Mostly Archery with dustyvarmint » DIY

Feather Fletch Maintenance Tips

dustyvarmint — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:01:30 +0000

These two tips should have been included in DIY – Arrow Building Tips, but the sun was in my eyes (or fit in another excuse here __________).

I don’t think a lot of people, especially compound shooters, use feathers anymore, but I still think they have a function. Specifically, if I’m concerned about weight on the back end of my arrow affecting Forward of Center balance (and the resultant broadhead flight) I’ll turn to feathers to manage that. They do require more maintenance, though, and with that in mind here are two tips for that task.

Removing Blood

Hopefully you are lucky enough to get blood on your feathers during season and hopefully it is from a pass through. I used to just strip off feathers that were blood soaked, but the last two years I’ve tried something different based on a lesson learned from the Bowhunter Education Course I took many years ago. Bring home that bloody arrow, remove the nock (many times blood has worked its way into the arrow somehow) and immerse the feather end into a glass tall enough to cover them. Fill the glass with water and add a tablespoon of vinegar. Let the arrow soak for a few hours coming back to spin the arrow between your palms a couple of times. Then rinse it off and let dry. Once dry move on to tip two; Steam Your Feathers. They’ll still be a little matted down until you shoot them a few times and then they’ll be almost new. The results save you some money and you get to shoot 3D with your friends utilizing an arrow that brought down some game.

It is hard to tell that one of these arrows was shot through a whitetail and the other a turkey.

dv’s Time Out Corner: Blood on a field dressed animal will be one of the first things to spoil. Want to clean it off, but don’t have access to a hose? Try this; put one to two tablespoons of vinegar in a 2-liter water bottle then fill it with water. Put on the cap and poke a couple of holes in the lid with your knife. Now squeeze the water-vinegar solution into the animal’s cavity and anywhere else that needs blood removed. I’ve done this many times over the years on whitetails and it works very well.

Steam Your Feathers

If your feathers get matted down or otherwise in disarray they can be brought back to life by steaming them. Break out your mama’s tea kettle, boil up some water and run each of your feathers through the steam column. It is almost a magic transformation how they come back to life and original form.

Steam your feathers to bring them back to life.

happy hunting, dv

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Multimeter – A Handy Bowhunting Tool

dustyvarmint — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:32:44 +0000

By now you are saying, “Huh?” Read on please.

I know what you’re thinking bowhunter. Does that 1.5 volt rangefinder battery have 1.1 or 1.63 volts? Well, you’ve got to ask yourself, “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do you? The same thing applies to your headlamp, your game camera or point-and-shoot camera for that once-in-a-lifetime trophy photo. Do you feel lucky enough to hit the field with a piece of equipment without knowing it’ll support you during the adventure? Is it your piece of gear malfunctioning or are the batteries you’re putting in it bad? Want to build a DIY solar panel and auxiliary battery for your game camera or feeder? Is the internal plug portion positive or negative?

With a five dollar multimeter a bowhunter can test his or her batteries before hitting the field and can trace wires out too. Now, just to be clear, I’m no electrician or electronics dude. If I need to mix a multimeter with household electricity I call my step-father. However, with just one setting I do test my batteries out before putting them in my gear. That way I’ll know what to expect. An inexpensive multimeter can be purchased from your local Harbor Freight for between three and five dollars.

Testing a battery for juice.

To test batteries place the selector knob in the DC range on 20, hold the red probe on the positive (+) end of the battery and the black probe on the negative (-) end of the battery. The digital read-out should indicate at least 1.45 volts. Anything less and I won’t use that battery in the field. Sometimes they’ll read as high as 1.63 volts. I’ve never encountered a problem with that.

Testing a game camera battery pack plug to see which is positive and which is negative.

To trace a wire on a game camera system make sure battery power is going to the system. Place the red probe in the internal portion of the plug and place the black probe on the external portion of the plug. If the reading you receive on the readout is positive then you know internal is positive and external is negative. If the reading you receive is negative then you know internal is negative and external is positive. That’ll tell you how to connect or solder wires for your DIY solar panel or auxiliary battery.

