I'm in the process of tuning my first good wood shafts(Sherwood). I've always used cheap ones before and only used them for target shooting. Now I'm trying to set some up for hunting this year so I'm much more concerned with arrow flight. My question is, how much difference does shortening an arrow make as compared to adding weight to the tip. Here's an example for you. I have two shafts of same spine and weight, one arrow is 30 1/2 inch long with 125 gr tip, the other arrow is 30 inch long with 145 gr tip. The shorter arrow with the heavier tip flies almost perfect- the longer arrow with lighter tip flies tail left a little(weak). Is this normal with wood for length to make more difference than tip weight? Thanks

I wouldn't think 1/2" would make a noticable difference, what is your draw length? Do you need that much arrow? a shorter shaft is likely more consistent from one to the next.

go with the heavier tip,, Im sure if you put the heavier tip on the longer arrow it will fly pretty good as well,,,

Since I'm just getting into woods and don't know if I'll stick with them after this year I didn't purchase a spine tester, so I'm relying on the shaft supplier as far as spine goes. My draw is 28 with the straight grip on this style bow. I thought it would be better to start long and shorten as needed. I think the absolute shortest I can go is 28 1/2 to BOP. I just fletched up two more shafts at 30 1/2 inches and have one with 125 and the other 145 gr tips we'll see how they shoot. I normally bare shaft my aluminum and carbon arrows but from information I gathered everybody just fletches up and cuts or changes point weight until they fly good. I'm shooting a 47 pound draw with 45-50 440-450 gr Surewood shafts. hopefully these shafts will be stiff enough. Thanks

dakota:

The rule of thumb is the shaft will stiffen 5# for every 1" shorter than the AMO spine which is 28" and weaken 5# for every 1" longer.

So, if you ordered 45/50@ 30" they will be 55/60@28"AMO spine and 50/55@29". What spine you need will depend on the type of string material and how deep the shelf is cut.

Figuring the spine for wood arrows is really quite simple!

Bob

aromakr, if you order Surewood shafts at say 45/50 spine range, and Surewood shafts are full length 32”, are they spined at 32”, or spined based off of the standard 26”?

They are spined based on the 26" span standard.

Thanks, that’s what I always figured off of.

bentstick:

it depends on how you order them; If you just order 45/50 spine shafts and don't indicate a length, then they will be 45/50@28", but if you order 45/50@30" they will be 55/60@AMO standard.

Bob

Thanks Bob.

What are we Enthusiasts going to do after all the Professionals are gone?

Good thing it’s all written down somewhere…

Wood arrows are so easy. I think too many guys read too many topics about tuning carbons and try to treat wood the same. I have several sets spined the same and same length and I can mix 125 and 145 grain points and not change impact or grouping.

I agree with that.

I am no pro at wood arrows. I would love to shoot them more with confidence, but just not there yet. With that I will say in almost any batch I have had there always seems to be one or two that just do not fly with the others. Have you rolled them to see if they are completely straight? Woods seem to be more forgiving of perfect straightness, but if that tip is slightly off the arrow will follow it away, or have a weird flight pattern. Like above has said. I have found that for the most part I cannot tell the difference in 125's and 145's on wood shafts, but then again I am not shooting very far as my effective range either.

-Bones

Thanks for the info everyone, I shot four of the arrows this morning and they all appear to be just slightly weak. But, to show how new I am to woods, after shooting and looking over my arrows I noticed that even though I marked the grain on all four shafts I put the nocks on 90 deg off on every one (DUH). Complete rookie mistake. Now I have to remove the nocks and install them correctly, so now my cock feather will be pointing up instead of out from the riser. I've shot carbons that way and noticed no difference in arrow flight if I'm using properly spined arrows. So I guess its a good thing I only made up four arrows at a time so I can get my goof-ups out of the way on them. These arrows fly pretty good just not perfect so I'm sure that Ill get them figured out before deer season. Thanks

bones: The distance you shoot has nothing to do with spine or tune, if its correct for 10yards then its correct for 60yards!!!!!

Bob

So much of this has to do with how good a form you can produce when shooting too. If you can't shoot a line at 15 to 20 yards determining bareshaft spine is not going to be possible for you.

yes i have become to realize,, that most problems are the shooter,, take a bow that wont shoot and wrong arrows, hand it to a great shooter,, wow,, its shoots great,,

Tuning problems are common when switching from carbon to wood, for some.

Your shelf distance can make all the difference in the world, as to spine you need for some bows.

A bow that is 1\8 from center to begin with, then add a strike plate, plus a fatter 11\32" wood shaft leaves some scratching their head when a prescribed spine don't pan out...

One of the quickest ways to check a arrow spine with wood is by gluing on a big wide 2 blade broadened like a delta..

It will very quickly tell you if it's spined right...it should fly the same at all ranges...if it impacts left..it's to stiff...right to weak.

That is not nock left or right...that's impact.

I rarely if ever go by nock position when tuning...

Your arrows should fly true with both broadhead and field tip...no difference.

To many guys tune only with field tips..then slap on a big broadened and find out they were not tuned as good as they thought.

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