Straightening FINISHED Woodies

[mrpenguin]

Hey Gents,

There are many many superb posts about how to straighten wooden shafts before finishing, fletching, and firing them... but not any (I found) on how to best check for and maintain straightness once the shaft is built? So here are the questions for the wood arrow gurus... AND an answer us woodie neophytes...

1. How can I check for straightness (I currently sight the shaft and spin test it on the point)?

2. How straight is straight with wood? Is 'carbon-straightness' obtainable (I often see a very very slight wobble with my arrows)?

3. How DOES one straighten finished wooden arrows?

Thanks guys!

[kybowhunter2]

Good question I need to know these to. Good post.

[Mike Vines]

I would send a PM to Fletcher to find out the answers to all of those questions.  The man knows his arrows, and does not mind sharing his knowledge with anyone.  If you do, please post his responces.  Hopefully he will see this thread, and post himself.

[JRY309]

I would straighten my finished wood arrows by hand or use a hook tool.Then I would put them on my spinner to check for any wobble or slight bend.But I would always straighten before I sealed them and they would usally stay straight,but sometimes they may need a little tweeking after they were finished.

[Stumpkiller]

You can get them pretty darned straight.  Carbon straight - no.  It's wood and has grain.  Straight enough most shooters won't be able to do any better with a straighter shaft - pretty much.


Two pieces of 1" x 6" poplar dowel. Drill a 3/8" hole in the end of one and one 3/8" hole and one 11/32" in the other. Open the two holes in the second dowel out to the side.

The dowel with the single hole is for field points. The one with two holes for broadheads or other arrow points the first dowel won't slip over.

 

 

 

 

 

To use, look down the arrow and place the tool at the kink. Use enough pressure to bend it back the way you want it. As an alternative, set the shaft with one end on a table and rub the high spot hard with the tool. The heat from rubbing friction and pressure will work the bend out. It takes a bit of practice to get a feel for what the wood will take. Practice on a dowel or broken arrow. If you have a way to apply heat it will help the set take better. I warm the shafts over a paint stripper gun held in a vice.

Bend in the fletch area? Use the larger screw eye cemented in the tip of the dowel with one hole to slip over the feathers and apply pressure with that. These work great and go back to antler and bone tools used during or just after the ice age.

[Charlie Lamb]

Eric...I don't shoot woods much anymore but when I did I made it a habit to check each arrow for cracks and bends before shooting.... assuming time is not of the essence.

I was shown how to spin the arrow or shaft on the nail of my thumb and middle finger. It's a quick and easy check of straightness.

Touch the two fingernails described to form a small V and lay the arrow in it at the balance point.
Grab the nock and with a quick snap of the fingers and flick of the wrist spin the arrow or shaft.

The straighter the shaft the longer and smoother it spins. If you spin it and the arrow jumps off your fingers, you've got some work to do.

Actual straightening was done by applying heat (not so much that you can't handle the shaft with bare hands).

The heating makes the wood pliable and bends easily to the touch. By sighting down the shaft and bending it across your palm with the other hand you can get them as straight as you have patience.
 
Once cooled (keep and eye on them as they cool and nudge any that show an inclination to go crooked) they will stay straight or reasonably so.

[mrpenguin]

Great posts Guys... keep them coming!!

[Grey Taylor]

In my experience, once it's no longer a raw shaft and has moved on to being an arrow with a finish, the heating and compression methods can be dicey. I'd be worried about heating degrading the finish and compression cracking it.
Once the arrow is finished I bend the arrow over my palm to straighten out any wobbles. An arrow spinner makes it easy to see if anything needs to be corrected.

Guy

[Orion]

Yep.  What Grey says.  Hooking them once a finish is on them almost always dents/chips the finish. Same with using a burnishing rod. Just a little too much heat will orange peel the finish at best and scorch/melt it at worst. Depending on where the bend may be, I just grab the shaft with both hands either side of the bend and bend the shaft in the opposite direction.  Check and do again if necessary.  Or, it might be possible to lay one end of the shaft on a hard surface on an angle and work the bend by pressing down on it and rubbing back and forth with the with the palm of the hand.

In addition to the way Charlie offered to check for straightness, you can form a V with the thumb and forefinger  or middle finger of one hand (just the fingernails touching) and lean the shaft against it just below the fletching. The point should rest in the palm of your other hand.  With the arrow held just about vertical, blow hard across the feathers.  The arrow will spin like a top. If there's a wobble in the arrow, point or nock, you'll see and feel it.

