the range for the Gathering to get her new arrows. She immediately went over to the target area to try them out. Not half an hour later she was suddenly standing next to me with a smile from ear to ear. "I didn't know I could shoot that good!"
Good equipment will help, but it's still up to the person holding the bow to do the right thing when facing the target.

Don is from Phoenix, AZ and shoots for White Wolf Custom Bows. He's been looking for a wood arrow maker who can give him what he wants and I hope I've satisfied that requirement.
I know one thing, anyone who says they can't see these arrows had better double check to make sure their eyes are open.




When you get a chance, check out those White Wolf Custom Bows. They're really pretty nice.

Note: someone asked me where they could get arrow wraps like this and like I used on the pink arrows shown further down.
Sorry I couldn't help but these are all hand made, I don't use arrow wraps. Arrow wraps are fine if you don't have the time or inclination to do it otherwise but when someone orders handmade arrows from me that's exactly what they get, handmade wood arrows - no arrow wraps and no fletch tape (ok, I do use manufactured wood shafts).

You know the problem with working with creative people? They always make me think and push my skills.
Here's what Derek said: "I want the shafts stained black, but the last part of the shaft left natural."


Alex wanted a crown color but no cresting. I'm very pleased with the way these turned out.
That little mark in front of the feathers is what Alex wanted to note the cock feather. I didn't think I'd ever do pyrography on arrows but there it is.


Lloyd was standing around with some friends at the Woodley Park archery range and they got to wondering what spiral painted arrows would look like flying through the air.
Dang it, here I go again trying to figure out how to do something I've never done before...


I've saved Delia for last not because her arrows turned out poorly, but because I didn't want her and her arrows lost amidst all the others.
I understand she's officially in remission but that doesn't mean she doesn't get some nice pink arrows.


This last picture is used without permission, I've never met Delia and had to pull this picture from the Leatherwall thread where her condition has been updated for her fans.
I sure hope Delia doesn't read my blog, she doesn't know these arrows are coming to her!

That's all for now. I trust you've enjoyed seeing my recent work. If you'd like to see your arrows here just let me know and we'll see what we can do about getting an order of custom arrows started for you.

Note: I am occasionally asked why I only make six arrows. Actually, unless only six arrows are what is ordered I make a full dozen on custom orders. I usually only take pictures of six so the picture doesn't get too crowded.

Happy archery!