When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charact'ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;
When I behold upon the night's starred face
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love! -then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.
by John Keats
Tag Archives: Personal
Tutorial: Making my own Arrows
As I mentioned in an earlier post on Bow Maintenance, Richard promised to teach me how to make my own Arrows from scratch. I have documented the entire process below with pictures which you can see in more detail on flickr.
To begin with you need a number of items:
- A fletching jig
- 12 x 11/32 Wooden shafts .
- 24 x 3″ Parabolic Black Fletchings.
- 12 x 3″ Parabolic PinK Fletchings.
- 12 x Plastic Nocks
- 12 x Field Points ( 100g )
- A tenon saw
- Super Glue
- Taper Tool
I bought all my equipment from Perris Archery and Quicks Archery. I should point out that you don’t need to buy pink and black feathers, you can buy an color you like but what you need to ensure is that you ave 3 times as many fletches as arrows you are making, and that each arrow will have two fletches of the same color, and single fletch, the cock feather, which should be a different colour. Below is a picture of all bits and pieces layed out on the table before we started …
Step 1 – Taper and Nock the Arrows.
The first thing I had to do was Taper one end of each arrow. The Taper Tool is basically a special pencil sharpener that is designed to sharpen the end of a wooden shaft so that you can fit a plastic nock to it perfectly. The first picture below shows me using the Taper to sharpen the arrow, and the second picture shows all twelve arrows sharpened and the Taper Tool.
Ok at this point I am now ready to add the nocks to the arrows. Richard told me that with a dozen arrows I should have five with red nocks, four with white nocks and three with blue. This is because in field archery when you shoot at a target there are three coloured pegs from which you shoot – red, white and blue. Which denote the three distances from which you attempt to hit the target and thus score points. The coloured nocks denote which peg each arrow was shot from.
We fit each nock to the sharpened point by first pouring a few drops of super glue into the plastic nock and then twisting the nock on to the shaft. Any excess glue needs to be wiped off. The glue will dry very quickly so it’s important to ensure its a secure as possible. The first picture below shows me fitting a nock, the second shows all twelve arrows nocked.
Step 2 – Cutting the shafts to the required draw length
Once the arrows are nocked, we then had to work out what my draw length was and then cut each arrow to that length. To determine the draw length Richard asked me to draw one of the nocked arrows on my bow and took some measurements ( didn’t take any pictures of this ). Richard then showed me how to cut the arrows to this length using a tenon saw, pictured below:
Step 3 – Fitting the points
Once the arrows are cut to the same length we then need to use the Taper tool again to sharpen the other end of each arrow. The metal points are fitted in the same way as the nocks, the only slight difference is that the taper tool sharpens to a longer point. Instead of pouring glue into the fitted point you spread the glue on the sharpened shaft to ensure maximum coverage. The fitted point is harder to get on and you need to ensure that you twist it on very carefully, if slip you might drive it into your hand which hurts:
Step 4 – Fletching the Arrows
This is the slowest and most tedious of the activities. The fletches must be glued onto each arrow using the fletching jig. You first glue on the cock-feather. When you shoot and arrow the cock-feather always points away from the bow at 90 degrees, this ensures that the other two fletches dont strike the bow full on as the arrow flies off the string, as a result many archers choose to use a different coloured feather to ensure their arrows are always shot consistently.
You insert the fletching into a clamp and apply a thin layer of glue to its edge. The clamp and the fletching jig are magnetic this ensures that each fletching can be positioned perfectly. As you glue each fletching and remove the clamp you twist the end on the fletching jig which rotates the shaft to the next position and repeat this until all three fletchings have been glued on.
Once the arrows are flectched your basically done. However Richard and I spent some time designing and printing out some decals on transparent film for our arrows – these have the club logo on them and, in this instance, my name, in case I loose any arrows during a field shoot the organisers can always send them back to the club if they are recovered by other archers. Here’s a couple of pics of the finished product …
All in all it took about 90 minutes to make these from scratch under Richard’s expert tutelage. I found myself feeling a surge of pride when I finally strung one of the finished arrows on the bow, although the pink + black fletchings might not be to everyone’s taste they are certainly … distinctive … and look quite stunning. I can’t wait to shoot them! I found the experience to be very therapeutic, it’s the sort of thing you can do whilst watching a DVD ( as we did this evening ).
