Finished up my Ataltl

[Claycald]

Truly talented!

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

nice looking atatl's guys
i have a self bow that i am gonna cut both limbs off of to make a pair of atlatl's from
wont be as pretty as either of yours,but when im done they will chuck darts

[OnewiththewilD]

that snake design came out really cool btw. i really like how the tail end came out. what kinda tools did you use? i mainly use a rasp a drawknife and sandpaper. and i noticed you put a foreshaft on the dart point too, i have a theory that certain barbed points were hafted to a foreshaft that fitted in the end of the dart loose but snug,then when it hit an animal the shaft fell away leaving the rest in the wound. i know this technology was used with spears but ive never seen it mentioned with atlatl's, and i think with a "harpoon" style point on the end it would have a better chance of the foreshaft and point staying in the animal better allowing the shaft to fall away easier,if the shaft falls off its less likely to get destroyed in the chase by smacking against tree's and rocks or by the animal falling over.and as you probably know,its harder to find and make a good dart pole (well,around here at least!) than it is to make a point and a foreshaft.

[OnewiththewilD]

hvs wrote:

Thanks, no i have not chucked this dart with the antler point but i some cane drying to make a few practice darts and ill put wooden points on it so they can be used..

  you can also take the little threaded tube that goes into the front end of a modern arrow and glue it in good, then you can screw in or switch out between different weight modern field points till you find what fly's best, or even broadheads if you wanted!

[hvs]

There was really no other good way to attach the point without using a fore shaft plus i could put a practice point on the dart if i wanted to.. I used different rasps, a few wood carving hand tools and lots of sand paper..lol   I was asked last year to put my collection of indian artifacts on display this summer at our local museum so i wanted to have a nice ataltl to bring along for show and tell .. Im thinking of setting up a few hay bails so i could show people how it works...Ive also thought about using modern arrow inserts in the cane darts but no practice tip would be heavy enough..

[gregszybala]

So you going to do the display? If so, pictures!

[hvs]

Yes im going to do the display just dont know when yet .. This museum is mainly a knife museum and just opened last year. Its open every weekend during the summer.. Our town is where schrade knife factory built knifes since the 1800's and one of our town residents has the largest collection of schrade knifes in the country on display here..

[Kyflintguy]

How long is your Atlatl and your darts Ron and Jay? I'm planning my next one, the last one I had my 2 darts were around six feet with the fore shaft included. I've been doing some research and I'm thinking about possibly trying to step up to a a full 7 foot dart. And my Atlatl length around 24". :dunno: I also read an interesting page last night on Atlatl weights and intended functions etc...

http://www.hollowtop.com/spt_html/atlweights.htm

[OnewiththewilD]

cool link,thanks. but i gotta say i dont agree with all of it.    and my dart lengths depend on the size of the atlatl im using. i tend to make mine rather short as i use them in the forest,so i put a heavier point on them and longer fletchings.im not chucking it at things over 30 yrds. so i dont need a full 6-7 ft. dart. but most of them average around 5ft. with a foreshaft.

[hvs]

Ill be making my practice darts between 6-7' its very important not to have them to flimsy or to stiff .. Ive found several ways on the internet to determine the amount of flex i need for the dart . I harvested about 7 cane stalks a few weeks back and by the looks of them i should have at least 3 that will work for me and pretty much be the same size in diameter and length.. I made this ataltl 25" to chuck the long darts for distance not so much accuracy, accuracy will come with practice i hope..Most everything ive read its best to make your ataltl at least 24" and keep your darts over 5' preferably 6' or longer.. I have read that they have found ataltls as small as 6" though..

[OnewiththewilD]

:unsure: i hope im not hijacking yer thread Ron! its just when ones like this pop up i really enjoy them cause im really into it myself.   put up more pic's of your work or of stuff you've made, i'd love to see it!  maybe do a build along when you make yer darts? that'd be cool!

[hvs]

No way bro never even thought that.. Glad you chimed in. For some reason it seems pretty hard on this site to keep a conversation going.. So many new post everyday most threads get buried in the internet abyss very quickly  ..Maybe ill photograph the dart building process like you say although u could see as many as u want on you tube..

[OnewiththewilD]

B) right on! and i agree,things tend to get buried pretty quick sometimes. and i have seen before (and already know how) to make shafts, i just figured it would be something fun maybe to do.    i remember reading in one of your posts you find steatite sometimes, have you ever tried working with any of it?