Fletcher?

Much to my surprise, a fellow I know ordered a dozen arrows from me. Self-nock, bound feather flights, field points, spined for 45-50#s at a draw length of 28".

Blue and white flights. Silk thread binding. Glue. Paint; these are the specialized items. I am using Port Orford cedar shafting for these so they will also require inserts of bone, horn, or hardwood in the nock.

I have never made arrows for sale before. I am no business woman. A cursory look around the web at prices for handmade arrows range from 50 dollars a dozen through 17 dollars per arrow. The former tend to come from overseas and are found on Ebay. The latter seem to be more 'local' in the sense of people from North America. I have no idea what to charge. For the moment, costs of all items carefully tallied, time carefully noted, and some kind of percentage for overhead. The biggest thing is figuring out what to charge for time. I want to be reasonable while still making sufficient to make it worth my time, not to mention perhaps going ahead with it for others..of whom I have a few waiting to see how this turns out.

The thing is, I am quite new, still, to building arrows. Yes, the ones I have made thus far fly quite fine, but I do not yet know if I am consistent. My sense of honor and justice says that I need to stand by what I make...it they do not perform well then a refund is in order. Perhaps I could them rework the shafts so they would work...and use them myself. Or something.

The best I can do at this point is to give it my best, in all ways, with great care and attention to every detail. Either I will be up to it, or not. We shall see.

It would be nice to be able to do something like this, feel a bit more useful by being able to produce something of worth for sale or trade. I can at least make arrows in the apartment...that's a big thing.

Needless to say, I have been working on making bows too...and I even have a couple of folk who want one of them. I am even less confident about that than about the arrows! Slow and steady is the way here.

Range-wise, I am using a Magyar bow for the moment. smaller, better in brush, powerful enough to hunt with, and lighter, it is not a longbow by any means. But it works...and as Eledhwen I have been East of East and to Far Harad where the stars are strange. I have had to use a variety of things other than those with which I was raised. Some of these things have suited me better than those I was raised with..so goes the life of a person.

Along with the Stone Age quiver I am making a bow quiver for my Magyar bow. Leatherwork is something I have a great deal more confidence in doing. I will note that I am referring to the actual construction, not decoration...stamping and tooling are still very new things for me here.

Still, it is no bad thing for a Ranger to be a bowyer, fletcher, stringer, and leathercrafter. Fits rather well I should say.

Eledhwen