How straight is straight for woods

[huntnut]

I got some Hickory shafts in today and all I can say is they look like a snake. Tryed my hand a straightening them, now they will roll on the table with a little wobble but not must. Most the wobble is either at the very ends or right in the middle. Its hard to tell how straight they are because the tablle isnt total flat. Should I just stain and seal them now and try to straight them more after that? Guys say to heat straighten them, does that just make them softer and easy'er to hand straighten or does it accully draw the curve to the other side of the shaft?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

use a hairdryer as you straightening them.

[ozarkcherrybow1]

I like using an alcohol burner. Just wave the shaft over the flame enough to heat it till it is almost too hot to hold onto, and bend it in that spot that needs it. I have not had any luck trying to straighten hickory without heat. You should be able to get them straight enough to spin nicely in your hand, and your broadhead will spin straight. Hope that helps.....Terry

[baretraks]

I know there's a lot of opinions, but the way I see it, the arrow is wiggling like a snake when it comes off the shelf anyway. I used to shoot woodies and I had three port orford shafts that would not stay straight no matter what I did.....they shot a 145 grain Snuffer just as accurate at twenty yards as the ones that looked straight. I'm not one to sit around and analyze everything with a set of calipers.In my humble opinion, if it shoots straight, dont worry about it.

[Drummer@Home]

I think you can push the "dont worry about it" thing to far though. You have to change the wood for them to stay straight. Heat works best, but you can get it from many places. I like friction heat. I hook straten all my shafts and they stay when I'm done. Dont forget to look down the shaft from both ends before you say GOOD ENUFF.
   

Oh, I use a home made hook. Just a big I-hook in the end of a 6" stick that my son painted up for me when he was 4.

[GoBow]

No better than I shoot, it really doesn't matter...  Seriously though, I really don't think a little "snake" will make any difference with wood arrows.  Think it has something to do with the center of a wood arrow being solid.  Unlike hollow aluminum or carbons.  The hard part is getting used to shooting "crooked" arrows and not spending all your time trying to straighten time.  Make sure that your hickory arrows are well sealed so they don't absorb moisture and gain weight.

[Orion]

Wood sometimes can shoot itself straight.  I.e., little bends, not crooks, will sometimes come out over time through shooting.  I don't worry about them too much in my practice arrows, but I always try to get my hunting arrows as straight as I can.  Good advice already given on how to straighten.  Keep in mind that you'll probably need to re straighten every once in a while, particularly with hardwoods.  I carry my bow with bow quiver, under my arm when still hunting.  Over time, the pressure of my arm on the center of the shafts in the bow quiver tends to put a slight bend in them.  I check and straighten every few days under those conditions.

[huntnut]

I got them pretty straight now. I point on some field points on them and I have a couple that when I spin them thereis no vibration the others have alittle but not bad I have one that will be just a stumping arrow, I couldn't get the bad wobble out of it. Thanks for the help. I stained them last night and just got done dipping them. Maybe by tonight I can strat to crest them, and seal them tomorrow. Turkey season is gitting close and I'm still building arrows. LOL