Help tuning wood shafts

[okcaveman]

Hey guys and gals, I just recently picked up a toelke whistler, 60" 41 @28". I'm drawing right at 30", and shooting slit finger..

I decided I wanted to shoot wood out of this beauty. After playing around with a test kit, it seems to like the 60-65 spine the best, shooting full length with 146 and 160 gr heads. When my release is good, it has very little side to side movement.
The problem is, I can't seem to get away from it being very nock high. I've toyed with the nock height from 3/8 to 5/8, and can't see much difference. Any tips or advise?

Also, this bow seems to have a bit of twang to it on release. I'm sure some of it is my fault, and I attribute some to the skinny string, but when I got it, it had a thick leather pad on the shelf. It's tillers 3 under, but would using a thinner pad and lowering the arrow more to center help quiet it down?

Thanks for the help!

[Pine]

I have had bows that the nock point wanted to be 3/16" but I doubt that's your problem being the bow is tillered 3U.
Do you use 2 nock points?
That is essential for 3U shooting.

[Orion]

A 5/8-inch nock point isn't high for 3 under.  Might try it even higher.  I agree with OK, be sure to use two nock points.  If the hen feather is catching on the riser shelf and kicking the rear of the arrow up, you might try nocking cock feather in.  Hen feather contact with the side plate can also lead to fishtailing, as can a brace height that's too low. 

Low stretch strings do give off a higher pitched sound than dacron.  Changing the arrow shelf material likely wouldn't address the noise or nock high issues.

[okcaveman]

The bow is tillered 3 under, but i shoot split finger. It does have 2 nock points currently.

 I was more curious if using a thinner material, thereby lowering the arrow would make a difference. Maybe thats why its thicker, to account for the 3 under tiller, as the person I purchased from also shot split finger.

Thanks yall

[slowbowjoe]

Call Dan. Bet he can figure it out for 'ya.
For what it's worth, I have a Pika, had a Whip, test drove a Whistler, and shot two Whip's of my girlfriends. I asked Dan about wood arrow spine for the first Whip she got, and he suggested a dynamic spine 5 lbs above the bow's draw weight. Has seemed to work fine for all the bows. In this case, it was 44@28.  . I had similar issues with my Pika, both with hearing a twang and some porpoising. I replaced the rubber whiskers with some wool Hush Puppies, set at 1/3 and one quarter, fine tuned my nock height (I shoot two under... can't use my index finger). Another big factor was finding the sweet spot for arrow spine. In my case, bow is 43@28, I draw around 26.5. Dynamic spine of 45 have been as perfect as I can get. Can go a pond or so lighter, and 3 or 4 pounds heavier, and still be pretty good.

The bow is now typical Toelke quiet. Again, I highly recommend talking to Dan - he's super helpful. You'll have it figured out pretty quick.

[Orion]

5/8 isn't really high for spit finger shooting either.  That's where I set my nock points, and I shoot split.  Reducing the thickness of the shelf material really isn't going to do anything.  Only makers an eighth of an inch or less difference, and you can get the same effect by raising the nock point that amount.

Could be a form problem.  You might be vertically torquing the string, i.e., too much pressure on the index or ring finger. Even a high elbow and upward pluck could cause it.  And, as I noted before, a too low brace height can cause the arrow to bounce off the shelf and/or side plate.

Did you try shooting cock feather in?  Did you check your brace height?  It may have dropped, not unusual in hot, humid weather, particularly with a dacron string.

[Wudstix]

I saw a chart that suggested 5-10# above draw weight for D/R, 5-10# for low stretch string, 5# for up to 160 grain and 5# for over.  So 66# D/R longbow with FF and 190 grain head with 29” arrow would be approximately 66+7.5+7.5+7.5=88.5-96#
 

[okcaveman]

Thanks for the responses Y'all. I think I will give Dan a call and see if he has any advice.

[Wheels2]

Most wood shafts are 23/64" which makes 3/4" high seem like it is too much but when you consider the larger shaft diameter, it isn't.

Gone are the days of 11/32" shafts in heavier spines.  I miss compressed cedars!