Would like go try wood arrows. I'm still a little confused about the spine calculation. Why am l seeing you need 55-60 spine for a 40lbs bow?

These are Amazon but the seller is Rose City Achery which l heard were respectable.

Rose City Archery Port Orford Cedar Premium Bare Shafts (12-Pack) https://a.co/d/brNTCLb

I'm shooting a 42lbs D/R longbow. Looking to have 150-200 grain up front. And maybe 29in long. What would be the recommended arrow?

Thank you.

You don't want entry level wood arrows or you will never understand how good wood arrows can be.

You need to buy good ones from Lost Nation, 3Rivers, some supplier of goodvarrows.

I have the same spec. bow as you. at my draw length- 29" its 42 -43# I shoot 55-60 spine with a 125 gr. point and they are 29 3/4" to back of point. They fly beautifully. I agree with fdp get good straight ones.

Rose city is crap. The most expensive shafts end up being the cheapest.

Check with Larry at Lost Nation.

If you're buying raw shafts and building your own, check out Surewood Shafts. Best I've ever used.

Years ago when I switched to wood I ordered a test kit from 3Rivers. Was six arrows, two arrows each of three different spine rating.

What shafts are you shooting now? You'll shoot the same spine but instead of saying .500 (carbon) 2016 (aluminum), they'll be 50-55 or whatever, when you put them on a spine tester they will read the same. 3Rivers can be a big help, tell them what your bow specs are, what shaft you are shooting now and what point weight and shaft length you want to use. They'll be able to set you up with a test kit and you can go from there.

Wapiti archery sells pre fletched test kits as well. A good investment

Surewood Shafts are the way to fly>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Carson is a great guy and will help you figure out what you need.

You can go from Kimery Specials to tapered shafts.

Good Shooting->->->->Craig

Surewood Shafts Douglas Fir and Trueshaft Archery Sitka Spruce are both excellent plus.

The original formula for determining spine weight was developed in the 1930s-40s when bows were mostly all wood, often without a noticeable arrow shelf cut into the riser area. Since then, fiberglass and carbon backing, bow designs with deeper arrow shelfs and lower stretch strings have come into play, all of which increase the bow's performance requiring higher spined arrows. Point weight above about 125 grains also requires a stiffer spine.

55-60# spine is in the ball park for what you're hoping to accomplish. Also, do what Mike E suggests. Determine what spine you are shooting in carbon or aluminum, and get wood shafts spined accordingly. Or, do as others have suggested and buy from a reputable dealer. You provide the relevant information, and the dealer will pick the appropriate spine.

True Shaft Archery's website has conversion charts for both carbon and aluminum sizes to wood spines. Also recommended spine charts for different types of bows and three point weights.

We used to say addc10#’s of spine from the archers true draw weight. That usually covered things like arrows cut more than 28”, FF string, over 145 grain broadheads. It doesn’t mean you can’t go longer arrows and up the spine. I knew guys who shot 75- 80# spine full length arrows from 50# bows.

I have cedar, Douglas Fir Surewoods, and have used Sitka Spruce. They all shot good. Surewoods were my favorite. But I would use and have used all three.

In my experience only, I tend to end up around 10# of spine over my bow weight as M60 mentioned. I do have a three arrow test kit also. Then you can actually see what is the best spine for a particular bow.

I typically shoot bows around 50#, but do have one that is 45#. The 45# longbow is currently shooting 55/60 Surewoods. I shoot 65/70 Surewoods with my 51# Black Widow recurve is. I routinely use 150 to 160 grain points and arrows are 28.75 to 29” long.

I use all types of arrows- wood, carbon, aluminum. But woods are special.

I've bought a truckload of wood shafts in my life. All types of bows, various draw weights, different point weights, etc, etc. I referred to the charts, followed the simple directions, and always ended up with good flying arrows.

It's not hard.

I will add that if you have a crappy plucking release you better add 10#. I've seen it too many times.

Another vote for Surewood. Give them all the specs & they will sell you what you need. >>>----> Ken

I've had rotten luck getting wood arrows to fly well. My 50-55lb bows with ff strings require a 70lb arrow, and by that point they are just too heavy for me to shoot well, especially with anything other than a 125 grain tip. I hunt in the west and like a fast, flat shooting arrow, but would love to shoot woodies if I could find the right combo.

^^^ You might be surprised at how much a whole lot of random-range practice will “flatten” your trajectory inside of about 40…. Worth a bunch o’ shots to find out.

Have the die-hard Woodie afficionados found that there’s a typical minimum GPP that you run into with wood?

Corax, I've switched to Surewood doug fir for all of my wood shafts. Within that species, it's hard to get below 9.5 to 10 gpi in raw shafts. You could get a lower gpi if you could find a reliable source for sitka spruce. I haven't been able to find that source yet.

I have a bunch of old ACME shafts built all ready . I’m bringing a bunch to Compton to sell. Some of the best shafts I have ever used. I mostly have 50/55#. They are weight matched and top notch quality. ACME shafts are very hard to come by.

Also you do not need to pay 180+ to get a good wood arrow.

stay in 5# spine for example 50-54# spine, a 50-55# spine is 6# and will get flyers, straight grain, nock across the grain and prove them in against a firm target to set the wood grain memory in to come back to straightness about 5-6 shots will do it. Wood arrow is a thing a beauty coming off the riser. Surewood will have what you need.

I agree with many of the above. The most important part of your equipment is the arrow, the best bow in the world will not shoot a crappy arrow, but a cheap bow will shoot a well made wood arrow extremely well.

However, I disagree that you should spine your wood's the same as your carbons, that's like comparing apples to oranges. Carbon's overcome paradox much faster than wood and are often much smaller in diameter.

Bob

aromakr x2

Good quality arrow shafts/arrows will pay for themselves. With heavier poundage that I shoot and tapered arrows, my rule of thumb is 5# for high performance bow/string; 5# for 160 grain plus head; 5# for over 28" arrow. So for example a 63-66# D/R longbow would shoot 76-80# tapered arrows 29". Parallel shafts I might drop 5#. This might also work for the tapered shafts, but I find going a tad heavy in spine doesn't hurt with tapered/footed arrows. With a lighter 40-50# bow I would start at 10# plus spine and experiment.

Try Andy Ponce at Addictive Archery. He uses mostly Surewood, but offers other flavors as well. Everything he sells is quality, so even his basic arrows are solid, straight, and shoot well. Plus he gives great service and is a really nice guy. I've been buying from him for years an never had a bad experience.

I find sitka spruce from Trueshaft archery very good close tolerence in both weight and spine.Also being very straight.As for Rose City,the exact opposite.

Listen to aromakr !!!

I wish I could buy directly from True Shafts. The few U.S. distributors only rarely have them in stock, and even more rarely have the heavier spines I require.

Orion and aromakr have answered the OP's question

For your info, Port Orford Cedar only grows in Northen California and Oregon. So if your buying Cedar shafts there are only a few distributors that make raw shafts. The Cedar trees are getting some form of root rot that’s killing the trees.

Avoid Rose City and any # rivers cedar or pre-made cedar shafts (they use low quality rose city shafts)

Wapiti Cedar or Surewood Fir are both great options to begin with.

There are a number of very accomplished arrow smiths on the forum. Any one of them would point you in the right direction...

I can only speak for myself but have bought hundreds of Rose City shafts and have no complaints. I’m not as fussy as some archers but they work for me. I buy 5/16 40-45 spined shafts and check the spine every arrow I make and haven’t had any shafts that weren’t in that range.

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