Components
- Spine
- The measure of stiffness in an arrow. Of less importance with 'centre-shot' bows (ie
those firing through the centre of the handle), but of major importance with arrows
fired past the side of the bow. Although originally made of a single length of wood,
many archers used to splice different types of wood together to enhance the
properties of the arrow. Hardw oods were often spliced into the head and/or heel
(fletching end) of the arrow and softwoods used for the central shaft. Such spliced
hardwoods are known as a footing. The softwoods allow the arrow to retain its flex
and lowers the weight of the arrow. The hardwoods in the head and/or heel allow
these areas of the arrow to withstand the major stresses in the arrow namely the
splitting stress of the string thrusting against the centre of the arrow (if separate
nocks aren't used), pushing it forward and pos sibly splitting the wood, and also the
compressive stress of the arrow hitting it's target. \par Often nocks would be
reinforced by cutting a slot at right angles to the nock and inserting a short section
of horn or bone. Hence the stress of the released string is spread across the horn
and thence across the whole end of the shaft, rather than being concentrated in the
grain directly below the string.
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- Arrow Straightening
- Wooden arrows will often warp slightly in normal usage. This warpage can be
removed by gentle heating (usually with steam from a kettle or similar) and
carefully bent back to straightness. Fastening the arrow to a straightedge during the
process will help to ensure strai ghtness. The ancients used to do this by heating
over a fire and then sliding the arrow backwards and forward through a small hole
in a piece of bone. Arrow flights were nearly always made of feather. The stronger
and heavier the feather, the better for a flight. Goose and turkey feathers were often
used, although many of the middle eastern archers preferred hawk or eagle feathers
when available. And wing (pinon) feathers are always preferred over any others
although Turkish arrow flights were also made from tail feathers.
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- Archer's Paradox
- This is not as significant with modern bows, many of which have a shaped handle
allowing the arrow to pass through the middle of the handle. It is much more
significant in older bows where the arrow is fired past the side of the handle, yet
the string actually moves towards the centre of the bow, rather than the edge where
the arrow rests. The arrow still manages to fly to the point of aim. In actual fact, the
string moves directly towards the centre of the bow which causes the arrow to
curve around the side of the bow and continues to curve and oscillate from side to
side in flight. This results in a wavering arrow flight which smooths out as the a
rrow travels until this sideways movement has been fully damped out. During this
flight, the arrow is actually flexing. Because of this, it is most important to get the
correct amount of stiffness (spine) in arrows intended for a non centre-shot bow. If
the spine is too high, the arrows cannot flex correctly in flight and hence are less
able to correct for the travel of the string. If they are too low, then the arrow is less
able to dampen the flex in flight, and hence the flexing continues too long. The
arrow 'spine' must be closely matched to the bow weight, as a heavier bow will
induce greater flexion. The shaft of the arrow needs to be thicker (to take the extra
stresses) and also stiffer (to dampen out the added flex) for a heavy bow, and
thinner and lighter for a light bow.
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- Arrowheads
- Primitive man started with a arrowhead that was hardened by burning the end of the
shaft slightly, then sharpened by shaping the burned end. A 2- blade broadhead (2
cutting edges) was used as the primary hunting and war arrowhead for centuries,
either cast from bronze, chipped from flint, or forged in iron/steel. The arrival of
plate steel armour meant that the arrowhead had to change to allow it to punch
through rather than cut, so bodkin points were developed in a variety of sizes and
shapes. They tend to be very narrow and longer than a hunting broadhead, with little
or no cutting edges, in a square or triangular cross-sectional shape to enable it to
place the maximum stress on the smallest area of steel plate armour as possible, so
as to penetrate as deeply as possible. Japanese and Chinese arrowheads, on the
other hand, have a wide assortment of warheads, each of which have specific
effects and intended uses. Amongst these are specially designed heads with hollow
channels through them to enable the air to flow through them, giving different
sounds in flight. These can be used to scare men and horses in combat. They also
have armour piercing alternatives etc. Turkish flight arrows often had horn tips,
thus reducing weight as much as possible.
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- Armguards
- Simple leather forearm-guards (bracers) with leather thongs were most common,
although the more advanced craft of archery amongst some of the middle eastern
groups used to make bracers from thin strips of wood, bone or ivory and held in or
glued to a leather or cloth body and strapped on. Formal English archers were also
kn own to have worn a large glove which extended as far as the elbow, and had
pockets fitted for spare strings, wax etc.
Offered by Brian.