Arrow Spine

[hillbilly61]

I wpold like to take a shot at makeing my own arrows. How do you tell what the spine is? And how can you get them to the spine you need

[stringstretcher]

What material will you be making your arrows from?

[HoBow]

What material will you be making your arrows from?

Do you test spine differently on different materials...I am making a spine tester right now and assumed it would be good for all materials 

[stringstretcher]

A spine tester is good for all materials.  But.  If you are testing spine on wood, cane shafts the way you place the shaft material in the tester makes a big difference.  Carbon, alum can be tested pretty much anywhere along the shaft unless you are going to index each arrow for the exact same spine around the diameter of the shaft??

[hillbilly61]

 I'll be useing wood arrows. From the posts above, I gather it is called a spine tester. Where can I find one or find the plans to make one. Sorry for all the questions.

[hillbilly61]

 Never mind. I did a search and found everything I needed to know Hope I'm smart enough to follow the instructions

[Robert E. Leet]

There's a great primative spine tester that Grunt made.  I have one roughly like it, and it works great for me.  Gives you the stiff side of boo everytime.  Not sure it would work for wood though. . . I'll see if I can find the thread link.

[Tsalagi]

What's a spine tester?  When ordering wood shafts, ash and POC, I just ordered them spined. Worked fine. Then I did these sourwood shoots and got to test shoot three finished arrows before this big snowstorm hit. Those jokers were dead on the money. All three. Was scared I'd robin hood them and there goes hours of work. Never spined them. Never could see paying the price for a spine tester. But that's just me now! Others mileage may vary. 

[Robert E. Leet]

Haha, I know what you mean.  My spine tester cost me the whopping total of a 2x4, a wine bottle, and 2 nails.  I just use it to find the stiff side of my boo for nocking.   Then what shoots good get's fletched.

[Steve Cover]

When testing the stiffness of arrows, be sure to orient the grain in the shaft vertically against the pull of the weight for each shaft

Steve

[sailordad]

When testing the stiffness of arrows, be sure to orient the grain in the shaft vertically against the pull of the weight for each shaft

Steve

steve i understand what your saying here
however how would this work with shoot shafts?
shoots usually have growth rings that are circular and follow the circumferance of the shaft.
just curious,as i dont use a spine tester.i shoot the bare shaft,what flies good from the bow becomes arrows for that bow

[Pat B]

When working with cane and hardwood shoots there are a few things to remember. The natural taper of these shafts will reduce the spine by about 10#, so a shaft that spines 50# will shoot like it's 40#. Also, for each inch over 28" you can reduce the spine by 5# per inch, so a 80# spined cane or hardwood shoot shaft that is 30" long will shoot like a 60# spined arrow. Each inch under 28" will increase the spine by 5# per inch, so a 50# spined arrow cut to 26" will have a spine of 60#.
 Also, when you break off a point and re-taper that arrow, you have increased the spine by 5# for each inch shorter it is.
 With the rings of the shoot arrows you only have to determine the stiff side, which goes against the bow. Those rings are what make shoot arrows so strong.

[sailordad]

When working with cane and hardwood shoots there are a few things to remember. The natural taper of these shafts will reduce the spine by about 10#, so a shaft that spines 50# will shoot like it's 40#. Also, for each inch over 28" you can reduce the spine by 5# per inch, so a 80# spined cane or hardwood shoot shaft that is 30" long will shoot like a 60# spined arrow. Each inch under 28" will increase the spine by 5# per inch, so a 50# spined arrow cut to 26" will have a spine of 60#.
 Also, when you break off a point and re-taper that arrow, you have increased the spine by 5# for each inch shorter it is.
 With the rings of the shoot arrows you only have to determine the stiff side, which goes against the bow. Those rings are what make shoot arrows so strong.

Patb  thank you.i learned a few things from your last post here.
didnt not have a clue about the length causing a gain/loss in spine.very good info.
i like to learn something new each and every day.glad i got that out of the way nice and early today.
no i can plan on being stupid for the rest of the day.

[Pat B]

I have to give Art Butner(artcher1) the credit. He taught me everything I know about cane and hardwood shoot arrows.
 Tim, if you think about it shorter sticks are harder to bend than longer ones. Same principle. 

[Steve Cover]

steve i understand what your saying here
however how would this work with shoot shafts?
shoots usually have growth rings that are circular and follow the circumferance of the shaft.
just curious,as i dont use a spine tester.i shoot the bare shaft,what flies good from the bow becomes arrows for that bow

Naturally, I was referring to "Dowel" type shafts that are cut down from a plank of wood.

Shoots with growth rings instead of a grain that runs through it would offer equal resistance to bending from any point on the circle,  Just like fiberglass, aluminum and carbon shafts.

For Spline testing shoots, they could just be put on the tester without worrying about any specific orienattion.

My tip was not intended to be applicable to all shaft materials.

However, when I spline test POC shafts, I am careful to orient them for evaluation in the position that offers the maximum amount of resistance for each particular shaft.

When I construct the arrow, I fletch it and install the knock to place the grain perpendicular to the bow to allow as much uniformity of archers paradox as possible.

Unless you count the Willow arrows fletched with playing cards I made when I about 10 years old, I haven't ever made arrows form shoots. 

It is one of the reason's I joined the forum, to get tips on things I've been ignorant of.  There is a wonderful supply of knowledgable people here.  I've already learned a bunch...

Also, because Archery is one of my hobbies, I do the whole arrow work up, for the enjoyment of the process....

To be brutally honest, with my current level of shooting ability, I doubt that my groups would show any difference between spline tested, and raw shafts.

To paraphrase and old saying..."The Older I get, The Better I was".  35 Years ago, I lived about 5 minuets drive from a 28 target field course.  A friend of mine and I would shoot at least the front 14 every night after work. 

I got to be fair at range estimation, and shooting bare bow with my hunting equipment, was in pretty good shape physically and accuracy wise when hunting season came.....  Now, those days are long gone. 

But, still make my arrows as if I knew what to do with them..

Steve