posted
Palming a shaft works well but harder for the beginer to regulate the pressure needed. Or in some cases they put to much and boom! This method will work well with Ramin , birch and ash as well Heydeerman , as it heats up the direct bend area from friction . Heat is the best way to keep the hardwood from returning to its original state as Raymond touched on. I have even seen a similar tecnique done on a wood work bench with a slot cut into the edge to do the same by running the shaft up and down on the wood , thus creating friction and pressure to the bent area.
Sly, don't ever be afraid to ask a question here,someone will have an answer for ya....
Ted and some others answered about "staying straight".....Cedars and softwoods are not to bad to straighten by "palming".Did it that way for years,but this way is faster and more permanant.
I find that palming just doesn't work well for hardwoods.This method with the combination of heat from friction and the slight "crushing" of the cells on the opposite side of the bend works real well.
As mentioned earlier,it might take a couple sessions per shaft throughout the stages of making your arrows.But they will stay straight...as long as the shaft wasn't real bad to start with....that's why I said they would make better tomatoe stakes....or you'll end up doing a lot of this
practice with some old crooked shafts...I think you'll like what you can do with them....
-------------------- Curt } >>--->
"I love you Daddy".......My son Cade while stump shooting 3/19/06 Posts: 16240 | From: NY | Registered: Apr 2003
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The trick with friction methods like this vs palming, is that you're actually compressing (slightly) the woodfibers on the long 'side' of the bent arrow. That means it's much more likely to stay straight (since there was a physical change) than merely 'bending them' into shape.
It's easier on softwoods because, being soft, it's easier to get the needful compression.
The other way to do this is with something like the Ace roller straightener where you put the arrow on a flat surface and roll it down. That minimizes the chance of overbending or breaking shafts (I had a batch of douglas fir that would snap if you tried to pressure bend them- luck of the draw no slight to the wood or the vendor)
Good post Curt
Jake (who had to learn this one the hard way)
Posts: 526 | From: Canada | Registered: Apr 2004
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I've used screwdrivers, nut drivers, steel rod, brass rod, or whatever similar thing I happened to grab from the tool drawer. Simple is usually better. Usually two sessions over about a week's time are enough to get a shaft to stay straight.
Good post Guru!
Posts: 1519 | From: Osage Township, McCune, Kansas | Registered: Nov 2004
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Excellent Guru just what I needed. I got some ash shafts and they need a little taming. I've done two so far,straight arrows, who would of thought? I hope this doesn't effect my shooting.
Posts: 205 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Feb 2004
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I use a heavy old machine shop tap. Its pretty chunky and has a perfect finish. After the first go round (fix) I get the majority of my finish on and then lightly burnish the entire arrow. Then final finish and they seem to stay straight.
-------------------- Bruce A. Hering Program Coordinator/Instructor Shotgun Team Coach ACUI 2011 Div. I National Champions SCTP 2011 Collegiate Division National Champions Game Preserve/Shooting Complex Mg Southeastern Illinois College NSCA Level III Instructor Posts: 1842 | From: Illinois, Southernmost | Registered: Nov 2004
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I welded half a chain link to a 3/8 rod to make a hook. It sort of looks like a question mark (?).
It works really well on the hardwoods I get from Twig Archery. I have made up several dozen so far this winter. They stay just as straight as the best cedar I have.
I agree that the combination of heat and compression is the key. Rub fast and evenly, with long strokes. You are trying to make the "long" side of the shaft equal the "short" side. You don't want to make a sharp dent in the shaft.
If I over hook and warp it toward the compressed side I usually just bump it a few times with hand straightening to get it back to straight. I wait to cut to length until after all straightening is finished. Full length shafts are easier to work with.
Soft woods like cedar can be flattened pretty quickly with hooking. I usually just hand straighten them.
One other thing: make the nock end of the shaft the end that was straight naturally, prior to straighting. If it wants to bend again it will be easier to see and correct if not covered with fletching.
-------------------- There is no great fun, satisfaction, or joy derived from doing something that's easy. Coach John Wooden Posts: 1065 | From: Meyersdale, Pennsylvania | Registered: Apr 2003
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Thanks Curt. I'd been favoring carbon since I'm "straightening impaired" - But recently been messing with a pile of ramin shafts trying to get them straight enough to invest the time into making them up into arrows... I just spent about an hour in the garage with a screwdriver, and I've got a dozen close enough that my shooting won't show the difference (and only broke 1)
Do you just hand-straighten if needed once they're finished? (I'm sure the screwdriver will screw up the finish...)
Thanks again - the pictures really helped...
-------------------- The beaten path is for beaten men. Posts: 1396 | From: Jacksonville, Florida | Registered: Mar 2004
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Jason, If you can still find one, a frontier arrow straightener works wonders on finished or unfinished ramin. I bought mine years ago when I shot a compound. They were origninally made for aluminum shafts, but they work just as well on wood. Especially ramin. Haven't seen one around in a long time though. I can even straighten a shaft with multiple bends.
the screwdriver trick does work well though. Much better than trying to straighten ramin with nothing but your hands.
Posts: 336 | From: Youngstown,Ohio | Registered: Aug 2005
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Your welcome Jason...pretty easy wasn't it???
I find that I can touch them up(if need be) after they are finished as long as it's a tough finish( I use poly).But if you go over them a couple times during the steps of the making process,they should stay straight.But some will fight ya....Just be careful with the softer woods,go easy...
-------------------- Curt } >>--->
"I love you Daddy".......My son Cade while stump shooting 3/19/06 Posts: 16240 | From: NY | Registered: Apr 2003
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Worked like a charm last night.......thanks.
-------------------- Mr Terry.....will you turn on the crickets for me - Cade Cabrera Posts: 24247 | From: GAWGIA | Registered: Mar 2003
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Another way to deal with this is buy Rouge River Archery Shafts. I have some that are 8 years old and are as straight as the day they arrived. never seen anything like it.
-------------------- It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. ~Mark Twain TGMM Family of The Bow Posts: 1959 | From: Indiana | Registered: Mar 2003
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