Nock and Grain Orientation

[Buckwheaties]

I think jim is right. I still do the rif up and away though.

[Grey Taylor]

Rick, thank you very much for posting that picture. It's a lot better than the one I put up.
Jim, the nock being perpendicular to the grain is not in question. That's well documented.
What we're wondering about is how the grain run out rifts point, as per the picture R. Combs put up.
Is it necessary for them to be on top of the shaft pointing to the tip of the arrow?
Is it an archery legend to orient them that way?
We've all heard it should be done that way, but does practical evidence show arrows breaking in a manner that the rifts matter?

So far it's looking like an archery legend. Especially with how 4 fletch arrows are nocked, they could go either way (!).
I know I'll keep making arrows this way for the sake of uniformity, if nothing else.

Guy

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by R. Combs:
Here is a picture of the correct rift alignment from T.J. Conrads book.

   

let's bring this up top again.

i don't intentionally line the 'rift' or 'grain feather points' in the direction of the bow hand.  if the shaft blows on release, and those little daggers separate from the shaft and are flying in the direction of the bow hand/wrist.  i flip 'em around and point them towards the nock end.

ymmv.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I broke a wood arrow on release as a teenager.  I over-drew and the tip was on the belly of the riser when I released.  I thought the bow exploded.  Scratched the bow and trashed the arrow but no other harm.

I also drove a fletching into my hand for an inch under the skin about 1/4" deep shooting a shelfless longbow.  Still have a scar there 35+ years later.  MAN that hurt and was worse trying to get it out.  I learned why there is thread whipping on the leading edge of the fletching of old arrows.

[Zbone]

Rob - So let me try to get this straight... You're saying the opposite of what they were saying earlier in the thread???

[DesertDude]

<<<<<<<<<<< on the top of the shaft, towards the point.

>>>>>>>>>>> on the bottom of the shaft, towards the nock.


So if the shaft breaks, the points are not pointing down and forward towards your hand...

Just how I was taught......

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Zbone:
Rob - So let me try to get this straight... You're saying the opposite of what they were saying earlier in the thread???

yes.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by DesertDude:
<<<<<<<<<<< on the top of the shaft, towards the point.

>>>>>>>>>>> on the bottom of the shaft, towards the nock.


So if the shaft breaks, the points are not pointing down and forward towards your hand...

Just how I was taught......

hmmmm.  lemme clarify my opinion - if the both the top and bottom 'feathers' point in one direction, i'll make them all face/point toward the nock end.

[Charlie Lamb]

It's been a number of years since I shot wooden arrows a lot. My squirrel arrows are Ramin, to which this doesn't apply.

Back when I did make and shoot a lot of woods (thousands in my time) I don't remember ever having to deal with "run out". A truly great wooden shaft shouldn't have the little pointy ends of the grain.

I've had a couple of arrows break coming out of really heavy bows and it's a pretty traumatic event even if you aren't left with a piece of shaft run through your bow arm and or hand.

The first happened when I bought a very light and fairly stiff (I thought) dime store arrow. I put it in my quiver and while out roaming one day I pulled it out to see how far I could shoot it.

The bow was a little 58" beauty made by Earl Hoyt. That Pro Hunter was 69# @ 28" and I was stretching it back to almost 31".  
It jumped to a solid 83# @ 31". Talk about stacking!

I came to a solid anchor and let the arrow go at about a 45 degree angle down range.
There was a moment when the pungent smell of cedar was in the air and what seemed like 30 pieces of it exploding in the air around my bow hand.

Slowly the realization of what had happened sunk in and I could feel a throbbing in my wrist. A large red welt slowly appeared and as the pain increased my bow hand opened involuntarily and I dropped the little bow to the ground.

Further up my arm, slightly above my arm-guard, a deep scratch bled from where the metal nocking point on the (basically) dry fired bowstring had made contact.

Apparently a piece of shaft had slapped my wrist in passing. Had it been point first there'd have been more problems.

I couldn't find enough of that little arrow to tell much about how it broke. I just vowed to never do a dumb thing like that again.

[Jack Skinner]

My vote grain orientation to bow yes. Rift orientation doesnt matter. I make my own shafts from boards. Some have run-off I am sure others would maybe find excessive but none have broken on me. I have found that once a shaft makes it through the doweling process and several flexing and spine tests it holds up just find. Doesnt mean I havent had a shaft or two break on release. But normally it is a self-nock, or a damaged arrow I should have noticed before I shot.

On another note the only shaft I have seen break and driven into someones hand on release was a carbon arrow from a recurve bow. I am sure it was a damaged shaft and should not have been shot. That was one of the most painful looking injuries I have seen.

[Don Stokes]

I've never seen it happen, but why take chances? It's really important to check your arrows after shooting them each time. I was taught to slap the arrow on my thigh before nocking it when target shooting, to detect cracks that could break on the shot. A cracked arrow sounds different from a sound one when slapped.

The tendency to separate on the grain varies with species. Those species with an abrupt transition between the light colored portions of the growth ring and the dark portions are more likely to separate between the layers. I pay attention to the rift on these species, but I don't with more homogeneous woods like yellow poplar.

[meathead]

I always align the nocks like Fletcher said.  I am pretty rough on arrows with a lot of stunp shooting so I check them for cracks quit often.  That little thump on the thigh or giving the shaft a little bend to in two directions to check them.