Does anyone here not spine there arrows?

[colejack3]

Does anyone here not spine there arrows, Just fletch em up with long shafts and cut em down till they shoot well? Does anyone do this and get tight groups? I dont want to spend the money on buying shafts that are spined and I dont want to make a spine tester. The indians must of had somekind of way to do it. Thanks guys!

[HatchA]

We had a 3D shoot a few weeks back and the guy that won first in flatbow (2038 points) was handed his arrows the morning of the first day!  Yes, they were spined but no, he doesn't believe in tuning to the bow...  Not sure if that's relevant or even helpful but I found it interesting at the time.

[half eye]

I make all my own arrows, they are made from split hardwoods, they are cut to my exact draw length. Also they are fat (3/8") and very heavy (500-700) grains. I dont worry about head weight much either (they all tend to be heavy. I shoot the same arrows from all my bows which vary from 40# up to just shy of 60#.
      As for tight groups, I suppose that depends on what ya call small. I hunt with my stuff so at my limit of 20 yds I will shoot groups about the size of a small orange and if my group is larger than that I will not shoot at that range (not at animals that is) targets are a different animal all together.
      I believe that if you shoot any bow regularly your brain can easily visualize the trajectory of any particular arrows you may be shooting at the time. As for the "archers paradox" or spine of the arrow that is more or less important based upon your shootin stance.....i.e. if your bow is vertical all spine differences relat directly to asmuth (windage) but as you rotate the bow towards horizontal the less effect on windage you incounter. At perfectly parrallel to the ground your asmuth errors are 100% elevation errors.....so your shooting style etc have a major effect on spine tolerance.
     The last thing is that I shoot in a style taught to me by an Odawa elder, with my bow in a natural (for me) attitude which is a long way from vertical and use a floating anchor.....also when I tiller in my bows they are as even (symetrical) as possible so I dont even use a knocking point on my string ....I mount the arrow 90degrees to the bow/string and shoot like that.
     Sorry for the long winded explanation....but I for one do not spine my arrows....I do divide them into "groups" of arrows that have similiar flight characteristics.
rich

 

[Pat B]

With cane and hardwood shoot arrows I use my spine tester to find the stiff side of the arrow. You can do this without a spine tester. When I make arrows the stiff side goes against the bow. If the arrows shoot well they either become practice or hunting arrows. If they don't fly well I usually make flu flus from them.  I normally don't check the spine per se on these arrows.

[colejack3]

Thanks So how can I make alot of arrows quick? I dont want to have to buy shafts. DOes anyone know of any natural shaft material that grows in houston?

[Badger]

  If the spine on your arrows is not the same they can go left to right as much as 2ft from 20 yards. If your bow is center cut it may be a bit more foregiving of spine. try and at least get your spine close. I have personally never seen tight groups from unspined arrrows. Like a lot of guys I used to sort through my arrows for ones that shot the same, that is a kind of tuning that will work. Steve

[sailordad]

i dont have spine tester,therfore i dont spine them
i shoot bare shafts the one that fly well get fletched and reshot
when i get a hnadfull that all shoot very similar then they are ready to be considered hunt worthy
any thing else becomes wall hangers or flu flus

[xin]

Cane, native and asian cultivars, any hardwood shoots.  Should have some dogwoods or plums.  Also yaupon and privet.

[colejack3]

Thanks for all ther help everyone! So sdailordad what do you mean by bareshaft? I have only heard of that with carbon arrows?

[sailordad]

a stick
a shoot that has only been straightend and a nock cut in it
if i can hit my target,not dead center but atleast hit it,with no fletching on it
and it flies straight in the process,then i will fletch it
and reshoot it,if it flies well then,then i put a head on it and call it an arrow 

if it doesnt fly straight bare,then i will fletch with either a flu flu style fletch(for shoter shots,small game)
or just some inferior feathers and call it a wall hanger