Sounds like an interesting project. Pictures? Weights? performance?
Sounds like an interesting project. Pictures? Weights? performance?
Just got a $3.50 arrow and made two toggles at 2 grams each and 4 stakes at 3 grams each. I'll try them out sometime and see how they perform.
Stakes?!? please describe!
They are all cut flat on one end and angled on the other. I wrapped some gutted 550 cord around the shaft near the top (flat) end to make a head. I melted the 550 cord on it, then added some super glue for more stick to help prevent the "heads" from slipping off. I plan to go play with it some, so I'll take some pictures.
Just a FYI... If you go to a local archery shop and ask them for "all of their aluminum cut offs" and give the guy 5 bucks he'd be happy to help :-)
Alternative method: Show up and ask the guy who builds their arrows what his favorite beer is. After he tells you go buy him a six pack and give it to him. Ask him to then save all of the cutoffs for you :-)
Arrows come in full lengths and are cut to the shooters length. Cutoffs are usually 2+ inches long.
Carbon fiber cutoffs should work even better in this mans opinion. You may have to dab some glue (CA) into the ends to stop any fraying of the shaft though but only if you are rough with them.
-Xex
I don't know if we have a place around here that does that, I'll look. I got this arrow from Dicks, it is some sort of practice arrow - the head and fletching were already attached and the tip is one of those for target shooting. It was $3 and some change.
The toggles were a success. They were 2.5" long and could actually go shorter. I cut these with a small pipe cutter, so trimming a little off is easy.
The stakes were a mixed review. The center got dirt stuck up it, about 2 grams worth - which with the stake and the dirt it still weighed less than my MSR stakes. They were probably a little short for the ground conditions which is really wet soil, so I plan to try making longer ones. Also, the first one's head came off. When that happened I was sure it was going to happen to all three of them, but fortunately the other three seemed rock solid. The shafts are so slippery that I had to add some loops around the one where the head fell off to give the tarp string enough grip to hold on. The other three were fine with the 550 cord head. I thought about back cutting a notch, but figure that would just create a spot that would saw through my strings.
For the soil issue I'm thinking some sort of resin - sort of like the stuff used in fiberglass ax handles. I figure a dab of this stuff at the head and the point, and it should be a permanent part of the stake in 24 hours.
I'm thinking of getting another just to make some stakes out of. At $3 a shot it makes for good practice material. Before I started all this I Googled to see if someone else already worked this all out and saw the Graphite stuff, but one poster said his were starting to fail after the first couple of uses.
I'll post some pictures as soon as I trim them down.
You could incorporate the actual field tip into the design which would add a bit of weight but would also prevent the dirt from getting in there as well as give you some penetration power. The same can be done with the carbon fiber shafts (which are smaller diameter to boot). Putting a tip insert on the back (hammer) end could also be used to prevent damage from hitting the stake into the soil and possible attaching an eyelet or other hook.
TiGoat makes carbon stakes like that. A slightly cheaper DIY version would be interesting.
They don't work well as toggles, though. The lateral strength isn't sufficient, from experience.
“I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt.” - Cormac McCarthy
OK here are some pics...
The toggle. 2 grams. The string is so I can sew the toggle to the end of the tree strap later. Keeps the toggles from getting misplaced.
Toggle and stake compared to a MSR needle stake.
Stake where the head came off. I wrapped the string some extra turns to add friction.
Stake where the head stayed on.
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