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DIY – Light Weight Camera Tri-Pod Alternative

dustyvarmint — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:58:55 +0000

Hunt alone? Make your own light weight and versatile bi-pod alternative for a camera or video camera.

This idea was originally published in the North American Hunting Club magazine as a reader submitted tip. It can be made for about $1.

The DIY lightweight camera clip.

Materials

-Binder clip

-¼” x 20 x ½” long bolt & self-locking nut

Assembly

1) Clamp the binder clip onto a board’s edge and drill two ¼” holes in the top edge. These holes should be centered for width and spaced about one-third the clip’s length apart. Remember that the clip is spring steel. This means the leverage provided by a drill press, the advantage of a sharp bit and some lubricating oil will help get the holes done successfully.

Drilling holes into the clip.

2) Insert the ¼” x 20 bolt, head inside the binder clip, through one hole (it doesn’t matter which one). Thread on the self-locking nut and cinch down. That’s it.

The clip assembled.

Assembled, it weighs 1.45 ounces.

Use

1) Attach the binder clip to an arrow inserting the nock into the empty hole.

2) Screw the bolt into the camera or video camera’s mounting hole.

3) Position the camera and use its timer function for a self-portrait trophy pic with that GIANT doe.

A video camera mounted as an example.

4) Or, alternatively, attach the binder clip to a knife stabbed into a tree, clipped to a pack frame or even a tree branch. Heck, use your imagination for the endless possibilities.

Clipped on a knife.

Clipped on a tree branch.

A very nice, slightly more adjustable commercial version called the Clip Shot can be found here for what I believe is a reasonable $19.99 considering its innovation and quality.

happy hunting, dv

If you liked this blog you may like the following:

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DIY $25 Bow Press

How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call

How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call – Part 2

How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call – Part 3

DIY Deer Drag

DIY – Turkey Call Striker

DIY – Knife Sheath

DIY – Lone Wolf Climbing Stick Carry Strap

DIY - Whitetail Tarsal Gland Scent

DIY – Arrow Squaring Rig

DIY – Solar Lighted Stabilizer

DIY – Stabilizer

Preserving Bowhunting Memories

How To – Use A Sharpening Steel

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DIY – Whitetail Tarsal Gland Scent

dustyvarmint — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:52:29 +0000

By Jerry Long, June 27, 2011

I’m really excited about this one; making my own whitetail tarsal gland scent -or- one heck of a bowhunter’s cocktail.

I can’t remember the genesis of this DIY project. It could have been a combination of ideas from John Eberhart’s Precision Bowhunting and two different friends saying they saw such a thing on TV shows and thought of me. Whether that latter part is a good thing or not, I don’t know. Anyway, I cut the tarsal glands from my 2010 season doe, see Beating the 2009 Whitetail Bust and buck, see dv’s 2010 Wisconsin Whitetail Buck, with plans of making my own tarsal gland scent. So far, I’m happy with the results.

Materials:

Pair of tarsal glands
6 ounces of vodka – some directions I saw specified 100 proof vodka, but I went with 80 proof since it was cheaper (under $5 for 750 ml) and this was an experiment. Since I’m happy with the outcome in the future I’ll probably use the recommended 100 proof.
10-12 ounce recycled glass jars with tight-fitting lids
6 ounces glycerin (under $3 for 6 ounces) – check the health and beauty aids section of your local giant retailer
1 ounce anise extract (it was lying around the house) – check the spice section of your local grocery store

Process:

1. Put a pair of tarsal glands into a clean, recycled jar with a tight fitting lid.

2. Pour 6 ounces vodka over the tarsal glands and mix.

The tarsal glands in vodka.

3. Date the jar and set in a cool dry place for 6 months.

4. Using rubber gloves remove the tarsal glands and squeeze as much alcohol out as possible.

The tarsal glands. I saved these for use during the season.

5. Add an equal amount of glycerin. Mix well.

6. Add about 1/3^rd to ½, plus or minus, an eye dropper of the anise extract, mixing as you go, until satisfied with the smell.

Anise extract, tarsal gland essence and glycerin.

