New guy with arrow question

[Wvtrad]

Hey guys!!! This is my first post here I hope it's on the right spot. I'm wanting to get some wood arrows I've been shooting gt traditionals. But my question is what's the best way to determine spine and tip weight? I'm really lost one should I just pick a tip weight and get shafts for that or how do I go about getting the correct setup? I'm lost on it hahaha. I'm gonna be hunting whitetail and turkey.  And I noticed most people say they are shooting heavy tips but what If the broadheads only come in 125 or 145. I'm shooting a 58# longbow. Thanks in advance everyone

[STICKBENDER98]

Check out Surewood Shafts web site, great bunch of guys there.  They have test kits available so you can get different spine weights to try.  As far as adding extra weight you can use woody weight, thet glue on the shaft and you glue the tip or broadhead to them, they come is assorted weights so you can play with different weight up front.  Good luck and happy shooting.

Jason

[Gordon Jabben]

Great advice from Jason.

[slowbowjoe]

What longbow, or type of longbow, are you shooting? And what's your draw length? We'll be able to get you very close, at least, if we know these basics which affect spine.
Point weight is a personal choice. Wood shafts weigh quite a bit more than carbons, so your total arrow weight doesn't need to be front loaded to get 10-12 grains per pound of draw,or more, which should be plenty.
Glue on broadheads are actually available to 200 grains+ if you want them... but your are gonna have some very heavy arrows and spines to get there. Loads of folks here do very well with woodies and 125-160 grain heads, I believe (I like 125 or 145 myself).

[Orion]

You can get glue on broad heads from 100 to 300 grains.  Would need more information to offer a recommendation on spine-- your draw length, type of string, type of longbow (ASL, mild r/d, hybrid, etc.) amount of centershot, the point weight you want to shoot.

Specs on your current carbon would also help, ie., spine, length, point weight, etc.

[KevinK]

http://www.3riversarchery.com/pdf/ArrowCharts.pdf
See page 2. It's pretty close. Find your draw weight, at your draw length and add an inch. Depending on the bow, if you're shooting a high performance string and your personal form you may have to go up or down a bow poundage range (possibly 2). I just started getting into wood arrows myself. From one noob to another what I did was find what the spine chart said I should have at 29.5" (knowing my draw length 28.5" and the poundage at that DL). Then I started with a full length arrow, paper tuned and cut 1/4" at a time until tuned. For example my Slick stick is 54# @ 28" and 55# @ 28.5, I was shooting for a 145 grn point so I went with 55-60 spine arrows. They ended up tuning with a 125 grn point at 30-3/8". I could probably still cut it shorter and go with 145 but it flies good so I left it there. Glue on points are cheap, I bought a dozen of each from 100-160 until I knew what I needed.

[Wvtrad]

Hey guy ! Thanks for all the replies so far my bow is a striker classic 2000 longbow. It's 56# @ 28. My carbons are  400 spine with 175 grain tips currently. I'm wanting to shoot the eclipse broadheads which come in 125 and 145. Ohhh and my draw length is 29. Sorry if these are very beginner question haha

[Wvtrad]

Ohh and what about back taper ? Do I want that? And length of current arrows are 31" should I stay with that

[STICKBENDER98]

A back taper will help weaken the spine a little bit, and allow you to shoot a little heavier arrow and spine. Give Steve a call at Surewood Shafts, he can help answer a lot of questions you may have.

[KevinK]

I have no experience with a back tapered shaft other than knowing that they cost more. I think some folks do it to trim arrow weight or get more FOC but maybe others here can comment on the benefits of them. For my first set I bought prefinished shafts from 3R. That way I only had to cut, taper, fletch and install nocks and points. I can say this a full length 32" POC that is tapered with nocks and points mounted measure 31-3/8" from valley of nock to back of point using the 3R V2 taper tool. Again I'm not expert and I'm not familiar with your bow or your form but if I had to guess I would start with a 65-70 spine cedar shaft (if fast flight string) or 60-65 shaft (for dacron string) based off of the longbows I've owned. I would get both 125 and 145 grain points. Start full length with the 145 and shoot through paper. I would assume a weak arrow at first. Then either try the 125 points or start cutting in 1/4" increments. You'll get the feel for it quickly. I had a much easier time tuning wood arrows vs carbon or even aluminum. My experience so far with wood is that a slightly less than perfect tune is still forgiving (and out of a dozen not all will be perfect unless they are different lengths).

