Heavyweight arrow shafts

[bumppo]

Can anyone trade/barter with me a test set of heavy spine arrow shafts, around 80lb spine to 120lb spine, 33" long, sort of like the test sets 3Rivers Archery sells? I'd even settle for one 100lb spine 33" shaft... something to use as a benchmark for calibrating my spine tester and to use in building my own arrows. Whatever I can trade from here in Alaska I'd be glad to do......

I've been building my own 3/8" poplar arrows at 33" and thought I was on the right track until I built my spine tester. The tester shows a spine of around 40lbs?? This goes along with the problem of all my arrows shooting far to the left (I shoot right handed) which I thought indicated too heavy a spine (my longbow is 80lbs)....  just adds to my confusion.

[Cromm]

Hello,
We cannot sale on this site only trade.  Unless someone PM's you and you do the saling off broad........
Thanks for your time

[nidrinr]

Build your own. You don't have to build it to advanced, as long as the arrow rest on each side and the same weight is used you pretty much have what you need..

[bumppo]

I've built a spine tester according to plans I've found on this site, I want to use an arrow of know spine to check the thing.

I've checked it with 28" arrows in the 60lb spine range and it seems OK, just wanted to make sure at 33" and 110lb it was still in the ball park.

[bow-toxo]

I've been building my own 3/8" poplar arrows at 33" and thought I was on the right track until I built my spine tester. The tester shows a spine of around 40lbs?? This goes along with the problem of all my arrows shooting far to the left (I shoot right handed) which I thought indicated too heavy a spine (my longbow is 80lbs)....  just adds to my confusion.

You might want to try a denser wood than light weight poplar, such as birch or ash.

                                                       Erik

[CraigMBeckett]

I've been building my own 3/8" poplar arrows at 33" and thought I was on the right track until I built my spine tester. The tester shows a spine of around 40lbs?? This goes along with the problem of all my arrows shooting far to the left (I shoot right handed) which I thought indicated too heavy a spine (my longbow is 80lbs)....  just adds to my confusion.

Arrows shooting to the left are generally a sign of too stiff a shaft. I would suggest your 40lb spine for a 3/8 poplar shaft is wrong or the wood is very poor. Most arrows found on the Mary Rose were of Poplar, admittedly the shafts were 1/2 inch. In addition most heavy shafts sold for the Warbow market in the UK are also of poplar, 3/8th are said to be good for bows up to 100 lb or so 1/2 inch for heavier bows.

So either find better poplar, make your arrows out of the wood Erik suggests or fix or replace your spine tester. 

I use a version of 2jays spine tester see http://bambooarrow.com/tester.html and found it to be accurate.
I have looked at some of the others offered throughout the net and found problems with their scales etc.

Craig.

[adb]

If you're shooting a warbow, which is basically heavy arrow flight shooting, then precise shaft spine is not too important. I don't target shoot my warbows at all.
You're much better off concentrating on building finished arrows with matched weight. Check out the EWBS website for arrow specs. I'm 100% sure that medieval fletchers didn't spine test arrows.

[JustinNC]

Let me check. I may have some sourwood at home that fit ur needs. I gotta double check tonight.

[bumppo]

Found this online, but still have some questions: "The accepted standard for measuring spine is to measure the deflection of the shaft at the midpoint of a 26 inch span when placed under a two pound load." http://www.jamesmhill.com/Spine_Tester.html

Doing this with my 3/8" poplar shafts give me a spine of around 90lbs. my 7/16" poplar are around 125lb, the 1/2" at around 170lbs. Measuring the same shafts at 33" gives me spines of between 40lbs and 120lbs. How would I describe the spine weights of these 33" shafts? Is it customary to use the spine weights measured at 26" or at the full length of the arrow shaft?

I've shot a bunch of un-fletched shafts with a variety of spines and found a weight that seems to work OK for me. Don't think I need a better spine tester, just an understanding of how other people describe the relative stiffness of their arrow shafts.

[adb]

Found this online, but still have some questions: "The accepted standard for measuring spine is to measure the deflection of the shaft at the midpoint of a 26 inch span when placed under a two pound load." http://www.jamesmhill.com/Spine_Tester.html

Doing this with my 3/8" poplar shafts give me a spine of around 90lbs. my 7/16" poplar are around 125lb, the 1/2" at around 170lbs. Measuring the same shafts at 33" gives me spines of between 40lbs and 120lbs. How would I describe the spine weights of these 33" shafts? Is it customary to use the spine weights measured at 26" or at the full length of the arrow shaft?

I've shot a bunch of un-fletched shafts with a variety of spines and found a weight that seems to work OK for me. Don't think I need a better spine tester, just an understanding of how other people describe the relative stiffness of their arrow shafts.

Once again, I'll ask you... what is your purpose in measuring spine of heavy war arrows?

[bumppo]

Bottom line....spine is just another tool to use in shooting as consistently and as accurately as possible, and in making arrows that have generally the same flight characteristics. My access to quality wood here in Alaska is somewhat limited, and my motivation was, when making my shafts, to find a way to keep quality consistent and to use another gauge other than just weight and diameter. Asking how others measured spine was not a big deal I thought.... seems like nobody on this forum pays attention to it, and thats fine, I won't ask for advice again.

[CraigMBeckett]

Bumpo,

Don't be disenchanted, there are people who shoot Heavy bows that spine their arrows but unlike lighter bows the spine of a heavy war arrow is less critical. If you look at a spine/weight curve you will see that as weight goes up changes in spine have less of an effect. As for not needing to MMM! I suggest you have a look at Alan Blackham's site in the UK he uses a high speed camera and in doing so found that the arrows he shot from his bow were travelling somewhat sideways so he  reduced the spine on the arrows he used.

Craig.

[markinengland]

Bumpo,

I can trade you some spine rated bamboo shafts if you need some.

Email me at markdesignhill@aol.com to discuss.

Regards,

Mark