Yes, We Have Bamboo Shafts!

Bamboo shafts are back in hand.
My first batch of bamboo shafts kind of sat around for a while. People looked at them, asked a couple questions, and then kept on walking. But when I took them to the Chamberlin Ranch shoot there was a sudden interest in them and every single bamboo shaft I had on hand was sold.
I've got them back on hand now, they're weighed and ready to go.
Suitable for Western archery or Kyuodo, these are Tonkin cane, the shafts are straightened, heat treated, and the nodes are knocked down. These bamboo shafts are almost arrows, needing only your skills as an arrow maker to turn them into accurate, tough, and hard hitting arrows.

As before, the shafts are available in 84cm/33" and 100cm/39" lengths.  They are $3.00 each, plus actual shipping; US orders only. I'm sorry but international shipping is just too expensive and too much of a trial to deal with.
These shafts are unspined but they are weighed. If you have a particular weight you are looking for I'll get as good a group as possible in that weight. If you don't have something particular you're looking for, give me your bow specifics and I'll do my best to get you something applicable.
Included with my shipment was a very limited quantity of 100cm shafts that have been spined by the manufacturer. While spining is not usually necessary for bamboo, he does have them spined for the American market, where we are accustomed to dealing with spined arrow shafts. I only have these spined shafts in 55/60 and they will be available until I run out of them. Each one is stamped just as you see. Price is the same as un-spined bamboo shafts. He didn't charge me extra, I'm not going to charge you extra.

If you've never used bamboo arrows you are in for a treat. Called by some "Nature's carbon arrow shaft" bamboo is tough, fast, and shoots great. Just as with carbon shafts, they shoot well from a wide range of bow weights. Tuning may be accomplished by playing with shaft weight, tip weight, and overall length.

Let me know if you have any questions about what nocks or tips to use, how to make bamboo arrows, or anything else you're not sure about. I'll be glad to help.


Grass, it's the new/old arrow!

Has it really been that long since I last posted?

So, it's been some time since I last posted to the blog.
At least it's been because I've been busy!
Here are a few things I've been working on...

Julian loves archery but lately he's been more involved with photography. I have a feeling that he'll be picking up his bow again when he gets his new arrows this Sunday.

Julian asked for his last name to be written in Chinese character in the cresting. I doubt I'll get any awards for my Chinese penmanship but I think this turned out pretty cool.

He also wanted brass points on these arrows. This is the first time I've used these and they really give a special look to the finished arrow.

Speaking of different points... what do you think of these? They were supplied by a gentleman in Texas for the heavy arrows for his new 80# longbow.

Last year I raffled off a set of arrows on PaleoPlanet to help send a North American member to Bulgaria for a bow and primitive skills gathering over there. Lloyd out in the San Fernando Valley won the arrows and had me make them up for a lady he shoots with at the Woodley Park archery range.
Christine loves her arrows but in the past year Lloyd has seen her borrowing his flu-flus pretty frequently. So he ordered another set in the same design as last year but this set was all flu-flus just for her.

Of the dozen arrows, nine were regular six fletch flu-flu arrows with field points. The other three were six fletch banana fletching and these special whistling heads.This was a fun set to make and I have reports that Christine loves her new arrows.
Edit on 6-12-10, in response to more than one question about the whistling heads, here is a link that will take you to their page in the 3Rivers catalog.

Next up is a set of arrows I'm making for donation to the San Diego Archer's 43rd annual King Arthur's Tournament in Balboa Park. I haven't yet decided what design to make the arrows. The shoot isn't until June 20th so I have a little bit of time for them. Do you have any input on what they should look like?  

Happy archery!