Delicacy of Wood Arrows?

[cedar]

I think they are too stiff for both bows.  With the longbow showing weak, I think the arrow is deflecting off the riser and giving you a false reading.  I would try a 29" arrow, 65-70 out of the recurve with 125 point, and a 29", 60-65 with 125 point out of the longbow.  These would be with a D97 string.  If you use dacron B50, subtract 5 lbs spine.  Surewood are good shafts and Bravehart is a good company, its not the shafts imo.  I don't like to bareshaft wood unless I am close to the right spine for the very reason you have experienced, they will snap when they hit sideways.  Fletch up and paper tune, I think you will be satisfied.

[maxwell]

I tried bare shafting firs 25 years ago with the same result.  Two broke at five yards, were hitting the target flat as I recall.  Have been using woodies ever since and not one has broken that had feathers on it and hit the target.  I even hit a car once, don't ask  arrow hit the engine alaskan forge wood didn't break.

[dnovo]

I also don't believe in bareshafting wood. It doesn't work like with carbons.

[Bonebuster]

Wood arrows usually hold up pretty good for most people.

Personally, I love wood arrows for the joy of making them, and I will agree that quality wood arrows will fly and hit every bit as good as any arrow shaft out there. For me, durability has ALWAYS been a problem.

I have used Ash, Cedar, Sitka spruce, and Hex-pine.

I never tried bareshafting wood shafts, but I can tell you it wouldn`t work for me.

Any type of glancing blow should cause you to be very suspicious of the integrity of a wood shaft.
JMHO.

Wood arrows are loved by some...myself included.

I use them and accept them for what they are...and for me I would honestly say I can`t call them "durable".

[customcrester]

I never bareshaft tune any of my arrows, just can't do it. I don't paper tune either. I just fletch the arrows up and tune by cutting the shaft down a 1/4" at a time until they fly great and it's that easy. I have been doing it that way for 29 years and it works. Good luck and shoot strait.

[CRS]

I have had the exact same problem trying to tune woodies.  But my dynamic spin was way off.  If they are fairly close, it works.

I am a huge believer in bareshaft tuning, when I can make an arrow walk across a target by changing dynamic spine, I believe it is in my best interest to get the arrow to shoot where I am pointing it.  Not 12 inches left or 8 inches right.

When I first started making woodies (1994), took the advice of others.  Just add 10# to your draw weight and there is your spine.  Have at it, shoot like crazy, have fun, it's not that important anyway.  They didn't always fly perfect, but OK. Screwed around with all the variables trying to get them to shoot perfectly, except changin the dynamic spine.

Then I got lucky, I accidently made up a bunch of wood arrows that were tuned perfectly to my bow.

My shooting, confidence, and hunting success improved tremendously.  The light bulb came on.

So I bareshaft woodies, but you need to be close in your calculations first.  The thing that seems to give the most trouble is the amount of centershot on any given bow.

Now whenever someone wants to try traditional, I tell them the most important thing is getting matched sets of arrows tuned perfectly to their bow.  Traditional is enough of a learning curve, why put yourself behind the 8 ball with bad arrows.

[Mike Vines]

I don't believe in bare shaft tuning.  Put some feathers on the shaft, and shoot them.  You don't hunt with a bare shaft, you hunt with a feathered one.  I may not be the norm (been told that all my life) but my arrows fly well.  I can shoot anywhere from 30# shafts, up to 70# shafts out of my mid 50# longbow and they all fly great.  I also shoot three 5 3/8" banana feathers, which I believe allows my arrows to recover quickly.  Just my .02

[Bud B.]

FWIW,

I bought some just-long-enough Ramin shafts off a fellow TGer from the classifieds and took them stumping today while out looking for sheds. I drew back on a rotten pine and overshot it by a few inches and nicked a log behind it. The field point lanced off the log and then the arrow bounced off several more limbs and tree trunks before falling to the top of the pine needle/leaf mixture. I walked over to it expecting to see the point gone and the shaft in splinters. To my surprise the Ramin shaft held its own against the native pine stand. Not even the fletching was ruffled.

I shot the same arrow several more time during the brief walk. And several more times it ping-ponged off trees and limbs. I even had to dig it out of a stump with a rubber mallet and wood chisel on one shot.

It's still in the quiver tonight with the same point and hardly even the finish is smudged.

It took numerous hard richochets off different things. I'm becoming a fan of Ramin. It straightens easily with an ace roller.

Just throwing it out there.

[Fletcher]

Bareshaft arrows will fly more or less sideways unless perfectly spined and released and wood shafts can snap if they hit the target crooked.  I won't bareshaft with wood arrows and paper tune instead.  I am yet to break an arrow paper tuning and find the process faster, easier and much easier to read than bareshafting, but just as effective and accurate.