***BArrow stands for Bow & Arrow tool. Not very original, I know.*** As covered in the original post, this is a drawing of the tool I made to aid me in the construction of primitive weaponry, i.e. bows, arrows, throwers (atlatls), darts, etc. Please pardon the mistakes, as I am not a draftsman…. The measurements pretty much speak for themselves so I won’t repeat them down here, but for the rest;

FEATURES

A) Scraper/Drawknife- This section is used for working and shaping bow staves and dart/spear throwers (atlatls). Can also be used for shaving and scraping wood for just about any project in a field setting. The cutting edge is 3” long and chisel ground (one side only). A1) Bevel for scraper- Mine is flat ground at 20 degrees with a “micro-bevel” on edge. I chose to flat grind instead of hollow grind so that there was more “meat” behind the edge.

B) Boring Tool- While you can see only one side of the tool, both sides have a steep bevel (on one side only). The bevel on the other side is on the “top side” of the point. It can be used to make sockets on things such as atlatl darts and fireboards.

C) Arrow Shaft Scraper- I made mine 5/16” in diameter. This helps to scrape your arrow shafts uniformly, which is important if you want to shoot consistently. It has a steep bevel on one side.

D) Dart Shaft Scraper- For making uniform dart shafts. I made mine ½” and it also has a steep bevel on one side.

E) Arrow Shaft Straightener- Slide your arrow shaft through this hole to make sure that it is uniform in size down its entire length, and also use when bending/straightening shafts. I made the hole in mine 3/8”.

F) Dart Shaft Straightener- Same as above, except it is for atlatl darts and is 9/16” in diameter.

This is the tool at its most basic. I’m sure that you can think of other features that can be incorporated into this design. I plan on making another one and this time I will add; 1. A 6 ½” ruler marked in 1/8” increments along the top edge; 2. A lanyard hole in the left handle; and 3. Clinometers. These are written about by former Green Beret Don Paul in his book Everybody’s Knife Bible. A couple of weeks ago I got a copy of this book, and with the clinometers he describes engraved on your knife, the BArrow tool, or both, an amazing number of things can be accomplished. For example they can tell you how much daylight is left, or calculate heights or drops, and even help you figure out river crossings! That’s just a small sampling of what they can do for you. I definitely wish I had this book fifteen years ago….

Bear in mind that the measurements and features described here aren’t engraved in stone. These are sizes that I found work for me, that’s all. If you want to make one for yourself and make changes, go for it! After all, a tool is no good if it doesn’t do what YOU want it to do.

MATERIALS AND HARDENING I made this from a piece of 3 1/6” thick O-1 tool steel (annealed). All holes (C,D,E,F) were drilled before cutting/grinding to the shape I wanted. Make sure that the straightener holes (E,F) are chamfered slightly on both sides before heat treating to prevent stress cracks. Once all the bevels were applied and I was satisfied with the way it looked, I fired up my forge and slowly brought the steel up to temperature. The way I understand it (for O-1 & other carbon steels at least), by testing the steel with a magnet you can tell when the steel is ready for quenching. Once it reaches a nonmagnetic state, let it set for a minute or two longer (for thick pieces this ensures that the critical temp. is reached through the whole thickness) then quench in used oil. Do it outside and watch out for fire!! Leave in the quench until the blade has cooled enough to hold in your hand. The hardness of this piece will be approximately Rc 64-65. That’s too hard to withstand any stress so the piece needs to be tempered to approx. Rc 60-62. This is plenty hard enough to keep an edge and still be sharpenable, however, if you plan to use it as a pry bar then you will have to draw the temper down a little bit more (say Rc 58-60). To temper, first clean off ALL of the oil and scale and fire up your oven to 450 (475 for lower rockwell) degrees. If all of the oil isn’t off, you’ll end up with a smoky mess in the kitchen and one ticked off wife. Once the oven is done heating, put your tool in there and let set for about an hour and ten minutes. It should come out a nice straw color. There’s a lot more to heat treating steel but I tried to keep it simple and describe what “I” did. PLEASE REMEMBER to exercise good workshop habits when making your BArrow tool. Wear safety glasses or faceshield, gloves and hearing protection.