[stickbowhntr]

Lots of good info in here ... keep it up.

[SuperK]

You can use the Ace roller-straight (?) to straighten finished arrows.  The "wheel" in it is brass so it doesn't harm the arrow's finish.  I probably didn't spell it correct so go to Ace archery website and check it out.  It works great.

[Rock Crusher]

I do as mentioned above. I have the Ace roller and spin them on my spinner if they are crooked I use the roller to straighten them and it doesn't harm the finish at all.

[Art B]

Sure ,you can heat straighten finished arrows like Charlie said. Safest method to use. The type finish you use will determine how much heat that you can apply. Thats why I use polyurethane myself. Lacquer finishes can't handle that much heat and you need to use caution with this type finish.

If you have a dial indicator tester with rollers then it's not impossibe to get many wood arrows dead straight. Takes patience and time but the end results is well worth it. Keeping 'em that way for very long is another matter.....Art

[Charlie Lamb]

I think it's important that people know not to use too much heat or apply it to quickly. It's best always to hold the shaft a foot or so from the heat source and bring it only to a temp that you can handle with bare hands.

Also remember when heating shafts to let the shaft heat all the way through....to be most effective the shaft HAS to be good and hot all the way through. That way the shaft is pliable and the fibers of the wood are not stressed.

I heat a little then set the shaft aside to let the heat penetrate. I'll warm a second shaft and repeat the process until the first shaft is sufficiently warm.

A raw shaft that is straightened by heat and bend methods then sealed will hold it's straightness better than sealing then straightening.

[snow leopard]

i use a grayling arrow straightener with dial indicator (70.00) on advice from paul at elite arrows, and am able to get my woodies within .010. you need some patience and time, but it's well worth it. btw, last time i talked to paul, he said i could do better---.   :eek:

[mrpenguin]

That's crazy!!! Wow! Does the ability to get arrows straighter have anything to do with the kind of wood the arrow is composed of? So, for instance, is cedar better than say sitka spruce or chundu?

[snow leopard]

eric; my response was primarily directed toward finished arrows; i've never made my own to this point, but will in the future, and i guess my feeling is i would also want them as straight as possible while building and finishing also. may be overkill at that point, but i guess i'm kind of a fanatic regarding straight arrows. the time taken is well worth spent, imho. almost forgot to add; cedar is easier to straighten than sitka spruce, but spruce also maintains it's straightness longer. can't speak for any other woodies, as those are the 2 i've used to this point.

[Stumpkiller]

It has to do with the straightness of the grain and the way the dowel was formed with any wood.  I had some Ramin that gave me fits and some that was fine.

One key is to straighten it before tapering the tips and again before sealing the shafts.  If you cut a nock taper on a shaft bent near that end you've locked the problem in.

I can get a pretty good spin check by palming the shaft against my thigh and rolling it while holding it in my left hand and watching the tip of the point.  Check the broadhead alighment by holding it near the head and then back off to general shaft straightness.  Flip it around to check the nock end.  Another method is to rest the tip against the edge of a workbench and watch the shaft itself as you spin the nock end.  Doesn't work so well with broadheads or blunts.  ;-)

[tecum-tha]

Yeah, Paul does it right, but I never had a problem with the compression method with a finished shaft if it was finished with:
1.) gasket laquer
2.) high quality polyurethane
3.) boat laquer
See Paul use the aluminum gizmo:
   

Personally, I don't build my own wood arrows anymore. Unless you build lots of them, all the money for the finishes,which will be used very little of, must be spent in advance.
Since I like to have different looking arrows as well, it is not worth it for me. I buy with the best arrowsmiths and repair broken off shafts with the arrow-fix method using black locust as repair material in the first 1/3 of the shaft. Makes your investment last much longer!!!
If you add all the material cost together, the professional arrowsmith prices are cheap. They can buy more material and sort it even closer, they get better prices for the raw materials. Take note of your time and calculate your hourly wage. You'll not get rich....

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by tecum-tha:
Unless you build lots of them, all the money for the finishes which will be used very little.

That's why I stopped dipping mine and switched to the MinWax Polyurethane in little pint cans.  That's what I use on our outside doors of the house and on the wood in the boat.  I use enough to keep the can fresh.