7. Go hunting. Or wait to go hunting if it still isn’t season yet.

All the instructions I read or heard about also included using Tonquin musk. I chose not to add it as I couldn’t find it locally and adding the cost of it plus shipping made the experiment to expensive. The final mixture indeed smells like other deer scent products I’ve used. It doesn’t smell as “cloying” or “heavy” as them, but lighter and, to me, more natural. This process made 12 ounces of tarsal gland scent with a total cost of about $8 for all materials with plenty left over for more or to make screwdrivers. That’s significantly cheaper than commercially available products. I’ll be using it this fall so we’ll see how it goes.

Note: For this first experiment I used the doe tarsal glands with the results above. I repeated the experiment using the buck tarsal glands with less success; just not a whole lot of scent. However, if you remember, this is the buck that I shot in a swamp, that expired in a swamp and I had to drag through a swamp to retrieve. I think all the water may have washed out some of that oh-so-beautiful essence of buck. This doesn’t deter me from repeating the experiment again, though.

happy hunting, dv

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DIY – Arrow Building Tips

dustyvarmint — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:00:24 +0000

By Jerry Long, June 20, 2011

In lieu of another fletching video, of which there are plenty, I thought I’d share some arrow building tips that work for me.

I’ve always wanted to do a DIY arrow fletching video, but I’m mostly a blithering idiot on camera, I’ve decided I don’t like editing videos all that much and there are a lot of good ones on YouTube already. However, I have developed some arrow building and maintenance tips over time that I think are worth sharing.

Removing Old Fletching

For years and years I used an old, dull steak knife for this task. Then I got hooked up with Norway Industries and gave their Zip Strip a try. Eureka Smelly Bowhunter! Many products available are named with marketing hype. There is no hype in this one. No kidding, my first attempt at using it shot the vane off the arrow and sent it about 3 feet to my right. It also removes wraps without first dunking them in boiling hot water. Highly recommended.

After installing inserts I like to square them with the axis of the arrow as one more aid to broadhead alignment. That’s easily done with a homemade arrow squaring jig which can be found here, DIY – Arrow Squaring Rig (http://skinnymoose.com/mostlyarchery/2010/03/02/diy-arrow-squaring-rig/).

I highly recommend the Norway Industries Zip Strip for removing vanes, feathers, wraps and lumps of old glue.

Clean Arrows, Clean Fletching

Whether fletching or installing inserts it is very important to start with a clean arrow. For most cleaning I use denatured alcohol which also doubles for use in my alcohol lamp when working with hot melt. If the situation calls for more aggressive action I’ll reach for acetone. Use the solvent on a Q-tip to clean the inside of arrow shafts for insert installation. Use a rag to prepare the nock end of the arrow shaft for fletching. I also clean the bases of vanes and feathers. There is one manufacturer who recommends against this practice, but I’ve never had fletching come off for being too clean.

Insert Removal

Have a broken carbon arrow that you’d like to salvage the insert from? Find a length of brass or steel rod like that shown in the picture that will fit inside the arrow. Insert it at the fletching end, then hold the arrow tip up with nock end down and whip the tip end towards the floor so that the rod smacks into the back of the insert. Coordinating the whip’s terminal location over a rag or towel on the floor ensures a soft landing for the insert and rod. This doesn’t work 100% of the time, but works reliably enough to put it in your “bag o’ tricks”. Sometimes a little heat, such as that from a small torch, helps to break things free.

dv’s Time Out Corner: It should, but won’t, go without saying that safety glasses should be worn when employing this tip and the area around you should be free of people and other items that could be damaged by a flying insert and/or rod.

Closing the Gap on Fletching Contact

Sometimes when I’m fletching arrows there is a slight gap between the shaft and the base of the fletching, especially with feathers, even after adjusting the jig to its best advantage. Immediately after glue is applied to the fletch and it is placed I’ll use a knife-blade or pointy scribe to push its base against the shaft for better long-term adhesion.

Glue Fore and Aft

I thought I’d throw in a little nautical language there. Put a small drop of glue at the fore (forward) leading edge of the fletch and at the aft (trailing) edge of the fletch. How many times have you had to pull your arrow through or push it back through a soft target? These two little drops of extra glue are insurance against fletching failure.

