Tuning Question???

[snag]

I have tuned my Blacktail recurve 55#@28" w/ 29" 2018s with 150gr tips.  Then I made some 29.5" POC tapered shaft 80-84# arrows with 160gr. tips. The POC have a little porpoising in flight. The nock pt. is set at 7/8" (I shoot 3 under).  Should I lower the nock pt.?

[McDave]

Have you shot any of your new POC arrows bare shaft, or are your observations based on fletched arrows?

How did you decide on 80-84# arrows for your 55# bow?  They might be okay, based on your heavier than normal point weight and arrow length, but I just wondered.

7/8" is a fairly high nock point, and you may need to lower it, but it will be hard to tell when you get to the optimum position for it without shooting bare shafts.

[snag]

No I haven't bare shafted them yet. I just know that when I bought this bow the bowyer had me try it out with this set up and they flew great. I know bare shafting is optimum way of telling if they match up well. I was just trying to see if I could do a minor adjustment before going that route.

[snag]

Okay, the truth is I got so carried away I fletched ALL of them up! I really didn't want to have to strip one or two to bare shaft them.....they are so prudy, didn't want to mess them up!

[McDave]

Ordinarily, you want to tune for spine before you tune for porpoising.  I recommend you shoot a bare shaft and see what's happening.  If you're not getting a lot of nock-right or nock-left when you shoot the bare shaft, then see if you're getting nock-high (compared to a fletched arrow).  If you're getting nock-high, then gradually lower the nock point until the bare shaft is hitting the target at the same angle as the fletched shafts.  A little nock-high is okay.

On the other hand, if you're getting nock-right with the bare shaft, it means your shaft is too stiff for your bow.  A little too stiff is okay, but if it's way too stiff, that's probably a worse problem than your porpoising.

Shooting bare shafts is simple to do, and tells you a lot about what's going on.  It should be easy, since you made up the arrows yourself anyway.  I save a bare shaft from every different batch of arrows I either buy or make, and after a while, you have enough set aside that you can easily determine what you need for any new bow you buy or make.

OTOH, it's not going to hurt anything if you just lower your nock point 1/8" and see if you like the arrow flight better.

[McDave]

If you fletched all your arrows, you might want to do what Ken Beck of BW bows does, and trim the fletches on one arrow back to 1/8".  It will give you the same indications as a bare shaft, and can also be used, with a little dab of lipstick or something, to tell if you have quill contact with your riser or arrow shelf.  Then just leave the arrow with the trimmed feathers in with your practice arrows.  It will keep you honest about your form, because if anything goes wrong with your form or release, it will have an obvious effect on the flight of the almost bare shaft.