Foreshafts
A foreshaft is a smaller, secondary shaft you insert into the tip of the mainshaft, up to 24" long (but usually about 8"). If you're using a wooden shaft it's very difficult to do, but there are many benefits to adding a foreshaft.
- It adds to the overall length of the dart, which will change the balance point and FOC.
- It makes your dart a multi-purpose tool -- if you permanently attach a point to your shaft, you have a dart that's good for hunting one thing. If you use a foreshaft, you can make up a variety of different ones (blunts, bird tips, large game points) and just "load" whichever one is appropriate to the situation. This was done with some ancients darts and arrows. This meant you only needed to carry a few main shafts with you and a kit full of various "loads" for it, which was an advantage to a hunter on foot.
- It added to the hunting effectiveness. If you hit an animal with a one-piece dart and it ran off, you lost your dart and it would most likely be broken even if you did catch the animal. With a foreshaft, if you hit an animal and it ran off, the foreshaft would come loose and stay in the animal while the main shaft fell off in front of you. All you needed to do was "re-load" it with a new tip and you were ready again.
- After a while, the projectile points can break or split the shaft. If the point is permanently attached, you end up losing a few inches of length if you're lucky, and an entire shaft if you're not. By using a foreshaft, you're only out a small shaft which can be quickly replaced. 12" pieces of wood are a lot easier to find than 72" pieces.
- In my experience, a 5' dart is easier to throw at smaller targets closer to the ground, while a 6' dart works better at large targets a few feet above. You can make foreshafts in different lengths to customize the dart for the target.
Readying the main shaft for a foreshaft is very easy if you're using cane (bamboo or rivercane), and more difficult if you're using wood. Since cane is already hollow, you don't need to drill it. With wood, you do.
The first step is to wrap the end of the mainshaft for at least 2", preferably more. The shaft will be thinned out quite a bit, and the fibers will try to separate with every impact. Wrapping it prevents breakage and helps the main shaft grip the foreshaft.
Now you need to drill the end of the wooden shafts. I wish there was an easy way to do it, but there isn't. Get out your electric drill with a bit about 3/16" smaller than the diameter of the shaft (if you have a 1/2" shaft, use a 5/16" bit). As carefully as you can, drill straight into the shaft to a depth of about 2".
If your cane isn't completely hollow or isn't perfectly round, you can touch it up with a drill bit as well, but it's much easier to do since the center is softer. The bit will go in straight.
I've recently come across another theory about foreshafts. Joe Ben Wheat noticed that while the abrading/smoothing stones they were finding at a site in Colorado were for 1/2" shafts, most dart points are around 1" across the bottom. Since it doesn't make sense to make the points larger than you need, and since knapping the points involves a lot of work, he theorized that foreshafts actually worked the other way around. The main shaft was the thinner part and the foreshaft was larger, fitting over the end. The foreshaft could double as a knife, making the whole arrangement more efficient.
It's certainly an interesting theory, and it makes sense. This keeps the point end heavier, which helps flight. I plan on trying out next year, and I'll post the results.
"Technology, Typology, and Use Patterns at the Jurgens Site", Joe Ben Wheat, Paleoindian Lifeways, 1977.
Dart Construction |
Home
Revised February 4, 2003