Paper tuned my 'tip, today....

[GMMAT]

I had no idea.  With some GREAT guidance, though....I've never been more confident in my setup.

Is this something a lot of you do?

I learned a lot, today.

thanks a lot, Page....

[Fletcher]

Congrats, Man.  It's always good to learn something new.  Paper tuning is my favorite method of gettin things right.  You can even do it with broadheads.  Quick, easy and cheap.  Newspaper works great.

[pebowbender]

My pleasure Jeff. Tweeking bows is a blast and the reward is tighter groups which means short blood trails.

[alex o]

Could you go over how to paper tune properly? Is this easier than bare shaft tuning?

Thanks,

ALex

[GMMAT]

I'm gonna defer to Page.....lol.

[pebowbender]

alex o, Bare shaft tuning will get you close while paper tuning will show you exactly what the arrow is doing when it leaves the bow. All you need is something to hold the paper in front of you, about 6 to 10 feet in front of the bow. Jeff and I cut a square, out of a card board box, slightly smaller than a sheet of copier paper. Then cut the back out of the box so it would not interfer with the flight of the arrow. Tape the paper to the front and set the box on saw bucks so it was about chest high. Put a target bail behind the box far enough away for the arrow to clear the paper and still have enough room to pull the arrow without disrupting the paper. Shoot through the paper and look at the tear. Adjust the same as you would bare shafting. Bare shafting, you can only adjust what you see when the arrow is flying through the air. Paper tuning, you adjust according to the results you have in front of you that you are able to analize.

[GMMAT]

Great info, Page.

Bare shaft....I was close with a 30" 250 with a 175gr. tip weight.

Paper tuned....I lowered my nocking point (a lot) and dropped to a 145/150gr. tip.

Never been more confident in ANY setup (compound OR trad.)

[eman614]

how do you read what the paper tells you? what do the different tears mean?

[GMMAT]

Same thing a bare shaft would show you.....is how you adjust.

[eman614]

i realize that. but if i have a tear going from left to right does that mean i'm too stiff, or not stiff enough? i am obviously clueless when it comes to arrow tuning.

[pebowbender]

eman614, A tear from left(point) to right(nock) for a right handed shooter would mean the arrow is too stiff.

One thing I failed to mention above is that paper tuninig is done with a fletched arrow.

[Tim Fishell]

There is a great tutorial on how to paper tune on Elite Arrows website:

  http://elitearrows.com/proper-arrow/

One thing that can screw you up is not have a consistant anchor while paper tuning.  You must draw the same every time for this type of tuning to work.

[GMMAT]

I agre, Tim.  That's what Page was watching for.  He wasn't even looking at the paper.  I'd point the tears out to him.  He was checking form.

I just thought I'd see how many others do this.  It was an interesting exercise.

[longbow55]

I've tried paper tuning, and had one concern. If you cant your bow when you shoot, does it make a difference in the tears, or should you hold your bow vertical when paper tuning.

[Widowbender]

I used to use a step ladder for a paper rack...For those that haven't tried it yet, after you get a good tear at about 6' or so you need to move back to make sure the arrow wasn't just in a recovery position when it passed thru the paper. I use to shoot from 6,10,15,20,30, etc.  There is also a good tutorial on this on Masters of the Barebow VOl.II by Rod Jenkins