How did Greeks/Romans make spear/arrow shafts?

[Tempestvvv]

This Youtube shows how dowels are made-so I have a pretty good Idea how a small shaft can be made with a sharp chisel or sharp die and a lathe.
Did Romans/ancients use something like a potters wheel in place of a lathe? Foot powered?
How ever the shafts were made I'm sure the the resulting product had to be true.
They had to have some method to turned these items out in mass to.

Youtubes on various ways to make wooden dowels

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...oden+dowel

[Gunthamund Hasding]

Rod

I think that there is a difference between spear shafts and arrow shafts. This is not only due to the fact that an spear shaft is bigger but also the function it serves.

There is NO importance if a spear shaft is perfectly straight or not. so I suppose that any sapling can be used if is the right dimension and maybe the right wood.

with the arrows of course is different, they should be as straight as you can. I suppose that saplings were used too but they were worked down then straighten you can do it very easily by using heat or even without , of course they could be made from squares as well, probably they used both methods. Lathe was known to the romans but I don't think you need it here, nature is much cheaper.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...row+shafts+

[richsc]

Just too make the distinction, javelins need to be as straight as possible, and if you can do it, balanced. Our resident celt is a perfectionist on this but he does throw really well.

[Crispianus]

In the past I would have thought that spear shafts were made from coppiced wood..... and shaped with a spoke shave.....

[Medicus matt]

In the past I would have thought that spear shafts were made from coppiced wood..... and shaped with a spoke shave.....

I can't speak for earlier Roman shafts, but an analysis of 5th-7th shaft remains from early medieval spearheads has shown that, on the whole, thinner shafts for smaller heads were made from coppiced wood and thicker shafts were made from planks split from logs.

The small planes found in some of the Danish bog deposits have a concave channel in the sole, which makes them them an excellent tool for working down rough cut shafts to near round very quickly. I've got one and it works very well.

[M. Val. Naso]

IIRC 3rd-4th c. Germanic spearshaft bog remains were found also to be made from planks...

[Alanus]

I would think arrow shafts were first squared to a prescribed dimension, then shaved to eight sides, then shaved round. This was a standard method used by ancient fishing rod makers, and it would seem to apply to arrow shafts as well.

[Crispianus]

I would think arrow shafts were first squared to a prescribed dimension, then shaved to eight sides, then shaved round. This was a standard method used by ancient fishing rod makers, and it would seem to apply to arrow shafts as well.

That makes sense, though the arrows from Dura were Reed with a wooden foot 1cm thick overall..... but that may be because of local conditions.... but I could imagine that every method would have been used depending on the supply of suitable materials...