[Orion]

In a wood shaft, given your draw length and a low stretch string, 70-75# should work. No need to keep the shaft 31 inches behind the point.  At your 29-inch draw, could cut them to 30 inches BOP and still have sufficient clearance at the back of the riser.  On the other hand, 31 inches BOP will also work. Might be able to drop spine a few pounds if you leave them longer.

Back tapering doesn't reduce the spine much, about 1-3#.  Regardless, if you order tapered shafts, they will be put into the spine group after the tapering is done.  Tapering also reduces the physical weight about 20-30 grains.  But again, the shafts will be grouped for spine and weight after tapering, so just order the spine and weight you want. Tapered shafts recover just a tad quicker than parallel shafts, but most folks feel that parallel shafts shoot just as well.

Tapering doesn't contribute much to higher FOC. The 20-30 grains of reduced weight on the nock end of the arrow increases FOC about 1%.  If you in turn, increase the point weight by that amount to maintain the same overall arrow weight, that will increase the FOC another 1%. So tapering with a 145 grain point will give you about 2% more FOC than a parallel shaft with a 125 grain point, all other things being equal.

I recommend you get a test package to start-- 65-70, 70-75, and 75-80.

Good luck.

[crazynate]

X2 what Orion said. Good info

[TSP]

Based on the info you provided you are drawing about 59# at your draw length using a hybrid-style bow (and I'm guessing a FF string).  A shaft of 70-75# spine should be in the ballpark for you if using 125 or 145 gr. heads with a conventional 'three five-inch feathers' fletch arrangement.  You could go with a slightly heavier spine (75-80#) when shooting broadheads, which tend to require a bit more stiffness than do field points.  Or, you could order your shafts on the long side and test/cut them back a little as necessary to get a stiffer arrow (shortening increases spine).  

Bare shaft testing is hit or miss with natural wood arrows, particularly if you plan to use natural wood species rather than glued composites.  It's your call as to whether the cost of a test kit is warranted or advantageous to you.
 
With moderate to strong R/D hybrids (like Striker) it's better to be slightly overspined than underspined.  If necessary you can always reduce spine by using heavier heads.

Finally, once in the 'spine ballpark' your arrow flight can fine-be tuned by making your side rest thicker (moves the arrow to the left for a RH shooter) or thinner (moves the arrow to the right).  You don't need to be exact with spine, most hybrids are fairly forgiving in this regard.

Just one opinion, good luck with your choices.

[slowbowjoe]

Well I've tried adding a post twice now and it hasn't quite got here... but TSP summed it up very well above.

I'll add: Do yourself a favor and get premium grade shafts from someone on this site whose specialty is arrows (built) or shafts, rather than a large supply house. I came up with 70/75's like TSP, based on a 30" length to back of point.

[KevinK]

I'd go with the advice above rather than mine. As I stated, I'm new to this as well and not familiar with your bow. I also only shoot Dacron strings and none of my bows are higher performance. Have fun with it, It gets addictive just like trad archery. I started with my first set of prefinished shafts in February and since then have made 4 additional sets for other bows we have. It becomes a much more personal addition to your archery tackle, as they will be "your" arrows.

I have used "Stu's Calculator" for several years now....takes all of the guesswork out of the equation.  Although you can "tweak" from this point I have consistently found it unnecessary. No guesswork.  Just a data-driven decision.

Look Here:   http://heilakka.com/stumiller/