Disney on Ice
Me, Rich and Alex went to watch Disney on Ice on Thursday, it was a great show. Having been ice skating for the first time ever the night before ( and I’m still nursing the bruises! ) I had some appreciation for the skill involved by the performers who were skating, dancing and doing acrobatics all the way through the show ( I’ve put some pics up on flickr, click on the image below ).
It was a great night, I had a lot of fun felt like a big kid which I probably need to do more often. If you get the chance to see the show then I do recommend it, it’s a couple of hours of heart warming fun and I guess we all need that from time to time.
Learning to maintain my Bow
Earlier this week Richard taught me how to maintain my bow and arrows. It might sound pretty simple but it’s a labour of love. He first taught me how to dismantle and re-assemble the 28lb recurve bow I’ve been using. When it’s dismantled it looks like this (mines the lighter one):
Assembling the bow isn’t as easy as it sounds. Getting the arms on is trivial but stringing the bow is actually very hard. Richard showed me a number of techniques to do this and whilst I eventually did manage to do this, I have to admit I struggled a lot it requires strength and also letting go of the fear that you might snap the bow if you bend the arms too much – although he did stress that with all these things I should get better as I get used to doing it. Once the bow is assembled it looks like this:
In the picture above you notice a small metal T Square positioned on the bow. Richard taught me how to use this to work out the correct position to put a nocking point onto the string. The nock is found at the base of an arrow and is used to keep the arrow in place on the string, the nocking point on the string is therefore the point against which you ready your arrow before shooting. A nocking point ensures that your consistently releasing your arrows from the same point on the string which aids in consistency and therefore accuracy.
Once the nocking point is found, you then create the point by wrapping cotton thread around the string at that point until you have a small ball of string that the nock at the base of each arrow can press against. The pictures below show me and Richard doing exactly this …
Once the strings were nocked, Richard then taught me how to wax the strings to waterproof them this basically involved rubbing copious amounts of wax into the string. Whilst you can do this with the string off the bow, Richard taught me that its easier and better to do it with the string on the bow where it’s being stretched and therefore makes it easier to work the wax into it, heres a pic of Richard doing exactly that …
Once we’d finished doing this we put the bows down and then Richard taught me how to maintain the arrows. This basically involved checking each arrow and ensuring that all the fletchings were in place, that the point of the arrow was in tact, and that the nock at the base of each arrow was also in tact. He showed me how to replace broken points and nocks, and also how to use a Fletching Jig to perfectly place fletchings on an arrow:
I learnt a great deal during that that evening from Richard, and it gave far more of an appreciation into how much effort I need to put into maintaining my archery equipment. We ordered some new shafts, fletches, points and nocks so I can create my own set of arrows … I cant wait for them to arrive, I’m actually really looking forward to creating my own arrows from scratch.
You can view all the pictures above, and more, here on flickr.
Draw it now from Eternity’s Jar
Come, come, awaken all true drunkards!
Pour the wine that is Life itself!
O cupbearer of the Eternal Wine,
Draw it now from Eternity’s Jar!
This wine doesn’t run down the throat
But it looses torrents of words!
Cupbearer, make my soul fragrant as musk,
This noble soul of mine that knows the Invisible!
Pour out the wine for the morning drinkers!
Pour them this subtle and priceless musk!
Pass it around to everyone in the assembly
In the cups of your blazing drunken eyes!
Pass a philter from your eyes to everyone else’s
In a way the mouth knows nothing of,
For this is the way cupbearers always offer
The holy and mysterious wine to lovers.
Hurry, the eyes of every atom in Creation
Are famished for this flaming-out of splendour!
Procure for yourself this fragrance of musk
And with it split open the breast of heaven!
The waves of the fragrance of this musk
Drive all Josephs out of their minds forever!
-Rumi
Remember, remember the fifth of November …. kind of …
Had a wonderful weekend – probably because I was ordered not to switch my laptop or computer on! lmao … I have this tendency to not switch off from work which probably isn’t very healthy but I love what I do so I don’t often think about it. Sometimes I need to be told to stop!
Rich and I spent most of Saturday doing chores and sorting out bits and pieces around the house as well as visiting his folks and then having lunch with mine. The day seemed to fly past, until the evening that is.
