WOOD
If you have access to the chonta tree like the Ecuadorians do, cut a sapling, split it along its length, then carve half cylinders in each. Smooth and then tie the split sections together with vine and give a final polish to the tube by passing sand and then clay through the bore repeatedly.
Yantok (rattan), also solid wood, has the desired circular cross section that decreases in diameter toward the top. Rattan comes relatively straight and is very flexible. Indeed, small diameter rattans can be straightened against the knee. It has continuous fibers and would normally fray instead of breaking clean. Straight short sections can be cut from long rattan poles.
To make the blowgun, the rattan pole is first cut in half lengthwise then semi-cylindrical grooves running through its length are cut out with a router (Figure 3-1). To complete the blowgun, the two halves are glued together then bound with twine. Excess glue is removed by running a small piece of sponge repeatedly through the bore.
Anahaw is a hard wood while rattan is very porous. Anahaw is difficult to work with (Figure 3-2). Normally rattan will not be but it will also be very difficult to fashion into a blowgun unless you have the necessary equipment and skill.
Wood will swell when it comes in contact with water. In the anahaw, this is barely noticeable because it is dark brown. The swelling of rattan fibers will be visible. For this reason, lacquer has to be applied to the half cylindrical grooves. To ensure the smooth travel of the dart, the bore will have to be sprayed with a lubricant.
Kawayan (bamboo) has a natural hollow. To make a blowgun from bamboo, use the straightest bamboo you can find and also one with the least taper. If the bamboo is slightly bent, use wet steam to soften it then straighten it against your knee. Apply gentle pressure. Otherwise, you will break the pole. Do not put a steamed bamboo against your bare skin!
Cut the desired blowgun length then split the bamboo down its length using a machete like a wedge to expose the barriers. Remove the barriers with a whittling knife then rough smooth with a round file. Use coarse then fine sandpaper to smooth the barrier.
Bamboo has a thin translucent film of paper-like material in its inside. Applying gentle pressure, remove the thin film with fine sandpaper.
One need not split river cane to make a blowgun. I made one by using a sharpened solid steel rod to break the barriers (Figure 3-4). I smoothed the barriers using a curtain rod that I beveled at its end. I am able to shoot the long plastic .51 caliber fukiya darts through it.
METAL
Aluminum, steel, brass, or even copper tubing can be used as the barrel of a blowgun. All you need to do is find the right bore and obtain the right length of material.
Sometimes, a blowgun barrel can come from an unlikely source.
I teach stick fighting in my backyard. In one training session, one of my students gave me two 4-foot long steel pipes one inside the other. It was a curtain rod that was lightly rusted at both ends as well as on the inside.
I cleaned the bore with steel wool then beveled both ends with a conical grindstone to ensure that the dart exits unimpeded. The tubes were not seamless but I smoothed them as best I could and then sprayed the bore with lubricant.
The inner tube happened to have a .40 caliber bore (Figure 3-5). I was able to borrow the mouthpiece and the muzzle cover from one of my shorter commercial blowguns and put them on the curtain rod. I was able to shoot the commercial .40 caliber darts and tails made from a 3⁄8-inch dowel through the rod.
The outer tube of the curtain rod has an inside diameter of about ½ -inch. I fitted it with a mouthpiece. I am able to shoot homemade darts with tails made from a ½-inch dowel through it.
PVC
A 5-foot long, schedule 40, ½-inch PVC pipe costs about $1.00. A funnel fashioned into a mouthpiece will cost about 50 cents. Hence for less than $2.00, you can make a high caliber blowgun. It will cost even less if you fashion the mouthpiece from a plastic soft drink bottle.
PVC pipes come with different wall thickness. For example: A schedule 40, ½-inch PVC pipe has a 1⁄8-inch wall thickness. Another PVC pipe I made into a blowgun has a ½-inch outside diameter and a thin wall.
A thin-walled PVC pipe will sag due to its own weight. However, a 5-foot long schedule 40 PVC pipe is rigid enough to shoot straight. To keep the PVC pipe straight, place it inside a bamboo tube from which the barriers were removed. In addition to keeping the pipe straight, the bamboo tube will camouflage it and even protect it during transport.
MOUTHPIECE
A mouthpiece is essentially a funnel, an inverted cone, with a hole at the small end leading into a tapering or cylindrical tube (stem). The mouthpiece centers the flow of air into the barrel. The commercial mouthpiece is typically about 1½-inch across and ½-inch deep. The stem is 5⁄8-inch long.
The mouthpiece can be fashioned from the necks of plastic containers.
FUNNELS. A three-piece pack of funnels I bought cost $2.19. After a shop discount, each funnel cost me about 50 cents.
To make the mouthpiece,
• Mark the funnel about 1½” from its narrow opening.
• Place the funnel on a flat surface.
• Hold the funnel with your left hand and cut it on a plane parallel to the flat surface using a thin saw.
• Rough-smooth the cut edge on a disk sander or rub it on sandpaper laid flat on a table.
• Check the fit in your mouth. Remove material as necessary.
• Smooth the edges with fine sandpaper.
• Insert the pipe into the stem of the funnel.
• Remove material as necessary.
If you want to fix the funnel to the pipe, apply glue inside the stem then insert the pipe. Make sure to remove excess glue. However, if you shoot in the field, it will be easier to transport a blowgun without its mouthpiece. In this case, do not glue the funnel to the barrel. When you shoot, attach the funnel to the barrel. When you finish shooting, pull it out.
PLASTIC PILL CONTAINERS OR SOFT DRINKS BOTTLES. Pill containers or the neck of a soft drink plastic bottle can be fashioned into mouthpieces. You can even contour the mouthpiece to fit your cheeks. You might need to wrap several layers of electrical tape around the pipe to increase its diameter to fit the mouthpiece.
GRIP
The outside diameter of a .40 caliber commercial blowgun is about ½-inch which is too small for a shooter who has big hands. For this reason, most commercial blowguns are provided with a foam grip. The grip will allow a secure and comfortable hold on the blowgun and will
prevent your hand from freezing onto the barrel should you decide to shoot your blowgun during winter.
The .625 caliber Magnum blowgun is not provided with a foam grip. However, you can wrap foam around the barrel then duct tape it to form a grip. You might be able to find a discarded