We typically follow the rule of thumb to go 10-15 lbs of spine above draw weight if shooting a FF string. I don't know that we've had great luck with arrows spined as close to the bow's draw weight at 28" but that doesn't mean it couldn't work. I would suggest ordering a test pack of 50-55, 55-60, and 60-65 and put them through the bows and find the sweet spot.
Best shafts we've gotten are the Surewood Shafts doug firs. Cedar quality is not what it used to be and the Surewood hunters are really tough, with almost no grain run-off and require very little straightening when the shafts arrive. Others mentioned are probably good as well, but for sure those Oregon-sourced doug firs are some of the straightest trees out there and I imagine are tough to beat.
For adhesives we use Devcon 2-part five minute epoxy (you can buy at Walmart or any hardware store I believe) for gluing on heads. Just squeeze it out on an old plastic whippied topping or sour cream container lid and mix well with a tongue depressor. It cures quick (5 minute) so if doing multiple arrows at a time only squeeze a small enough amount out of the tube for 2-3 points because you'll run out of time and it will be cured too much once you've seated them, checked for proper alignment, and wiped off excess glue squeeze-out. For fletchings and the nocks, we just use Bohning fletch tite platinum.
When gluing on field tips and/or broadhead stick a Q-tip dunked in isopropyl alcohol in the ferrule to clean out any oils so they will adhere better. Then whenever removing heads you can apply heat for a minute or two with a lighter and with a glove or cloth pull the tip off. Heads can be easily reused by cleaning the ferrule with a wire brush attachment on a cordless drill or dremel and then they are ready to be glued onto another arrow.
Relating to if you wanted to go heavier with your head, you may be interested in tapered shafts, and doug firs or ash would handle that well. The straightest grain you can find will be the most durable if you start loading the front.
We have a Woodchuck sanding disk taper tool but I'm not sure if that is made anymore - and who knows there may be something better on the market now anyways.
The fun part about woodies is the finishing and cresting process. You can choose to stain the shafts or just use a clear coat, you could even swirl with stain or cresting paint if you so desired. The possibilities are endless. We have dabbled in splicing feathers and matching the splice with cresting colors too. It's fun stuff.
Topic: Wood arrow gurus, I have a few ???'s (Read 1567 times)
