Arrow European Mounts
Making a Breakout Run
I started woodworking in the early 1980's, and I haven't stopped since. Up until October 2024, all of the work shown below was done part time while I worked full-time as a professional finish carpenter.
This is the most difficult, technically demanding woodworking I've ever done.
I'm dogged once I've made up my mind to do something though, which explains the timespan.
Now I'm retired, and I'm hoping to finish No.s 9 & 10, AND a bonus, by/in April.
But, I don't know if it's possible: I haven't been able to do this full time until now.
I guess I'm about to find out, huh?
I was told to take a lot of pictures, because people love to see them, so I did.
I never thought I'd ever actually do anything with them, but...here they are folks.
I appreciate you taking the time to look at them, and, if indeed you do,
I hope you appreciate the dedication and effort they portray.
ENJOY!!!
Process Photos
Killa the Woodcutter
January 2023 After a month of designing, the very first attempt to cut an arrow
The design had to change, but this was the very first experiment
August 2023 I'd solved enough problems to produce a prototype
August 2023 I'd solved enough problems to produce a prototype
August 2023 I'd solved enough problems to produce a prototype
October 2023 Assembling No.s 1 & 2
October 2023 Assembling No.s 1 & 2
October 2023 Assembling No.s 1 & 2
Detail photos for later reference
Detail photos for later reference
Detail photos for later reference
No.s 1 & 2
No.s 1 & 2, with ebony, bubinga, black walnut and cherry shafts, along with my son's 8-point buck that started all this
November 2023 Starting No.3
November 2023 Cutting the bottom of No.3
November 2023 No.3's hilt detail
November 2023 Cutting No.4's blade
November 2023 Recessing No.4
November 2023 All five parts of No.4
No.4 with gloss varnish before being rubbed.
FYI: the price to do that again?
$1000 per mount
I don't want to ever do that again, so... please, don't ask me to
March 2024 Building up No.5
March 2024 Cutting the leaf detail for about 18 hours
April 2024 No.5 BEFORE the mistakes...
...and AFTER.
#%^$*@!!!
Can you see the difference?
Still a keeper though!
March 2024 Cutting corner inserts for No.6,
the first thing I ever modeled with Aspire
See a short video below
No.6 Corner inserts
No.6 Corner inserts
No.6 Corner inserts and plaque
No.6 Corner inserts with the plaque still in the frame
No.6 Mockup
March 2024 All glued up
January 2024 Raw coolibah and olivewood
March 2024 No.7 Mockup
March 2024 No.7's freshly cut bracket recess
Solving how to cut the prototype shaft while solving how to make the jig
See what I added?
The first 45 degree shaft cut - TRICKY!!
Cutting No.1's shaft
Trimming No.3's shaft
Learning how to cut the bracket slot on another custom jig
Learning how to cut different bracket slots
February 2023 Cutting the shaft jig after two months of designing
March 2023 Finally cutting the first shaft
March 2023 Success after four months of effort
May 2023 Ebony! Note the balanced jig
Ebony shaft after the third rounding cut
See two videos below
The first three shafts; the pine shaft on the right was for prototyping, the left became No.'s 1 & 2, the ebony was always for No. 10
Redheart mounted onto the lathe jig before turning
No.7's cocobolo shaft after turning. Beautiful, isn't it?!
Like cherry, or padauk, UV rays darken it considerably;
sadly, the orange an purple will disappear
The other half of No.4's black walnut shaft;
note the screws that hold the stock on the jig
February 2024 I was cutting shafts for a while; with practice, each one takes about four hours to get this far
October 2023 Engraving the first bracket cover:
Breakout Run
No. 1 of 10
Proto Plus One
Trying another way to hold a cover
November 2024 Covering No.6's backside
November 2024 Letting No.6's glue dry
November 2024 Covering No.5's backside
February 2024 Preparing support blanks
November 2023 Cutting No.4's support
Supports for No.s 5, 6, 7 & 8
No.6's Support, the only one with two species...so far
No. 8's support, can gon maca
Working No.3's support
Installing No.7's support
See No.s 5, 6 & 8 in the background?
September 2023 Cutting blade edges with, yep...ANOTHER custom jig;
jig making is an entire world in and of itself, I had to make about ten of them for this project; most took about three days to solve and produce
April 2024 Yet another custom made jig, this one for chamfering blade edges; MUCH safer than a table saw, and...I love the texturing
April 2024 Chamfering No.8's blade
See a video below
No.7's deep cut chamfering texture
No.5's shallow cut chamfering texture
No. 5's chamfered blade edges
YES, they're sharp! I cut blades, and blades cut me...No.4 this time; I dull them a bit after sanding
November 2024 Installing No.7's blade
November 2024 Working No.8's blade
November 2024 Installing No.5's blade
November 2024
Checking No.5's blade installation
November 2023 Learning many ways to cut many ferrules;
it is surprisingly tricky
MANY ferrules with a few ferrule blanks
No.8's padauk ferrule
No.5's curly maple ferrule
April 2024 Finishing plaques with oil
November 2024 Assembling after all of the parts were cut
Novermber 2024 Supports are on
November 2024 Blades are on
November 2024 DONE! What a nice feeling!
November 2024 A spur-of-the-moment, cobbled-up jig. I know, but...it worked
November 2024 Photography
December 2024 One Stop Shop
Many thanks for letting me use your 10-pionter Jay!!
December 2024
Good Lord! What can I say?