More pictures...

[Grey Taylor]

I just finished this arrow for a friend's son to use in a Scout ceremony.
Shaft is Mule Fat, a common bush in So. Calif. I cut this shaft near Black Star Canyon just down the road from Irvine Lake.
The tip is cut from an old hand saw that I picked up at the swap meet for a buck since the handle was broken and the blade all rusty.
Fletching is wild goose some friends gave me after a successful hint a couple years ago.
All the lashing was done with artificial sinew split into thin threads.
The red dye is anato seed paste. Usually used in Mexican cooking for marinating chicken and pork, the paste made the shaft smell pretty good for a while until it settled down.

http://img58.photobucket.com/albums/v177/GreyTaylor/ar1.jpg

http://img58.photobucket.com/albums/v177/GreyTaylor/ar9.jpg

http://img58.photobucket.com/albums/v177/GreyTaylor/ar6.jpg

Guy

[Orso]

Guy,

Nice arra, did you shoot it to see how it flew? Was the Boyscout ceremony for the kids who finished cub scouts and were now moving on to boy scouts? I ask because my friends son just completed cub scouts earlier this year and they had a ceremony where a guy (an Indian fellow) shot an arra into what I thought he said was a target on fire. Just curious.

[Grey Taylor]

Mike, I made the arrow as if it would be shot, but did not get the chance to actually shoot it before I passed it along.
I believe this will be an "Arrow of Light" for the young man in his ceremony. His Dad wanted an arrow that would be put on display in their home as a memento of the ceremony.

I've seen arrows for this ceremony before and they're usually somewhat cheesy with a plastic head made to look like knapped stone. The young man getting it is starting out on his hunting path (did really well on his Hunter Safety test) and I wanted to be sure he got something fitting.

Guy

[hickstick]

cool guy! nice lookin arra.

is that the white pickling stain on the cap? I finally saw some at Lowes but didn't pick it up since my arrow building days will be few in far between this summer/fall...(selling our house and buying another 2 towns over at the end of aug. ....will be all I can do to get out hunting this fall)

[Grey Taylor]

The cap is the natural color of the shaft. From right in front of the fletching to the broadhead the shaft was dyed with the anato seed paste.

I've used pickling stain on other arrows and like it. It's not the brilliant white you'd get with paint but it lets you see the grain of the wood, which I like. If you want to try some, let me know and I'll send you a little bit. I bought a quart and will never use it all.

Guy