Soooo...

Package arrived. I have nocks, inserts, points, feathers, jig and a fresh tube o’ glue. Plus a tubing cutter and reason to believe that I’ve got the correct spines for at least 3 of my bows.

Have worked out the numbers using Stu’s calculator and I know that each shaft should tune at 29” or shorter and I’d prefer to have them all right around 28”-28.5”.... always used to get them cut to 27 3/4” so I could use the back of the blade as a clicker, but I think I’ve expanded my DL some..... Most important thing. of course, is to get bare and fletched shafts hitting right down the middle....

So what’s my next move?

Scrub them with powered cleanser first, like Ajax. Rinse with smoking hot water and let them air dry, don't towel them dry or touch that fletch area with your hands. Most fabric softeners contain oil and that wont help the feathers stick.

Good tip on fletching prep... will do that first on about half of ‘em, anyway.... Thinking more in terms of how short to cut them back before the bare-shaft testing begins....

Id start at 30" BOP. You can always cut more off, but.....you cant add.

No, though you can add a little point weight or twist up the string.

Just wondering if I should start too long with a bare shaft, keep cutting'til I think they're hitting down the middle and then see how they match up with fletched, or start with three arrows built according to calculator specs and then bring full-length bare-shafts into the same group as the arrows?

Would that leave me with 3 perfectly-tuned arrows and 3 that are close enough for stumping and gubmint work, or would it just leave me chasing my tail indefinitely?

I wont go into tuning as there is plenty of info here about that, other than to say that i always do my own and have not found calculators that accurate for me--- not dissing them, i just must have some form dynamic... My advice is to start full length and only work w 1 bow at a time. For me length is determined by best tune i can get.

"best you can get"... I get that.

But if you're trying to group bare with fletched, how do you know you're matching the bare-shaft POI with the POI of a properly- spined, fletched arrow?

Definitely going to work on one bow at a time....

You need to have sound form before you can tune-- not saying you do or don't, just want to be sure thats understood. Shoot your bareshaft at a verticle line to tune it for point of impact. Check out Ken Becks video on YouTube or any of Jimmy Blackmons videos. Look up Ol adcock tuning. All will give you what you need. Go sllllooooowwww it is a process.

Yeah, while you are waiting the 20 years for perfect form to show up, I would cut them long, hot melt the ends in, and do some shooting. You have the ability you have, and that is what you are tuning for.

If you ask 20 guys what solid form is you will get 20 answers, some involving phases of the moon. If you ask people whether red wine goes with burger, you will get some people saying, "not until you perfect your form". I was changing the flat the other day, and some guy with a quiver happened by and told me I needed to work on my form. Give it a rest.

Matt, i sent you a PM.

Ijust made a set of those for my wife. They come 29" I,d leave them 29" to start ,and go from there.don't know what spine you got or your bow poundage....but my wife draws 25" and we had to leave hers at 28" for proper tune. You can always cut down to tune....but it's hard to ADD length!

If you bough the right spine just cut them the length you want them and go shoot them. Increase side plate thickness if they impact right (provied you're right handed) decrease sid plate thickness if they impact left.

If not, then you have to do the creative shaft length thing.

If it were me, I'd give them to my wife for tomato stakes, buy a nice set of Fir, Spruce, or Port Orford Cedar shafts and make a fine set of arrows that I could really be proud of. But that's just me. Richard

thats funny Nemah :) i agree!

as pearl said- there is tons of info out there, and even more opinion, but for my .02c worth, this is what i would do.

i would leave them full length, and bare shaft them. when they are still a bit weak, not quite spot on yet ( the fletching will change the dynamic spine a wee bit- "stiffening" them). then i would cut three others to the SAME length and fletch and then group tune them, still having the scope to still shorten the shafts further if needed- remember you left them a bit long / weak! i would also group tune with broadheads- that imo is the teller right there!!

i will leave that there- but if you would like some more info just holler- send me an e mail [email protected]

Pretty sure this is what I’m looking for...

Guess I’ll fletch half of ‘em and shoot all of ‘em, starting full length and cutting shorter until they all hit in the same place.

I suppose an aggressive fletch is best, because if you can get the ends of the spectrum to agree, they’ll line up everywhere else in between...

And then if I’m as short as I wanna go and still showing weak, then I can either lighten the points or start building out the plate.

OK... making sense now...

You have the skill and know how.What I would do is prep 4 shafts. Leave 2 bare. Shoot them with the weight point you want to use. the start cutting them back until they are grouping good together.Work it out so the length and point weight is acceptable to you. Shoot those 4 for a few days to be sure you,bow,and arrows are on the same page. Then cut and fletch the rest. Leave the two bare shafts for a form check. After all if you did your job they will shoot right along with the fletched shafts. I have one set of arrows I never got around to fletching. No I wouldn't hunt with them but they are just fine for target practice under ideal conditions. Carry on GF enjoy your new arrows. >>>----> Ken

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