That night Richard, Alex and me went to Pype Hayes park to see the bonfire and watch the fireworks spectacular and it was awesome, I took a load of pictures on my dinky little camera ( kind of wish I had Rob’s camera on the night lol ) anyway some of which came out quite nice and others were a bit blurred but still they look kind of cool. Here’s a couple of my favourites from the night …
It’s been a long time since I’ve been out to see a fireworks display and it was a lot of fun.
Evening Solace
The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;--
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
And days may pass in gay confusion,
And nights in rosy riot fly,
While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,
The memory of the Past may die.
But there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.
And feelings, once as strong as passions,
Float softly back--a faded dream;
Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
The tale of others' sufferings seem.
Oh! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
How longs it for that time to be,
When, through the mist of years receding,
Its woes but live in reverie!
And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
On evening shade and loneliness;
And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
Feel no untold and strange distress--
Only a deeper impulse given
By lonely hour and darkened room,
To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven
Seeking a life and world to come.
by Charlotte Bronte
Mongols, Mandolins and the CBSO Youth Orchestra
As far as days go today was about as surreal as they come. Got up early this morning to try to get to a re-enactment fayre in Leamington Spa. Richard’s brother Cliff picked us up at around 9 and we drove to the fayre which was at the Warwickshire Exhibition Center. You can find out more about the fayre at their website: http://www.livinghistoryfayres.com/.
I have never been to one of these events before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. All I can say is that it was wonderful! Everyone there seemed very friendly and willing to talk to us about our interests and why we were there. Whilst none of us went there with the intention of buying anything we did come away with a number of items. As I mentioned in a previous post Richard has been teaching me archery and one of the reasons he likes attending these events is that many bow makers from around the country and from Europe will attend the event to sell their products. What struck me the most about all the equipment ( bows, swords, costumes, armor, musical instruments etc. ) was the quality and beauty of the products, the level of workmanship was exquisite… it was remarkable. I took a few snaps below ( click on each image on this page for a link through to a larger version of the picture)
Anyway, as I was saying, Richard loves his bows and as we walked from stall to stall we came across a couple of Dutch bowyers who run a company called http://www.fairbow.nl/ they were selling a number of different kinds of bow. The ones that interested Richard and Cliff were several different kinds of Horse Bow ( the picture above ). We discovered from the bowyers that whilst these bows are smaller than the English longbow they can shoot an arrow further than a longbow at a lower poundage. The gentleman was kind enough to give us a short history lesson on the types of Horse Bow he makes (which I found on his website here ). We all tried the Mongolian Horse Bows and a variation of it ,a 51lb Krim Tartar, bow and were amazed at how light it was and even I didn’t struggle to draw it, what we found fascinating was that furthest an english longbow will shoot is around 380 yards, and yet these small bows can easily reach over 700 yards.
Richard loved the bow and, rather impulsively, went ahead and ordered a custom made Krim Tartar which should arrive in the next 6 weeks. Richard asked for it to be made to a 70lb draw at 28″ . Were looking forward to when it arrives, especially if it is capable of shooting up to 90 yards flat! As good as some compound bows!
Anyway Richard’s impulse buying kind of rubbed off on me as well, whilst I didn’t buy a bow I did purchase a couple of items. The first a leather chess/draught board with some hand made pieces and a leather pouch … which for some reason I really liked the feel of.
The second item I purchased, and this was the real impulse buy, was a beautiful little Mandolin, which I strummed for a little while and decided I had to have one, and it was only £59, it sounds wonderful though:
We wondered around for a bit and picked up a couple of other trinkets before leaving and making our way back to my place. I spent a few minutes trying to tune the Mandolin, whilst Richard fitted a new car stereo in his car. We then had to get dressed up for our night out at Symphony Hall to listen to our very talented friend, Alexandra Williams, play in the CBSO Youth Orchestra.
Alex plays the Violin and ever since I first heard her practicing I realised that she has a wonderful gift! She’s an extremely talented musician and a member of a very gifted orchestra. Tonight’s performance was a joy to watch, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see the Youth Orchestra perform. It almost embarrasses me to admit that, if it wasn’t for Alex’ involvement, and Richard dragging me along I would probably have not gone to see the performance … I guess the idea of seeing a youth orchestra wouldn’t have excited me, or I might have felt that my expectations would have been lower. However I now know that nothing could be further from the truth. They performed as well as any orchestra I have ever listened to … and believe me when I say that if these young men and women are the future then the CBSO is in very very good hands! They should all be very proud of tonight’s performance! I am certainly proud of Alex … well done babe!
