Forging Arrow Heads

[DevanMcDavitt]

I have been spending my time at my forge trying to forge out some field point arrow heads, but I cannot seem to find a reliable way to attach these arrow heads to the homemade arrow shafts. My idea was to forge it out thin and create a sort of skirt that I could wrap around the arrow shaft , but I don't know how to attach it from there. Has anybody here ever forged some field point arrows and have some advice for me? Any ideas are appreciated.

[Jim Coke]

Greetings Devan,

          You could start with say about 2 in of 1/4 round stock . Drill one end about 1 in or so to fit the shaft the thinner the better wall. You can now forge the end to you field head taste. Caution thin walls in the forge will burn quickly. Just this ol boys method. 
 

Forge on and make beautiful things 

Jim

 

 

[Randy Griffin]

You have two choices. Forge them with a socket like the Europeans did or forge them in the shape of the stone points our native Americans made and tie them on with sinew. Either way works.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

You might want to look at this.

 

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Devan, glad to have you. Arrow heads are surprisingly easy to forge, even without a bicern to size the sockets. A tang works too but can split the: arrow, dart, spear, etc. shaft so might not be a good choice for field arrows.

I've only forged a few to get the feel and I found the method of forging the socket first and using my scrolling tongs worked best for me. The scrolling tongs work by slipping one jaw into the socket and the other jaw holds from the outside. It's a really secure way to hold the point and also prevents burning the sheet metal thin socket heating to forge the point. The previous thread covers things pretty well. 

I start with a length of 5/16" rnd. stock long enough to hold without tongs. Isolate a short length on the end, 1/2" is more than you need. Draw the shoulder evenly around the stock a little, you want a good stop to hold the point in position while you forge the socket preform.  Forge it to a cone with the very end of the bar the wide end. It's not a lot of taper ideally the very end isn't forged down at all and is still close to 5/16" dia. This is a good time to trim the wide end, the more even the better it turns out. Now you do a lateral draw to form the socket. I do this on the horn with the stock in line with the horn so it widens the socket preform. Business card thick is a little much but tin can thick is too thin. This isn't a precision thing. It should look sort of like a spatula centered on the parent stock.

With the socket preform done CAREFULLY heat it, it'll burn in a heartbeat so watch it closely. Forging the socket takes practice, I start it with a cross pein or my veining tool on the inside angle between the anvil face and step, a swage is good but not necessary, any inside angle works to start the socket. Forging it into a socket is the same process as forging a scroll, different in detail but the same motions and hammer work. Use a light hammer till you get the hang of it. Finish it on a dedicated bic that matches your arrow shaft diameter for a near perfect fit. Yes?

Now is the tricky part, cutting the rest of the arrow blank from the parent stock, I use my cold hardy to score the cut deeply and carefully snap the head holding it in the vise and bending the stock back and forth. If you score it evenly it'll make a nice even arrow point. Forge it on the far edge of the anvil and use half face blows. Draw the point first the extend it back a hair shy of the socket.

Don't be surprised when the first couple points you make turn out to be long needles, it doesn't take much parent stock to make even broad heads let alone field or target points.

There are a number of videos of folk forging arrow points and it seems each smith does it the ONLY right way but we all know my method is THE right one! Ah, what the hey it must my day to exercise my Yahoofu, I used "forged arrowheads" as search terms and it hit on a number of videos I've watched in the past.

Don't let watching a number of different smiths with their own techniques confuse you, expect to mess a few up till you get a handle on it. If you change methods every time you screw one up you'll keep making beginner mistakes. Pick one method and stick with it, once you're good at making points is time to start trying other guy's methods. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Attaching them to the arrow shafts:  I use pine tree rosin I collect from pine trees..  I heat it till it's molten/sticky and twirl the cone end of the arrow shaft in it and then heat the socket of the arrow head and jam it on, adjust it till it's right and let cool and remove any excess with a pocket knife.

I once made a set of Irish Nails (a light throwing spear) using this method and it was amazing how much abuse they took and if one got loose I could twirl it over a candle flame and reset it..

[Rhyfelwr]

I have made several arrowheads, broad heads and field points. I forge them with a socket. Then I drill the end of a socket and put a pin in it. The process goes something like this:

I use 3/8" rod stock, I begin forging out the skirt and when it gets a bit flat and belled out I switch to a straight peen hammer. The goal is to thin and spread the metal on the outer edge more than at the neck.

Man I should just film a demo. This is hard to explain.

Once you have the skirt spread out to .... I'm gonna post a drawing.

Easier.

Oh and I use a simple tapered drift to round it out a bit as needed.

[George N. M.]

If you find that you are burning the thin socket metal or in the drawing out of the socket the metal is getting too thin and you want more metal available start with square stock rather than round which will give you about 21.5% more metal to start with.  Once you develop the muscle memory for making arrow heads you can turn them out pretty quickly.  When starting with mild steel stock I often quench the point area in Super Quench (you can look up the recipe on google) which hardens mild steel surprisingly well.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[SubterraneanFireForge]

I’ve had much more success attaching more cylindrical than conical shaped sockets.
when I want to mount a head I just carve of some of the end of the arrow shaft with a pocket knife till it looks like the inside of the socket I’ll lightly place the socket on a couple times to make sure I’m on the right track.
Then shove the head on and tap the back end off the arrow with a rubber mallet I attached my heads before cutting nocks from this reason. Then once the arrow is fully assembled I’ll lightly shoot it head on into a stump.

Realized after I wrote this, that this post is old.
Devan I hope u have had luck with your arrowheads and can fully enjoy the wonderful control and luxury of forging your one heads!

[George N. M.]

OK, question about how you forge cylindrical sockets:  Do you start with solid stock and forge out a "flag" and then roll it up or do you start with a piece of tubing or do you weld a piece of tubing to a solid point or something else.  Do you use any glue or pin to attach to the shaft or just friction?

Thanks.

George

[SubterraneanFireForge]

Hi Gorge, I just flatten out a round making sure that it has an even width like a little rectangle. 

I don’t use any glue or pin as long as my sockets are around a inch long I don’t have a problem I’ve even stuck them in a vise to see if I could pull the head of and I can’t. 

its really important that the head fits the inside of the socket with no dead space. 
 

happy forging!

[Frosty]

I "have" forged arrow and a couple spear heads but I don't "DO" them. I've never forged a cylindrical socket on one though. If I were to, I'd neck the transition from point to socket to isolate them, then fuller it laterally for socket material. 

I make conical sockets slightly smaller than the shaft so it squeezes the shaft and stays put. No, I don't weld the socket though I suppose I could swage in onto the shaft a little. Little being a tap or two with a light hammer so it traps the shaft.

Frosty The Lucky.