Author Topic: Bamboo arrow spine  (Read 4713 times)

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Offline OsageWhisper

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Bamboo arrow spine
« on: February 09, 2014, 11:23:38 am »
I'm thinking of getting bamboo shafts and I shoot self bows 50-55@28. The shafts I see on Kustom King are 33 inches long. I really don't want an arrow that long. What spine should I get for a 29 inch arrow if I want to cut them down a bit.

Thanks

Offline Buck67

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Re: Bamboo arrow spine
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2014, 11:41:34 am »
My recurve is 55#.  It shoots almost any length of bamboo arrow well.  I like to make my arrows longer (31") because if anything breaks I have enough length to repair the shaft, and I like to have my fingers well clear of the arrowhead.  I recently built 36 bamboo arrows of varying lengths with 125 grain heads and they all seem to shoot the same.  Understand that I have 3 feet of snow in the yard and the only range I have right now is about 25 feet in my basement.

Offline Pat B

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Re: Bamboo arrow spine
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2014, 11:52:24 am »
I make cane arrows with the hill cane that grows along my creek. The only time I use a spine tester is to find the stiff side of the shaft and that side goes against the bow. My finished cane arrows are about 3/8" at the point end and 5/16" at the self nock. They are 30" long for my 26" draw. My bows are generally between 50# to 60#(selfbows and sinew backed bows, none cut to or near center) and finished arrows are about 600gr(mol).  I generally use 125gr field points and commercial broadheads but also use stone or trade points with varying weights.
 The natural taper of a cane shaft makes the effective spine weight about 10# less than the actual spine weight and that taper, the extra length for my draw and the fast recovery rate makes these shafts more forgiving for me when shot.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline adb

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Re: Bamboo arrow spine
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2014, 12:20:57 pm »
Cane or bamboo shafts are obviously hollow, like a CF shaft. They don't spine like a traditional solid wood shaft, because hollow shafts recover much quicker from paradox oscillations. Therefore, they'll spine much stiffer using the normal spinning values for solid shafts, but shoot much better. I can shoot cane or Goldtip Traditionals 3355 CF shafts out of bows from 30-60#, and they all fly very well. Not so with wood. Spine becomes vital for good arrow flight.

Long story short... don't sweat it too much with spine values for cane shafts.

Offline Tom Leemans

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Re: Bamboo arrow spine
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2014, 11:26:29 am »
Ever since I started shooting cane, I just make them an inch or so longer than my old cedars, and have them as close to 3/8 on the fat end as possible, then put the stiff side against the bow, so....pretty much what Pat said! They fly great out of everything I shoot. Just get them straight. If one starts to get a little wobbly, heat it up and straighten it! I love 'em.

Offline Bombadil072

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Re: Bamboo arrow spine
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2014, 12:04:42 am »
I feel like I got pretty good results by just lining up the nodes with the nock.  I didn't try to spine them at all.  I also second the notion that there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between the various lengths I have worked with so far.

Jerome

Offline mullet

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Re: Bamboo arrow spine
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2014, 08:03:20 pm »
Like Adam said, Bamboo and cane varies too much. Unless you have a wide variety of different weight points you might be shooting full, or, different length arrows. I shoot mine from bows that shoot from #45 to 65 and they fly like darts.

I'm sure ArtB will come on and tell me I'm just lazy when I make arrows and that's why I like shooting his. 8) ;)
Lakeland, Florida
 If you have to pull the trigger, is it really archery?