The trailing end of this vane came loose. The original arrow builder did not add the extra drops of glue to the leading and trailing edges allowing the failure. The photo shows the little drops of glue in place as part of the repair.

Screw That Broken Nock

Ever break a nock off flush with the back of the arrow? Prying it out with a knife tip risks splitting the arrow. Screw a number 6 or 8 screw into the back end of the broken nock then pull the screw and nock out with pliers.

Cut Your Own for Precision

The last time I had arrows cut at a “pro” shop the result was a jagged end that I wouldn’t trust for its negative result on broadhead alignment and flight. For about the price of a dozen premium arrow shafts I picked up a Weston Gear 8000 RPM arrow saw and now take the time to cut them right. I really can’t communicate how pleased I am with this purchase and highly recommend it to the serious archer and bowhunter.

Here is an example of a poorly cut aluminum arrow.

The Weston Gear 8000 RPM arrow saw.

Squaring Inserts

Get a Grip on Your Nock

Sometimes nocks are seated so securely in an arrow or nock adapter a person can’t pull them out with finger power alone while pliers and teeth distort and tear up the nocks almost ensuring poor arrow flight or nock failure in the future. I discovered this trick by accident after developing the arrow squaring jig described above. Grab your Irwin Quick-Grip clamp off the arrow spinner, clamp its padded jaws down on the nock and rotate it out. This works well and results in no destroyed nocks.

Well, that’s it. When I started this post I thought there’d be just 4-5 tips. I was surprised at just how many there are in the end. Hopefully, one or more of them will be helpful to you.

happy hunting, dv

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DIY – Lone Wolf Climbing Stick Carry Strap

dustyvarmint — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:43:47 +0000

By Jerry Long, June 13, 2011

Making a Lone Wolf climbing stick carry strap.

The finished Lone Wolf climbing stick carry strap.

For two years now I’ve wanted to buy one of the Lone Wolf climbing stick caddys to use on those rare instances where my stand is in place and I just need sticks. I’ve tried a few other makeshift methods and usually end up with an aluminum standoff poking me in the spine which is not pleasurable. Usually priced about $10.99 I don’t consider the caddy itself to be over-priced, but I haven’t been able to find one locally and by the time I add in shipping costs I’m not willing to pay the price.

So, enough is enough and I decided to make one using the picture on the website as a guide. I had most of the things I needed in my junk rope and strap box, but picked up a few items at a local Army surplus store for less than $6. I’m handy with a sewing machine so that is easy, also. Taking your significant other out for a meal might cost more than buying and shipping a caddy if you aren’t familiar with a sewing machine so take that into account when deciding whether or not to do this project.

Materials:

60” of 1.5” nylon web strap – heavier the better
51” of 1” nylon web strap – heavier the better
(2) 1” nylon cam locks
(2) 1” nylon “D” rings
(2) 1.5” swivel hooks
(1) 1.5” overlap buckle

I had most of the materials at home, but picked up a few at a local Army surplus store.

1. Make an arm/shoulder sling out of the 60” piece of 1.5” nylon web strap by adding an overlap buckle and two swivel hooks.

1.a. Cut all fresh ends and melt them tight with a lighter to prevent fraying.

1.b. Run a couple inches of webbing through the receiving end of a swivel hook, fold it back down on itself and stitch down. I used bar tacks (straight back and forth across the web width) about 1.25” apart and then ran an “X” tack, as shown in the picture below, between the two bar tacks.

The “X” tack is shown with an arrow in between the two bar tacks. The stitching on the web strap going through the receiving end of the swivel hook is left over from whatever it was used for previously.

1.c. Thread the opposite end of this strap, once, through the 1.5” overlap buckle, through the receiving end of the swivel hook and then, a second time, through the bottom half of the overlap buckle as shown in the picture below.

The first swivel hook is already sewn on to the left. The short end of the strap shown has gone through the second swivel hook on the right and has come back up and through the overlap buckle as shown.

1.d. Sew the short strap (the left one held by my thumb in the picture) to the long strap (the right one held by my thumb) as was previously done. You now have an adjustable length carry strap with a swivel hook on both ends.

2. Construct the cinch straps with “D” rings.

2.a. Cut the 51” piece of 1” web strap in half. Melt the ends with a lighter as before.

