Self Arrow Taper Direction

[jumpdown]

Hey there,
I am wondering about peoples' opinions about which direction the taper(the plant shoot is thicker at the base) should face on a self arrow.
I seem to remember people telling me that the thick end should be the point end with the narrow end the nock.

It has always seemed backwards to me, and I wanted to hear about other people's experiences with this.
It seems that if the thicker end is the nock then this gives some weight balance to the arrow as it flexes. 

I am currently working a rose shoot and I don't want to thin out the shaft too much because of the pithy center.

Thanks,
Jason

[DanaM]

No expurt but the fat end is the point which results in a natural
taper giving greater clearance of the riser,

[Jbell]

Like Dana said, the fat end should go on the point end and taper towards the nock. The reason is because the shaft will go around the handle alot easier when shot and its much better to have your weight up front for good arrow flight. This is why shoot arrows fly so good out of a wide variety bows because they aren't nearly as spine sensitive as non tapered arrows. My shoot arrows fly well out of my 65# and 55# bows. Imho.

[Justin Snyder]

Fat end first.  You can buy shafts that are machine tapered that way also.  Lots of reasons to shoot them that way.  They penetrate better because as they enter the back of the shaft has less friction.  But the most important is the flight. Weight forward shafts just fly better.  It will affect the spine a little.  I believe Pat said you can subtract about 5# from the spine.  When he gets back from the weekend, I'm sure he will let us know. Justin

[jamie]

I build mine with the heavy end for the point . the argument for using the thin end for point is that when it warps itll usually be warping on that end. if this is under the fletching itll be difficult to straighten. ive never had problems straightening them when they were fletched. peace

[Mickey]

Like the others I'm heavy end fpr the point. This provides weight up front, gives more meat for cutting in notches for flint heads, provides a natural taper for better bow clearance, and you don't need as much wood for a nock as you do for a tip.

I have heard of guys using them the other way successfully, but I have never tried it personally.

[Coo-wah-chobee]

                                               Me 6. "fatty" end up front.....bob

[jumpdown]

Sweet!
This is just the confirmation and assistance I was looking for!
Thanks everyone.
Jason

[Hillbilly]

Same here, heavy end to the front. I plane most of my shoot shafts down to a 5/16" or 11/32" parallell taper, though. Sometimes after planing them to a uniform thickness, I taper the last 8-10" of the nock end for all the same reasons.

[mullet]

    Fat end forward,even with cane.

[George Tsoukalas]

I've made them both ways. The only drawback is the skinny end is usually the toughest to keep straight and when at the fletch end is doubly difficultto do so. jawge

[stiknstring]

I seem to remember reading once that native american tribes used the narrow end for the point and the fat end for the nock reasoning that the arrow would fly in the same direction that the shoot grows.  I know there are many things that the native's did that followed a "natural" pattern.