Steve, I have tried the nail method of strengthening the shafts with mixed results and getting a straight hole drilled down the shaft was a challenge. I much prefer the four finger foot. It is more involved but is also a fun project.

I've repaired dozens of these arrows and had only one change personalities after the fix. It was a straight flyer, but hooked right after the repair. It doesn't change the spine in a measurable way.

I have repaired POC arrows for friends, but my own arrows are made from basswood. Its a locally grown wood I can get from my local hardwood store. I've come to think of it as the POC of the east.

It is a softer wood and so the bamboo fittings are needed to give the arrow durability. But it is highly elastic and I can make light 23/64 arrows in the 50-60 spine range that shoot really well for me. It is a straight grained and uniform wood. It takes a finish really well.

I got the chance to shoot into some rocks several times last week. The 3/16 bamboo held up just fine. I did have 2 other shafts pay the price for hard hits, so I will repair them and add the larger 3/16 fittings to them this weekend.

Awesome! Nice solution. I'm guessing the shaft is POC? Does the insert change the weight or spine?

Sometimes solving a problem is just a matter of adjusting proportions.

I found some fatter bamboo shish kabob sticks. They are 3/16 in diameter. Since I had a little more meat to play with, I made a taper drill set to drill a 4 1/2 inch deep taper. Then I sanded the sticks to match.

You can see the 1/8 diameter and 3/16 diameter sticks for comparison in the following picture.

And here is a picture of the end of the shaft.

The arrow has yet to prove its increased toughness... Considering my accuracy, I am confident the moment will come soon enough 😜

Here you go, that is as long as you have a drill press!

Started out with a .230" Bamboo chopstick and it took about 50sec with the used 80grit drum belt to get to .125" It's located in a piece of scrap UHMWPE channel. Worked well considering the chopstick was not even close to being round and had a hell of a wobble spinning with the bottom end free.

Chuck - yep, standard drill bit. And true, a tapered hole and dowel would eliminate stress concentrations. But it would be more of a pain and not worth the effort, imo.

Flem - A larger dowel would be easier to get. But there would be more trouble with wandering bits I think as the wall thickness of the arrow shaft would be getting pretty thin. Thanks for the offer to make them!

Sure you can't use 1/4" dowels? I could make a pile of them for you in any species of wood you choose. I like the biodegradable mandate, does make it more challenging though.

Steve...this now begs some technical questions. Are you drilling a " flat end" hole, as in...with a standard drill bit ? Would drilling a tapered hole and inserting a tapered rod...whatever the construct material, be better by allowing the gradual transition from "stuffed" to "not stuffed" ?

Good morning! Now that's a vacuum pot!

So a "footed" arrow has the front end removed and replaced with some other, presumably stronger, wood or material. It takes a fair amount of work to construct. A "fitted" arrow, is as you describe. It has a hole drilled into the front and a nail or other material glued into the hole. Usually this is done to make the arrow heavier in the front.

I don't care about the weight. I am using the technique as a simple easy way to increase the strength of the arrow against hard hits. It's not as strong as a footed arrow would be, but it also doesn't take as much work.

I drill a 5-inch deep 1/8-inch diameter hole and glue a bamboo skewer into it. I'd like to find something stronger than the bamboo, yet still biodegradable. So far, no luck finding anything better than bamboo.

Good morning all. Checking in with thoughts and projects for the day is a great idea!

Steve, not sure what you are doing with the dowels? Inserting them into drilled out shafts?

If you need more penetration with your wood hardener, a pressure pot under vacuum or pressure will drive the fluid deep into the pores

I doubt it's the same effect you're going for with the bamboo skewers, but I recently got some reparrows to repair, and also add hardwood footings to, my broken arrows.

http://www.reparrows.com

I put it off for another day. Ended up taking the bench outside yesterday and catching up on string building. The gnats got nasty later and seemed to know just when I had both hands busy twisting strings. Enjoy today Steve.

Good morning fellows!

Chuck, I have some skewers soaking in in Minwax Wood Hardner. I left them soaking for 24 hours, and will pull them out today. I don't have high hopes for it though. Doesn't seem to soak in.

I also made a few arrows with hardwood dowels. I could only find 1/8 inch dowels made from birch. I was hoping for oak or hickory. But we'll see. Those arrows will see some rough service this summer and we'll see how they do.

There isn't much to take a picture of, but I can snap a few.

I hear the birds a chirping this morning. 1st cup is gone and its time for another. I do like my coffee in the am. Spent last evening shooting a 3d course in the woods with a few friends. Will spent the afternoon today doing the same at another friends house.

Zonic, good luck with the fix!

Been thinking about making my own "fiberglass" dowels from silk thread and casein glue. Bio-degradable and strong. If I do that, and it works, I will take some pics. I'll chew the idea over with my shooting bud today. Gotta have something to talk about while standing in the woods wiping sweat and skeeters off the old face.

There is a product called wood hardner. It gets sucked into the wood fibers, hardens once dry.

Early morning, watching and listening to the world wake up, is my favorite time of day. You might try to strengthen the bamboo skewers with liquid wood/rot hardener. Overall though, I don't think bamboo soaks up liquids very well. Maybe from the ends through osmosis, but not through the harder material on the outside. Might also consider pouring epoxy into the holes/channels in the shafts. Perhaps not as biodegradable as bamboo though.

Steve, pictures? Sounds interesting. Since I cannot take a lot of heat and am healing from an injury. Something I can do down in my arrow room in the basement, while I listen to classical music in the wonderful 60 degree air down there. However, it won't be at 5 A.M. Iplay guitar, mostly Bach, from 9 P/M. to about 2 A.M. most evenings. Yep, i get up every morning at 5 A.M., to pee. then I go back to bed.

First, our reveille time depends on time of year. Now it’s 0600 so we can get in our early morning walk. Coffee isn’t recommended for me but I keep it to a cup a day. I have used pieces of finishing nails to try and match weight. I wonder if hardwood dowels would add that much weight? I think I have seen like 1/8” dowels available from one of the wood workers stores.

Good morning Steve and hopefully your arrows come out good.Well,as for myself,this weekend we a 3-d to go to.So I am getting some arrows ready,string and bow waxed.All that fun stuff.This is not a club shoot ,but a shoot where all proceeds go to organ transplants.Have a great day every one.

Good morning Mr. Graf. Today may be the day I utilize your chip filling advice. I've been up since 5:30 noodling around. Gave up cigs 30 years ago and never looked back. Had a couple cups of Joe this morning, but have been weening off that also lately. Have a great day. Good luck with the skewers. I've used little bits of bamboo skewer in the past to fill drill holes in recurves with epoxy.