Finaly bought some carbons........

[adeeden]

Well, I finaly did it, I have been thinking about trying them for along time. Kustom King had a good deal on some vapor carbons (3000 45-60) and I ordered a dozen and a dozen 100 grain inserts. So it looks like I got some cutting and tuning to do soon. I have shot woodies for the last 15+ years so this is a big step for me. gonna tune them for my 53# Bob Lee takedown recurve.
   What do you all normaly use to cut your carbons? and is there any tips on glue for the inserts while tuning? seems there should be a way to remove them easy in the tuning process. I reckon when the tuning is done I'll epoxy them in for keeps. If anyone has any slick tricks for tuning these things please let me know.
  Adeeden

[Wudstix]

The Beman ICS 400 that I flirt with at 3-D, sometimes I cut to 29" and then put the 100 grain brass broadhead adapters on with a 160 grain tip.  My bow is 10# heavier than yours, but I like the tad bit of extra weight I get from the added 1 1/2" of carbon arrow.  Also, I put weedeater line tight into the brass adapter and cut it off with about 1/2" sticking out the nock end.  Then jam the nock on tight for no line rattle.  That adds 60 grains for me.  I have tapered Cedar , 2020 and Beman arrows that all weight within 5 grains.  
If you cut them I'd use a high speed saw or go to a Pro-shop.

Michael  

[CW]

A material I found works well for temporarily holding the inserts in during the tuning process is the thin plastic suit or sweater protectors/covers you get from the dry cleaners.  It's a very thin plastic and I just stretch some of that over the end of the shaft and push the insert and field tip in.  All you need are some pliers to pull your field tip and insert out to make a cutting adjustment and then push them back in with a new piece of that thin, dry cleaners plastic.

[Dustin Waters]

glue the insert in and then cut from the front of the shaft... but the plastic bag seems pretty slick too.

[MikeC]

I cut them with a fine toothed hack-saw blade.  I wrap electrical tape around half of it for a handle.  Use a strip of masking tape where the cut is to be made on the shaft, then I make sure it's square and smooth using a file.

I only purchase shafts that my local archery shops carry, if you do the same once you know what length you need after the first tuning just have the shop cut them for you,  my shop cuts mine at no extra charge and I can buy three at a time if I want.

I use hot melt for the inserts, never had a problem.  When tuning a new shaft I cut from the nock end as it just slips in and out.  When you get close to being tuned cut no more than a 1/4" or less at a time.

I like my arrows to fly flat so I just use the standard inserts and either 100 grain or 125 grain heads, depending upon which bow it is and the weight.

I waited to long to make the switch myself but once I did there was no going back to wood or ALU.  At least for me.

Carbons may seem more expensive but there are some great deals out there on really good shafts, and in the long-run they are less expensive due to their toughness.

Good Luck!

[adeeden]

Thanks for the help guys!

[bjk]

I use hot glue on my Axis...not sure if I go back and redo them with epoxy, either.

[swampbuck]

I,ve used hot melt and remove the insert by heating up a FP that's screwed into it.Don,t heat the shaft dirrectly.I like that plastic trick sounds nice.As for cutting I clamp my dremel tool into a pc of corner molding and set a stop up on the other end.In the dremel I use abrasive cutoff wheel's.

For the fletch I,ve been useing the gel type super glue,becareful not to put on to much because ya can glue the feather's to the inside of your clamp and it,s a pain to get them off without ruining them.

[Shawn Leonard]

Adeeden, if ya draw 28"s ya can cut them to 29.5"s and put 100 grain insert and 125 grain point and you will be awful close with that bow, ya may be able to cut back to 29"s and still get good flight. Shawn

[adeeden]

Shawn,
      Actually I only draw 27 inches. I was hoping to be able to get down to 28 1/2 inches for total length. I plan on starting at 30 inches and cutting 1/8 inch off at a time until they start going stiff. I may even go heavier then 125 grain point to try to shorten them a bit. I hope this works out this whole carbon thing is nerve racking!

[Wudstix]

That plastic trick is sweet.  I have some AD Nitro Greens I need to tune.

[bowdude]

Now add lighted nocks and you won't lose them too easily either!

[JRY309]

Most carbons out there just do not come in the variety of spine weights as aluminum or wood.I start long and tune them by cutting alittle at a time.I don't worry about the length that much,I draw 27" also and most of my carbons usually end up 29" to 30" long.I have had some 28" carbons and I just couldn't get them to tune very well.Carbons are a different learning and tuning curve then what I was use to with wood and aluminum.But the same carbons tune very good to a variety of my bows.Shorter carbons for me seem to fly erratic unless everything is perfect.Especially on trad bows that are not cut to center.I like to start with heavier spine carbons and tune them by cutting and adding front end weight.I just don't like to shoot a 400 gr. arrow out of a 60-75# bow.

[Choctaw]

One tip on the inserts. If you use super glue gel like I did. Make sure to push the insert in fast with one big push. Mine set up about half way in on the two I did with gel. It seemed almost like the gel reacted with the carbon.

Choctaw