Stiff side of arrow

[OTDEAN]

Hi,

Just wondering why some of you guys talk about spining your arrows to find the stiff side of the arrow and then cut your self nocks perpendicular to this so the stiff side is against the bow when shot? 

Just curious, I normally just spine my arrows to make sure they are under my draw weight and then just tinker with them to reduce spine if necessary after testing them by shooting, am I missing something?  Normally I just shoot it, if it goes left reduce spine, if goes straight leave it, if it shoots to the right then I reduce the arrow length to make the arrow stiffer to shoot straighter.

[Pat B]

When I was learning to make cane and hardwood shoot arrows Art Butner taught me that the stiff side of the shaft goes against the bow; that is where the true spine of these arrows lies. On doweled shafts one of the grain edge sides of the shafts will usually be the stiff side but for safety sake the "flames" of the grain should be facing forward on top of the arrow.
 When I refer to the "stiff side" I'm referring to cane and hardwood shoot arrows. Other than that I don't find a specific spine on these arrows.

[OTDEAN]

Thanks for the reply Pat.  I use split timber hardwood arrows of birch, ash and sycamore that I have hand planed.  I have no experience of cane here in the UK.  When you say the 'stiff side' do you physically mean picking up the shift and eyeballing it as you bend it between your hands to see where it flexes least to find the stiffest spot and then cut your nocks so the stiff side is against the bow when your shooting? 

[Pat B]

Test some of your shafts to see if they don't have a stiffer side and set them up as arrows to see how they fly.
 Charlie Jefferson(stringstretcher) was making doweled poplar shafting and always marked the stiff side. Charlie learned a lot from Art also, I believe.

[PatM]

 That grain orientation is better for cutting self nocks.
 In truth the arrow could be spined  either way and shot from a different bow.