2.b. Assemble a strap, “D” ring and cam lock as shown in picture number 6, below.

The short end of the strap is on top, threads to the right through the “D” ring, to the left through the end of the cam lock and then back to the right again.

2.c. Sew the connection tight as shown in picture 7, below, using the bar and “X” tacks as previously discussed.

The cam lock is to the left and the “D” ring is to the right.

2.b. Repeat steps 2.b. and 2.c. for the second cinch strap.

3. You now have a long carry strap and two cinch straps with “D” rings as show in picture 8, below.

The finished project.

To use the carry strap wrap the cinch straps around your sticks, thread the cinch strap end through the cam buckle, cinch tight, lock down the cam lock and connect the swivel hooks to the “D” rings. Adjust the carry strap to your desired length. Now go hunting.

happy hunting, dv

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DIY Deer Drag

dustyvarmint — Tue, 03 May 2011 00:51:35 +0000

By Jerry Long, May 2, 2011

This week I do a build along for a DIY deer drag.

I shot a little eight-pointer on public land once that was a mile as the crow flies behind locked gates. The laws then and now in Wisconsin do not allow us to quarter or otherwise break down our deer. Field dressing and cutting a small portion of the legs off are it. I never weighed that deer, but I estimate he was about the same as me; approximately 130-140 pounds. I had a facsimile of a commercially available deer drag at the time that looped over one shoulder. I put that puppy on and leaned into it. I think I made it about 8-10 yards and that was about it using the contraption. The next day I had a beautiful bruise across my torso like some weird, purple crossing guard safety sash. When I was finished dragging that deer using just my hands about his antlers the hindquarter had no hair – it had literally been dragged right off.

The finished deer drags on top and my old stand-by on the bottom.

Since that time I actually keep a number of things handy to drag a deer out; a game cart if the terrain will allow and a rope drag for when the terrain will not. Last year I forgot to bring the game cart, but had the rope drag as a backup when I shot a Wisconsin doe. The rope drag is very handy, especially with two people, but can get a little tough on the hands after awhile. Based on a concept from the ArcheryTalk DIY forum I decided to make one with a handle similar to a commercial product on the market. I also decided to make two; one for me and one for Camp Pug hunting acquaintance Hunt Master. So far we’ve drug two deer together and decided it would be nice to put two drags on one deer so we each have a handle.

Materials & Tools:

Piece of PVC or round wood stock about 20-22 inches in length. I used some mahogany scrap I had lying about that was 1 ½” in diameter and 20 5/8” long.
¼” braided poly rope. That in the picture, below, is 50 or 100 feet and cost me $3-4.
Drill or drill press and 3/8” drill bit.

Steps:

1. Cut the wood stock to an appropriate length.

A miter saw makes quick work of it.

2. Set up your drill or drill press with the 3/8” bit. A “v” block makes drilling easier and more accurate.

A “v” block for drilling round stock is centered under the bit.

3. Drill holes. The holes are spaced 2” inches apart (1” each way off-center). I did a good job on the first one, but rotated the 2^nd one a little oddly on the bottom side.

3/8” holes are drilled, centered 1” each way off-center.

4. Smooth them up and knock off the corners with some sandpaper.

Smoothing everything out especially any splinters or sharp edges.

5. Thread the rope through the holes and knot the ends securely leaving a bit of “tag” end in case it slips through a bit. I used a 75” piece of rope based on the length of my current drag. I’m concerned it’ll be a little short and I’m 5’ 6”, but we’ll see with use. I’m thinking a taller guy or gal might want something a little longer. Hunt Master is pretty normal sized so we’ll see what he says.

The ¼” braided poly rope and prepared handles.

The completed drags. The one on the bottom is the rope one I already use. It has drug a lot of animals. Note how the loop is formed on the top two for placing over the animal’s neck or head.

The finished drags, again.

The drags rolled up.

Jane Doe shows off the drag in place for normal use.

Jane Doe shows off an alternative placement of the drag I want to try this year.

