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10 iron arrows for empirical testing

Set of 10 wrought iron medieval arrows for Stavros to conduct further textile armour testing.


Each iron head has been left in the charcoal forge after finishing for around 25-30 minutes while working on the next ones, before water quenching as per the 2016 paper by Verhoeven and as a result they cannot be cut with a file, unlike their sockets. This could be what the many historical documents requesting "steeled" or "hard" heads were describing.


Three London Museum Type 7 needle bodkins, with square section common in the early to high middle ages (as compared to the diamond section T7 from later on)


Three London Museum Type 9 bodkins


Three London Museum Type 8 bodkins


One London Museum Type 16 barbed head, copied from this lovely example in the museum itself.


The socket is wrought iron, and the cutting edges are medium carbon steel, water quenched and sharpened. This could also be the meaning of "steeled" or "hardened at the point with steel".


The arrows are all ash and poplar shafts, spined for Stavros' bow, fitted with tapered horn inserts, and the fletchings are bound with silk into a red wax.




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