Disguising ourselves…
Was speaking, briefly, this afternoon with several colleagues. I made a comment about how, several years ago, I had come to the realisation that I no longer knew who I was, I’d lost my own sense of self because I had tried to change to fit in with the people around me at the time.
I scares me sometimes how readily we, or I used to, feel the need to fit in with those around me even if over time once sense of self is somehow diminished. The problem is this isn’t a sudden transformation, but rather it’s slow, gradual the sort of thing that happens over a long period of time until your forced to confront who you are, who you were, who you think you are and who it is you want to be.
Anyway that little conversation I had earlier with Chris, Sarah and Lucy reminded me of something François de La Rochefoucauld once wrote:
We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.
Robin Hood … eat your heart out !
Had a wonderful evening yesterday. A friend of mine, Richard, has been living with me for a couple of weeks. We’ve been friends for over 20 years … a fact we often laugh about. Richard is a wonderful person and possibly one of the few people who truly knows me – he’s family. He’s been going through a tough spell in his personal life and needed somewhere to get away to and sort things out so I told him to get his stuff and come stay with me for as long as he needed to.
I live in a house all by myself, so it’s been great having someone around that I know won’t get on my nerves, as well as put up with my idiosyncrasies 😉 The truth is that Rich and I are very similar in our temperament and personalities yet outwardly most people would probably think we had very little in common.
Anyway Richard is an avid Archer and extremely skilful – he’s been doing it for four years or so. He offered to teach me how to shoot so he arranged for a training session last night, his father and his older brother also came along, both of whom have been shooting for around 18 months. Richard handed me a small 28lb recurve bow that looks a bit like the one in the picture opposite. Richard also got me to put on an arm guard and some finger protectors and took me through some of the basics and how to ensure I didn’t hurt myself or anyone else – safety first!
I didn’t find drawing the bow too difficult although I could feel the tension in my shoulders and chest but after some directions from Rich, I found myself hitting the boss fairly comfortably. I kept making the mistake of squinting and trying to aim down the entire length of the arrow which Richard and the others told me not to do, and instead keep both eyes open and get a feel for where the arrow will go and then adjust my stance. At first it felt counter intuitive but I soon got the hang of it.
Richard himself shoots with a 60lb recurve as well as his preferred 60lb traditional longbow, when asked me to try with them, they all chuckled when it was apparent that I couldn’t draw the string on either bow more than a couple of inches! Watching Richard shoot with either of those bows was a bit scary since the sound the arrow makes is eerie and seeing how deep each arrow penetrates the target is both impressive and a little frightening.
Anyway the guys decided they wanted to practice shooting at a single arrow. Richard told me if I wanted to I could join in with them or continue to carry on shooting at the big target. I decided to join in with them, just for the fun of it.
Each of us had six arrows, and we took turns shooting at the target that had this single arrow running down the middle. Anyway on my second shot I split the target arrow right down the middle! w00t! To which the three of them all exclaimed “jammy little git!” or “beginners luck” … mixed in with various other expletives.
Yeah it was blind luck … but it didn’t stop me laughing my head off. Richard’s father split the arrow next and then I did it again … and again … and again! I found that I could actually feel when I released the arrow whether it would hit the target or not .. when I said that to Richard I thought he might laugh but he said it’s about instinct and generally as you release you can get a sense of whether your going to hit or not. Anyway Richard, decided that he’d given us enough of a lead and with his 60lb bow split the target arrow six times in quick succession … like I said he’s really good!
At that point Richard’s father suggested we shoot at a different target, so he whipped out a $1 bill and stuck it on the boss. Again Richard didn’t seem to have much difficulty hitting it, nor did his father. I struggled at first but then managed to hit it a couple of times but Richard was impressed that my clusters were actually quite consistent.
I haven’t had so much fun in ages. Richard is taking me to a medieval fair this weekend, and possibly to a woodland shoot in December which I’m really looking forward to. Like anything else though, any activity is made all the more enjoyable by the people your with … and these guys are amongst the best … so thanks Rich! 😉