The Medieval Blunt Arrow from scratch

I make a mid-14th century spiked blunt arrow with bulbous self nocks from authentic materials using traditional process like those seen on the famous Luttrell Psalter. I'll also tell you about some of my thoughts on their uses and design. I'll be making more medieval archery tackle in future videos. Thanks to Tim Cale for letting me use a clip of his video. Subscribe to his excellent channel.

[@-ManusAdFerrum-]

Good idea to fix the point!!!

[@yeomanbowman]

Still holding steady after plenty of use

[@FeatureHistory]

Nice informative video! Love seeing the past recreated from people's sheds. Did you end up sacrificing the lens/sensor on your camera filming the part on the lathe? Hope it's not too pricey!

[@simonlauber9014]

Brilliant video! One thing I found when adding tapered horn inserts is that depending on the thickness of the horn insert the wood from the grove flares out towards the end, effectively giving a somewhat bulbous nock incidentally. Not to the same degree but more then enough to feel when you approach the nock while putting the arrow to the string. When trying out wooden nocks myself I found that the circular binding makes the blunts a lot more resilient to accidentally hitting harder objects then the arrow net. Also I have heard of one theory that the wooden blunts might have merely been stuck on a normal arrow head for practice at the butts or for limiting penetration in hunting when you are shooting small game. Both seem reasonable to me though they can't be verified I suppose.

[@etelonlongbows]

I think the two grooves are not decoration but are there to strengthen them with fine twine glued in place.

[@yeomanbowman]

I did mention that in the video as a possible interpretation and it would certainly add strength and looks nice, however, I've tried it both ways and not found it necessary.

[@ΕρνέστοςΣμίθ]

@@yeomanbowman If the shaft is secured to the "egg" with a wedge (like an axe-blade to the shaft) instead of glue the force of the wedge might split the "egg". The twine-string binding would prevent that.

[@delcat8168]

Lovely video...all that work making shafts from scratch makes me realize why I make bows rather than arrows ;-)

[@yeomanbowman]

For my regular arrows I use 12mm pine dowel. Life's too short!

[@dragoscoco2173]

Just harvest some hazel shoots of the desired thickness in the winter. Free of charge, tapers naturally, perfect grain. You just need to learn the skill of heat bending over a candle to straighten them a bit.

[@yeomanbowman]

@@dragoscoco2173 I know one medieval reference for "peeled" shafts and it has been speculated whether this refers to something similar to what you describe. Otzi had similar shafts and I understand dogwood (cornus) is excellent.

[@dragoscoco2173]

@@yeomanbowman Using shoots for arrows was certainly done extensively, definitely not something to do en masse. It might just be a preference between a professional arrow maker that needed a good stable and consistent wood that produced good shafts but required a lot of tools and jigs versus your average peasant that needed a few arrows for hunting. In my experience shoots are great, hazel is easy for me to find, light, strong and easy to work with, but there are many others. Rose has nice shoots but drying them without cracking is hard. Dogwood is fine, but a bit knotty and not very straight. Apple/cherry is soft so not for heavy bows. Forsythia works but they are quite heavy. Even made one out of a yew branch, as I cannot call it a shoot, but it was just a love project that I would not ever repeat.

[@yeomanbowman]

@@dragoscoco2173 Good information. Thanks

[@BUZZKILLJRJR]

My grandfather always had me bring a thump arrow with me but a rubber tip.

[@yeomanbowman]

Thump arrow, that's such a good name for it!

[@BUZZKILLJRJR]

@@yeomanbowman that's what my grandfather called them was thumper arrows so I have always just said it. It could have been a brand or something back in the 80s I'm not sure

[@ΕρνέστοςΣμίθ]

Very informative. There's a detail I didn't understand. The nail is hammered through the turned wood "egg" and no glue is needed to fix the nail because the green wood will shrink around the nail. But how can be the shaft secured to the "egg"-and-nail without glue?

[@yeomanbowman]

Hi, that same way as the nail as the egg-shaped blunt head is a snug fit on the shaft and also shrinks on tight.

[@ΕρνέστοςΣμίθ]

@@yeomanbowman And no wedge is necessary? The fit is snug enough to use immediately? Thanks for the reply!