Wear on side of bow from shooting

[Dustinhill]

Hi, I'm in the process of finishing up a short hickory d bow with the help of everyone on this site and I encountered a problem that I thought might be more appropriately posted here. When shooting the bow in, I noticed that my arrow which was fletched with goose feathers and sinew, (I posted it under viburnum arrow a little while ago) had left small cracks in the side of the bow (not the back) after a few shots. They definitely weren't there during Tillering. Is this normal? Right now I have no handle wrap and would like to keep it that way if possible. Has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks,
Dustin

[loon]

Yes, probably from arrows being too weak spined or your release causing the arrows to slap into the bow somehow. It's been plaguing me for a while.

(It might be for a different reason?...)

[Dustinhill]

Thanks loon, glad to know I'm not the only one.. the arrow spine being too weak would make sense, and my release, particularly with the new bow because it's heavy is far from consistent. Do you think maybe a buckskin handle would work to protect the bow? Any other options?

[Pat B]

Proper spined arrows would be your best bet to start with.

[DC]

Now I would have said it's arrows that are too stiff Could this be caused by either too much or too little spine? A while back someone on here said(unless my memory is wrong) that if an arrow is too stiff you can hear it as it whacks into the side of the bow.  I know I've seen the youtube where the guy goes lighter and lighter until the arrow breaks and I can see where the really light ones could leave a mark as they snake around the bow. So now I'm left wondering. My arrows are rounding off the edge of my rest a bit also and I was going to try lighter arrows.

[Dustinhill]

Thanks everyone, the arrow didn't shoot too far off to the left or anything... I'd  imagine it was too light because it was a long arrow with a relatively heavy tanged broad head. I'm going to make another arrow soon, but I'll keep the middle fatter than the ends so it will be easy to adjust spine. I'll post pictures and let everyone know what I figure out. Thanks again for the tips. I'm excited to be learning so much and hope to be able to pass the knowledge along!

[bronco611]

when applying your fletching, is the cock feather oriented so that the stiff side of the arrow is towards the bow? If not the arrow will not snake around the bow properly causing contact with the bow.

[loon]

Now I would have said it's arrows that are too stiff Could this be caused by either too much or too little spine? A while back someone on here said(unless my memory is wrong) that if an arrow is too stiff you can hear it as it whacks into the side of the bow.  I know I've seen the youtube where the guy goes lighter and lighter until the arrow breaks and I can see where the really light ones could leave a mark as they snake around the bow. So now I'm left wondering. My arrows are rounding off the edge of my rest a bit also and I was going to try lighter arrows.

Try drawing at different draw lengths, and shooting at short range and see where the tail of the arrow is (where the arrow points) when it hits the target, how where it is pointing changes depending on draw length. I think tail left when shooting off the left side means the arrow is weak, and it also slapped the bow causing the tail to go left.

Thanks to a member here for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmuzeMoQIlQ

Interesting. I wonder if a stiff arrow can also cause slap. I've been trying to make stiffer and stiffer arrows to prevent it. though it sort of makes sense as well, like the arrow would pivot and the tail would hit the handle anyway

[loon]

when applying your fletching, is the cock feather oriented so that the stiff side of the arrow is towards the bow? If not the arrow will not snake around the bow properly causing contact with the bow.

I don't get this about the stiff side, what is the stiff side? Is this not only with bamboo arrows? So can an arrow bend more easily one way than the other, without rotating it?

So far for bamboo arrows, I just rotate it until I find a part that is less bendy, and it always seems to bend equally both ways. but I guess that doesn't make sense with people recommending to nock the arrow the other way... maybe I do need a spine tester

I wonder how different the arrow dynamics are with thumb release vs 3 fingers

[bronco611]

Cane/boo arrows and some wooden arrows will have a stiff side to them, usually not a lot of difference but enough to make a difference. Watch u tube videos of arrow paradox in slow motion and note how it appears to swim around the bow riser and that will help you understand why it needs to have the stiff side towards the riser.

[loon]

So can an arrow bend more easily one way than the other, without rotating it? Or does it depend on how it's rotated?

[bronco611]

does not have to be rotated. if the arrow is straight fletched it will not rotate when shot. the left or right helical fletching is what causes the arrow to spin left or right. The spine is the strength of the shaft as related to bending under a load. you are correct that it will bend more one way than the other. you spine test it to find the weakest side( where it bends the most) and that determines the spine of the arrow which must be correctly matched to the bow draw weight and draw length as these three factors help to tune a bow to the arrows or vise versa which makes the bow more accurate thus improving your accuracy with the bow.

[loon]

Good, thanks
I have however heard that feathers do make the arrow spin a bit even if straight fletched. I didn't mean spinning in flight, but whether what you meant was 1 or 2. I assume you mean 2.

[Dustinhill]

Wow that's a lot of information! Thanks everyone! Any suggestions on where to start as far as testing and tuning my arrows? I have some seasoned shoots approximately 3\8 thick x 30" long, back sinew, turkey wing fletchings and some tanged medieval style broad heads I forged. My first arrow, the one which started this thread, was approximately 27in long with a smaller broad head. I thought a longer arrow would work better with the low brace height on my short bow (45-50# at 16") Any thoughts on an initial size to start and what to do from there?
Thanks,
Dustin

[loon]

I would bare shaft test. Stand about 4 or 5 yards from a target, shoot shafts with light arrowheads. If tail goes left (assuming you're an average archer, left side of bow), I would guess that the spine is weak, and you need to draw less or reduce the weight of the arrowhead. If stiff, draw more or increase arrowhead weight. Once they fly pretty straight, then I'd fletch.. but that's just me. Maybe I'd try different distances as well before fletching like 10 and 20 yards and see how they fly.

Besides that, a spine tester should be useful. If you're way off then adjusting arrowhead weight probably won't help much.

Something.

What sucks is I'd like arrows that can be nocked either way with the Y style fletchings so I can nock without looking and maybe shoot pretty fast one day.. maybe I'll just find a side such that the stiffness is the same both ways