Hopefully I get many opportunities to try out this drag this fall and I’ll give an update on how it works.

happy hunting, dv

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DIY – Knife Sheath

dustyvarmint — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:22:29 +0000

By Jerry Long, February 21, 2011

In this week’s post I show how to make a knife sheath for my favorite Victorinox-Forschner Pare knife.

In Buy Now Thank Me Later – Victorinox-Forschner Knives I told you about my favorite field dressing and butchering knife, the sub-$5 Victorinox-Forschner pare knife. I also noted that while I had one sheath I was relying upon the plastic blade covers for my back up. After processing a couple whitetails last fall and packing/unpacking my back up knife I got sick of the plastic cover so I was determined to make a sheath.

I went through my cra…, errr, treasure in the basement and came up with some suitable leather. This is the same leather I used when making the sling for DIY Wrist Sling for Your Bow. Then I went to work.

Materials and tools:

Heavy duty leather
Linen thread or artificial sinew
Leather dye or wood stain
Measuring device (a cloth sewing tape is handy)
French curves
Pen/Pencil
Awl or leather punch
Heavy duty needles
Pliers
Glue, like Goop
Clamps
Rag
Scissors

Some custom sheaths from Harvey King Custom Knives and his son Jason that were lying around were used for a general idea on the shape and construction. It was all just conjecture. A cloth tape measure, ruler and some French curves helped to draw and refine the shape on an old cereal box.

The resulting template was transferred to the leather.

Goop glued the belt loop in place. Once it was dry a four-pronged leather punch and an awl were used to punch the holes. Then two heavy duty needles and heavy duty linen thread were used to sew it with a saddle stitch (Google saddle stitch or check out this Saddle Stitch Tutorial. The knot was glued up just in case. Sometimes needle-nose pliers were needed to pull the needles through.

The welt was cut ½ inch wide, slightly angled at the end where the two halves of the sheath would meet at the tip and a small dart was cut out of it on the bottom, inside curve to help it take shape better. The edges didn’t need to line up exactly perfectly as that would be taken care of in a future step. Everything was glued up and then clamped in place.

Once the glue was dry the remaining edge was folded over, glued and clamped. The holes were punched as before and the seam sewed with the same saddle stitch. Again, needle-nose pliers were sometimes needed to pull the needles through. Note that the first stitch at the top of the sheath was doubled – that is I stitched through and over the material twice to reinforce the edge of the opening.

Wouldn’t you know it – one of the linen threads broke on the last double-stitch (same as the top) and it was too short to form a knot. So, it was very well glued in place.

The uneven edges were smoothed up on a bench top sander. That left a little fraying on the outside edges, but sandpaper took the corners off. That same technique was applied to the whole sheath.

Just as with the DIY Wrist Sling there was no leather dye around the house so wood stain was used to darken the leather a little. I’m no fan of stamped leather as it reminds me of the “crafty” 70’s so a little color would be the only decoration.

The finished sheath on top, a Harvey King Knife sheath in the middle and a Jason King sheath on the bottom. It looks like my sheath end is a little “pointy” compared to these trendy examples.

In summary the sheath turned out well and is a vast improvement from the plastic blade guard. I would have liked it to fit the knife a little tighter, but would have to adjust the total width of the sheath in the future to make it smaller and tighter.

happy hunting, dv

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DIY Stabilizer

dustyvarmint — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:11:56 +0000

By Jerry Long, July 13, 2010

Is it really necessary to spend $75 or $175 on a TV antenna, GPS, marriage counseling, toast making stabilizer?

Back around 2002 I started looking for a new stabilizer. I was always a fan of the old Saunder’s Torque Tamer, but boy was that thing heavy and mine had weathered a lot. I noticed that most of the stabilizers combined a space ship steering wheel with some mounting threads. I didn’t need a space ship control, just something with a little weight on the end that would “roll” the bow forward after the shot. Sure, vibration reduction was great, but I wanted my stabilizer to actually stabilize.

I contacted my archery mentor and friend, Rhonda, who suggested a Quiet Tune. They’d just been bought out by Cobra. I think I paid $16 for their hunter model which had a light weight 6″ aluminum extension bar and a heavy steel dampening assembly on the end. It worked great for years, but I wanted something longer for greater stability and that “roll”. Unfortunately, Cobra killed the Quiet Tune line. In Overhauling A Hunting Bow I switched to the Sims Xpress Stabilizer, but that still wasn’t what I was looking for; not weight forward enough. Then, I stumbled onto some stabilizer posts in Archery Talk’s DIY section – a bunch of them. Maybe I could make what I was looking for.

