New ? for wood arrow xperts

[shortstroke 91]

Has anyone seen a 5/16 shaft that is capable of spineing out to #65?

Also wondering if it is be possible to barrel taper an 11/32 #65 spine down to 5/16 front and back.

[snag]

Pretty tough to get 65# out of a 5/16" shaft. It can be done though. It just when you have a piece of wood that is giving you that heavy of spine weight in 11/32 it takes quite a bit of sanding/doweling to get it down to 5/16 and most won't want to spend that time doing it. They'd rather sell it as a high spined shaft than go the other way. Yes, you can barrel taper a 11/32 down to 5/16. I believe you will lose about 15-20gr when you taper a shaft. So you would lose around 40gr in shaft weight if that is a concern. What poundage of bow are thinking of shooting these out of?

[SlowBowke]

Others will have more experience than I will reply but I do know Im giving thought to taking one of my few remaining 11/32 and 85-90 hickories that are tapered to 5/16 and sanding one or two down to 5/16 parallel to see what I have left in weight and spine.

Might even full length taper one for giggles!

A bit stiff for my lower 40s bows LOL!

Ive barrel tapered 23/64 shafts successfully but never took the tip to 5/16, just the nock end, leaving the tip end 11/32. Flew as good as about any Ive had.

Some poo poo barreled shafts thinking the penetration suffers but field experience didnt show me squat difference on whitetail.

God Bless

[shortstroke 91]

Snag, I'm shooting a Morrison metal ILF with Dryad limbs. #46 @ my 29". I'm trying to get a set of woodies that will impact as close as possible to the carbons I'm shooting now.
Ideally I'd like to shoot a 31" shaft with 190 grains up front but with the 11/32 shafts I have now (test set from 3rivers 50/55 thru 65/70) they all shoot well (bareshaft and fletched)with 190 grains up front but they impact left. The 65/70 were the farthest left and the 50/55 were the farthest right (right handed). I'm considering a weaker spine to bring my impact right but everyone says "With that set up you'd need around #65 spine"

[Ari]

I think forgewoods from Alaska frontier archery are a 5/16 and would have an arrow that is spined to 65#, I hear they are really heavy and strong.

God Bless

[snag]

Alaska Frontier WAS making shafts, but not any longer. They were using the Sweetland equipment and at the end were making them out of hemlock and another wood. Yes, if Forgewoods were still being made you could have a compressed POC shaft that would be around 5/16" and be well over 65# spine. Some of the ones I have are 80#-85#. But this process of compressing POC is not being done today. So we are back to wood shafts that are not compressed.

[Orion]

I've been shooting cedars for a long time and have never found 5/16 shafts in 65# spine in uncompressed cedar.  Have had some 21/64 cedars that spined that heavy.  Yes, they did make 21/64 cedars in the past. I have found some 80-85# shafts in 11/32 though, so 65# in 5/16 should be possible.  In truth, i've seldom looked for 5/16 shafts that heavy, except for forgewoods.  Just automatically looked toward 11/32 shafts in that weight.  However, they may have been and may still be around, but they would be quite rare.

Sweetland forgewoods will definitely spine that heavy.  I have some 9/32 tapered to 1/4-inch forgewoods that spine 65-70#.  These are extremely rare, however.  Likewise, the forgewoods made by Alaska Frontier Supply would do the job, but they, too, are quite rare.  As Snag pointed out, they've been out of business for several years.

Might be able to get 5/16 Doug fir to spine 65#@28 inches, and, of course, most hardwoods will spine that heavy in a 5/16 shaft.  You'll probably need to go even heavier in a hardwood shaft.  They're physically heavier and don't recover from flexing around the riser as fast as cedar (or carbon), so more spine is required. I have some Ramin shafts in 5/16 that spine in the mid-60s.  Very nice mid-weight shafts.

[Bill Carlsen]

I doubt you will ever find a 5/16 shaft that stiff unless it is made of dymondwood or some sort of laminate. If you taper a shaft to 5/16 at both ends you will loose about 5# in spine so to do it right you need to start with a shaft that is 5# stiffer than what you need.

[shortstroke 91]

OK, Is it as simple as reducing spine to move impact right if all else is the same?
 
I.E. If my 65/70 hit 8" left and my 50/55 hit 3" left could I suppose that a 40/45 might be dead on?

[Bjorn]

I am surprised that with the Morrison riser your spine requirement is so low, especially with 190 gns up front. Does that riser have an adjustable side wall?

[snag]

Bill, you'd be surprised. I know douglas fir is able to achieve 125# spine weights in 11/32". That type of shaft if it were sanded down to 5/16" would easily be over 65#. That said, that heavy of a shaft is not the norm by any means.

[shortstroke 91]

BJORN, you're response is the same I hear from almost everyone, the Morrison is cut 3/16 past center and has a felt side plate that is probably 1/8 thick. I do have a high brace height and shoot B50 strings. There must be something to do with the indian behind the arrow but several people have shot this bow and all agree that the field points, broadheads and bare shafts fly true and impact virtually the same. I can't explain the results but they are what they are.

[JRY309]

You might look at Ramin wood shafts,you can get some higher spines in 5/16" then other wood arrows.

[Hot Hap]

I have two dz. ramin shafts that are 5/16 that spine out at 65# if I remember right. I started working on them and just quit, don't know why. I guess they're somewhere in the basement.

Hap

[Mark Baker]

I was gonna say, but Snag beat me to it....I have some doug fir shafts that I bought from Joe St. Charles some years ago that are 5/16, and several are spined at or above 65 lbs.   Not a common size, though.   I would think that if any wood could get there, the hickories might.....and I do have a bunch of 21/64's in pine that are 65-70's.   Also, ramin can be that heavy if you can find a good source.   I've even spined out some hardware store dowels at that spine in 5/16.

[maxwell]

I have a bunch of the Alaskan Forgewoods and was told by the owners when they were in business that with their process the lightest spine shaft they made was probably 65-70#  5/16.  They are very strong and heavy.

[frank bullitt]

Ramin, if you can find them. I have some Acme ramin shafts that high. Not many though.

Someone was mentioning Ipe shafts, on hear as of late. I have also planed down dowels from heavier spined shafts that come in at that range.

[Buckhorn47]

I agree totally with Ramin. Have located random weights and thicknesses in craft stores ( White Rose ), some hardware stores, lumber supply places that have dowelling using Malaysian birch ( which is Ramin ). The best size to begin with is 3/8" and sand down to 5/16". A 100 spine plus at 3/8 will spine out to 65 lbs. approx. at 11/32". In rare instances, I have located 5/16" or smaller in ramin that will be close to the 65lbs.
Just an aside, however, a barrel tapered, 3/8" section of ramin is a thing of beauty in the hunting field. (12 inch taper at nock end to 5/16" and 8-10"  taper at point end to 11/32")

[Shakes.602]

Lets Hear it for Wally World Shafts!!  BOOO-YAAA!! Zee Price Be Right Too!!      

[Tater 2]

I have a few 60-65 5/16ths Hickories left out of a dozen. At 28.5" they weigh 680-700grns with a 125gr point.