Old Cedar Arrows...

[Amberjack]

Howdy folks,

Question for you arrow gurus. I picked up some old cedars (probably '58 or '59 vintage) that are in pretty good shape. I'd like to shoot these but since I don't have any info on them - no markings - I have no idea what spine they are.

They're the right length and have some old Arrowmate broadheads on them that I'll replace but are there any tricks to roughly gauge the spine of an arrow?  

Maybe I should just take my lowest poundage bow and start shooting them until I find a bow that they work with?

Thanks in advance!

AJ

[elkken]

Unless some one close to you has an arrow spiner I would just start shooting them and see what happens. Give them a good eyeball going over before shooting just to be safe. Starting with your low poundage bow is a good idea.

[Looper]

You could make a comparison with your existing shafts.
Put two nails in a board about 26" from each other.

Screw that board to a wall.

Use a 2# weight of some sort and hook it onto the middle of your arrow.

Mark on the board the top of where that arrow bends to. Be sure to mark the spot accurately with a straight edge held perpendicular to the board, and make a note of the spine of each arrow.

Repeat with several different spine arrows.

Finally, put in those old shafts. You should see very clearly where they fall on the spectrum.

You don't really need to use 26" and a 2# weight. Actually using 28" and the 2# weight will give you a larger gap between the different spines and is easier to read.

The reason for doing this is to make sure you don't shoot too light a spine in your bow. I did that once and had an arrow shatter on me.

[wooddamon1]

I'd change the nocks, just to be safe. I've heard they can get brittle with age and crack when shot...