a bunch of really dumb questions

[pobs]

Bear with me here guys this is by far the best place to get information. so I've searched the forums and I still can't quite find the info I need. so arrow spine, I understand that it's how stiff shafts are but I have no idea how to tell what spine is right me for ( I shoot a long bow #45 and I'm a 28 inch draw) the arrows I have now are aluminum and have no marking on them at all so I haven't a clue as to what spine I need. OH and I'm looking at some easton arrows and I have no idea how they're stiffness rating works.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
-Nate

[pdk25]

It depends on many things, such as how long your arrows will be and how heavy tip/broadhead you plan to use as well as things that are predetermined like how close to center cut your riser is.  Easton has a link on there webpage to input data for a modern longbow, weight at full draw, length of arrow, and weight of tip (up to 150grains in 25 grain increments I think).  This should get you close.  How clean your release is and the individual characteristics of the bow will cause some variation.

[zinndl]

With my draw I shoot about 45#. Easton 1916 aluminum's are what I needed. In my case I cut 1 inch off the shaft and use a 125gn tip and they bare shafted fine. I also use Gold Tip 3555 carbon arrows but I have to use a 100gn brass (shaft cut to 29") insert along with my 125gn tip to weaken the spine enough to get them to bare shaft. My 1916's have a total weight of about 470gn and the gold tips are around 490gn.

[Junction hunter]

My best advice is to find a shop that has Trad shooters and get help right out of the gate. I've found most Trad shooters are more than willing to help.

[AllenR]

This is a post by Tony Camera on another forum. It is a good place to start for aluminum arrows:

"Here's the deal: There are only seven arrow spines you need to work from #25 to about #100. (Note this is an approximation and you see why in a second).

IN GENERAL for 28" ARROWS +/- 1: ( 27 - 29") and 100 - 125gr heads:

#25 - #33 1716
#34 - #42 1816
#43 - #52 1916
#53 - #60 2016
#61 - #70 2117
#71 - #80 2216
#81 - #100 2219+ (Might want to play with 23xx and 24xx, gets a little dicey at those weights)

If you go to a 30" arrow, jump up one spine, 32", then go two spine numbers. Ditto for going shorter, 26" one spine down, for 24" two spines down.

This WILL NOT give you the perfect aluminum arrow for a given bow. It will give you a tunable arrow, and that's all you need for starters. Once the arrow is tuned, you'll know if you're compensating for a stiff or soft arrow by the tuning requirements. Then you can go in to finer arrow choices.

For example, if you have a #41 @ 28" bow and are using a 29" arrow, you'd pick an 1816, right? And that would work. If you find that you have to move the rest/strike plate out a little more than you like, then you NEXT set of arrow might be 1914s. It’s the same weight as the 1816s, but a little stiffer."

Tony has many more years of experience with recurves and longbows than I and I've learned to believe his posts.

Hope this helps,
Allen

[pobs]

Thanks a lot for all the help guys!! so for my bow (#45 @28in longbow) what kind of spine would I be looking for, I'm not gonna be hunting just target shooting for now, just a baseline would be helpful.

[bgram]

Easton came out with a newer Gamegetter that is all black.  The 500 series is .500 spine, which would be a good place to start.  Not sure what you would end up with as far as length and point weight during tuning, but that should put you in the house somewhat.  The 500's are 2016's, it'll say that on the shaft that it's made from 2016 componets.  Same great arrow, just in black now.  For something more fine tune, the advice given above for the 1916 is on the money.  The black Gamegetters are pretty commonly sold, which is an ease starting out.