Parts

I went to the store and gathered some parts:

(1) 5′ section of 1/2″ copper pipe, $5.97

(2) 1 ¼ inch, ¼ x 24 hex headed bolt, $0.98

(5) ¼ x 24 nuts, $0.55 (.11 cents each)

(1) 1/4 x 24 connector nut, $3.40 (ouch)

(1) An end weight of some kind. In this case I used the Quiet Tune weight. Archery Talk forum users utilized gear shift knobs (skulls, 8-balls), odd things hanging around in tool boxes, etc.

(1) marine epoxy, had it laying around…

Assembly

Here’s the steps:

1) Decide how long you want your stabilizer to be. I looked at a number of “high end” hunting model stabilizers and determined 8″ was the right number for the extension bar. Cut the pipe to length. The table saw with a carbide tipped blade works fine for copper and aluminum. Be sure to wear safety glasses.

Cut the copper pipe on a tablesaw using a carbide tipped blade.

2) Configure the bolt, nuts and washers as shown in the picture. Besides the end weight I wanted to add a little more weight forward so did so with the extra long bolt and nuts.

Configure the bolts, nuts and washers as shown below.

3) Grind the corners off the nuts so they fit the inside the pipe.

4) Epoxy the bolt/nut configurations in place and allow to dry.

Marine epoxy and a close-up of the coupler nut.

5) Prepare the pipe and forward weight for painting utilizing sandpaper from 150 grit up to 400 grit. Degrease with denatured alcohol or acetone.

6) Insert the weight into the extension bar.

7) For paint I went with 3 coats of flat black and then followed that up with 3 coats of matte clear for protection. So far this finish has with stood both normal use and bug repellant.

Flat black paint and a clear coat.

The finished stabilizer.

Note: Many AT forum users were filling their extension bars with various dampening items including chopped up rubber fishing lures, rubber pellets, oil, etc. I chose not to do that as I wanted all weight up forward. Also, a number of forum users drilled holes in patterns in the extension bar. I wanted to do that, but after two attempts it became obvious I didn’t have the right tools to produce a quality product, even after the assembly of a drilling jig. Since I’m picky about my stuff I threw that idea out the window (well, not literally). Pictures of these failures can be seen in step 2, above. Also, carbon extension bars can be had by salvaging the shaft from a golf club – check your local thrift store (or put on your camouflage and test your stalking skills at a local golf course…).

So, for about $12 I built the stabilizer I wanted and obtained the performance I wanted. I used it for our last 3D league and am quite satisfied. I also have enough material left over to make some more.

happy hunting, dv

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Bow Stakes – A “Pointless” Tip

dustyvarmint — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:03:51 +0000

By Jerry Long, April 11, 2010

This quick tip will save you a hole in the hand, your blind or pack.

Holding a bow on your lap in a blind for long periods of time can get old. I’m not fond of attaching a kickstand to my bow nor do I want to pay for or carry the bow holder that attaches to the blind ribs. So, until something of better value, function and weight comes along I will continue to use the bow stake pictured below for all my blind hunting. One problem, though, is the tendency of its pointy end to poke me in the hand or put a hole in my blind or carrying bag/pack. Although never serious, yet, I’ve bled a couple of times due to this contraption.

A bow stake holds up my bow on a recent hunt.

That hazardous, pointy end.

Here’s a quick, easy tip for preventing damage to you and your gear. Check your couches, car seats and junk drawers for an ink pen with a cap like that pictured below. This one was stealthily removed from Mrs. dustyvarmint’s car (for the greater good of bowhunting). Place the cap on the end of the stake and screw it on. The threads will engage. Now the stake is harmless – give it a victorious glare. When in your blind remove the cap and put it in your pocket. When packing up put it back on the stake. I’ve actually used the stake with the cap in place by accident (in the dark) with decent results.

The pointy end covered.

happy hunting, dv

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