# Gluing field tips on wood arrows



## IGluIt4U

I'm probably not the best one to answer this, since I've never built a wooden arrow.. but, for gluing things with or to wood, Gorilla Glue is da bomb.. Just be careful to use it sparingly, as it tends to 'grow' as it cures. Allow at least a 24 hour cure before shooting them, after the cure time you can trim off any excess adhesive that squeezes out. :wink:


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## JimPic

Hot-melt glue works well.The 1st thing you should do is clean out the inside of the point.There's oils in there from the machining process that if you don't get it out,the glue won't work to good.I' d clean the points,rough up the inside,glue it on,then dip the point in cold water.Always worked for me


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## VelcroEcho

Thanks Jim, but it's still not working. 

I cleaned the tips out, roughed them up a bit, used the hot melt glue and cooled them like you said. Then as I was carrying to arrows to put them out of the way I hear a 'clunk' and look at the floor to see that gravity had plucked a tip off of one of the shafts! 

(I said some blasphemes and was tempted to chuck out the arrows and tips and start buying custom arrows... But I soon remembered that I can't afford that and decided that I'd better figure out what's wrong.)

I checked the shaft and the glue was cold and hard so I'm pretty sure it had set. Maybe I'm not roughing the insides of the tips up enough? Also the glue is old... Probably at least 10 years, I didn't think glue would lose effect with age, but maybe I'm wrong there?


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## J.C.

have you tried the duco cement after you degreased the tips? I think that's what most cedar arrow builders use. maybe try some fresh? I think 3Rivers archery has some technical info on their site about building wood arrows.


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## VelcroEcho

I tried duco before.. but that was before I was cleaning the tips. I'll give it another shot and see how it goes.


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## J.C.

http://www.3riversarchery.com/BuildingWoodArrows.asp


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## JimPic

This may be a dumb question,but are the tips the right size for your shaft?


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## VelcroEcho

I believe so, I did try some points a size smaller and they were too small. Though with my track record I wouldn't be too surprised if I was using points that are too big.


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## Gapmaster

*points*

Alot of the guys shooting traditional clean the inside of the points with acetone, sand and clean again with acetone---then use 2 part epoxy to glue them on with. One thing you need to make sure is when you taper the point make sure it's not to pointy or to long and bottoming out. Cut about an 1/8 off so the shaft seats deeper in the point. Gapmaster


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## AKRuss

A lot of good advice above. Although it sounds like you're having a major problem with your points it's worth while pointing out that wood arrow glue-on points expose a lot of metal point to the foam and have a tendency to pull off more than say NIBB type points do. Once you're able to get a good glue-up, you may want to try lubing your arrow points before shooting hard foam. With that said, you shouldn't be having THAT much trouble. Make sure the arrow taper fits the point taper well. There should be some contact along the entire length of wood taper. Insert a shaft taper into the point and give it a good hard twist and see if the wood has burnished top and bottom. Try cocking the point on the taper, if there's a lot of play it means the point end isn't making contact. Just seating the arrow by hand should give you a good tight fit without any glue. If not, you need a new taper tool or to adjust the one you have. Tapering wood shafts is a big deal. When I was making woodies for sale, I wound up buying 3 different Woodchuck tapering tools, one for each size shaft I was doing, to make sure things were absolutely perfect. If the taper is too fast/narrow or slow/thick, you're not getting enough contact to make a good glue up. If you're dipping your own shafting or buying them already dipped, make sure there are no dry finish drips that would preclude contact. I always like the idea of tapering after applying finish to make sure it's clean. I use to soak my points in acetone to degrease them but Qtips and lacquer thinner is OK too. Make sure they dry well and/or heat them up a bit before glueing. I like FerrLTite hot melt although it gets a little brittle in the intense cold. I don't think Duco would be any good for points although it's my favorite for fletching. Use lots of glue, you want a surplus to squirt out. Make sure it's good and hot not just barely hot enough. It needs to be a little bubbly to get a good grip. Twist the points when you put them on to make sure you get lots of contact. Make sure the points are nice and cool before shooting. Give them at least an hour or two. Be careful not to light your shaft on fire when glueing. I prefer to apply most of the direct heat to the point and not the shaft taper. Be REALLY careful with heat sources around acetone and lacquer thinner. Good luck!


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## VelcroEcho

Hehe, the only thing I haven't done yet is make flaming arrows or start a chemical fire. I'm still having some trouble getting the points to stay on but I have some new hot melt and tapering tool coming for me from 3Rivers so hopefully I'll have a quiver of good working arrows by the end of the week. 

The good thing is I'm shooting well considering that I've only gotten back into archery, hit the target almost every time and have a pretty good group. The bad thing is the tips like to stay there. :-/


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## threedhunter

*loosin points*

might also try a 5/16 taper tap insid the tips , heat after threading to remove oils, while still hot put glue in and insert shaft.:wink:


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