To taper or not to taper

[anw0625]

I am looking at wood arrows for my Stalker Longbow and was wondering if I should get tapered arrown or non-tapered arrows?  I am also trying to decide between Douglas Fir and Sitka Shafts?  Thanks for any and all imput!

[centaur]

I've been shooting wood arrows for years, and have never shot the tapered version. I'll be interested to see those who like tapered and  why they prefer them to non-tapered.

[Eric Sprick]

Not sure that it makes a huge difference in the way they shoot but I do prefer the feel of the smaller 5/16 nock.

Eric

[Jake Fr]

Im glad to  one whosee im not the only one who ponders this question lol but will keep watching for what others have to say bout it

[snag]

You can make and tune an arrow from a parallel or a tapered shaft and both will fly great. But with a back tapered shaft you are just tweaking it a tad bit more. Some guys wouldn't notice and some would. You are putting more weight forward. I make a breast tapered shaft that I love to shoot. With a 23/64" shaft I put a 4" front taper down to 11/32" and then a 9" back taper down to 5/16". This is a noticeable difference and more weight forward. It gives you that javelin profile for the best aerodynamics. There is a reason that most flight archers back in the day shot this type of shaft. Once metal and carbon shafts came on the scene we got away from it. Now some carbon manufacturers are coming full circle and offering this.....it all started with wood and still can make an outstanding arrow!

[misfire]

I bought some tapered arrows from a fellow TGer and they are awesome. I can not believe the difference in the arrow flight. Right now I'm in the process of making some for another bow. If these work out as well there will be no going back.

[Stumpkiller]

I make and shoot both. The tapered do seem to penetrate a deer better (23/64 entry hole to slip the 5/16 tail-end through).  The do recover fast and seem more forgiving of a bad release.  

Worth doing?  I think so.  I taper all of my hunting arrows, and they end up being my stumping/roving arrows.  After deer season and during the cold of JAN & FEB I don't mind sitting in the warm livingroom and tapering three dozen shafts on a weekend.  It's a pleasant thing to do while watching TV when you use hand tools.

Lightens the arrow a bit.  Improves FOC if you care about that.

[Steve Clandinin]

I've shot both for years and yes I do notice a differance with tapered shafts.To me they seam to recover faster at the shot from Paradox.I've never tried Surewoods in tapered,I'm sure they wood be the cats meow.

[Bjorn]

If you want light? Then Spruce. Only you can decide if tapering is worth it or not. Personally for me arrows are the most important part of my kit, so I taper and anything else my arrows want.

[Charlie Lamb]

I like the way tapered woods fly. Don't know why, but they just shoot better for me. I taper ALL of my wood shafts.
     

[Pat B.]

What methods and tools are you guys using to back taper your shafts ??

[NoCams]

Question..... with my paralell shafts I roll them on glass or a countertop and use the light that appears underneath the arrow and between the surface I am rolling it on to find the high spots in the shaft. I then know where to apply a little pressure with my ACE roller straightening tool and roll again to verify I took out the high spot.

How do you do that with a tapered shaft..... ? How do you gents and arrowsmiths straighten your tapered shafts.....  

[gringol]

For the old-timers, er more experienced guys, do you need to start with a stiffer shaft than you would if you shoot parallels?  

For example, my bow likes a 80-85# spine in a parallel shaft.  Can I use the same shaft and add a taper, or should I bump up the stiffness?

[Bjorn]

A friend of mine made me this jig. Two pieces of 90 deg aluminum and a drill set to a slow speed. Works great!
Tapering has a minimal effect on arrow spine-couple' of #. Can't say I have noticed it.

[cedar]

Well, I'm an old-timer and have been building wooden arrows for about 17 years, so I think I would be qualified to answer your question.  I taper my own shafts, from my experience, I say you should shoot the same spine whether parallel or tapered.  I shoot both and see very little difference in the flight.  In theory, the tapered should clear the riser better, so they may be less critical to exact spine, but there is no problem with a 5 lb spine group with parallels.  I think the 5/16 nock looks alittle more tidy on the end of the shaft but as I said, no difference in flight.  Usually about $.50 per shaft to taper, so its up to you.  I would say try a dozen and make up your own mind.

[gringol]

Thanks guys.  I've built a jig, but haven't got a new set of shafts yet.  Tapered woodies are at the top of this winter's list.

[Stumpkiller]

I took a 2" x 2" x 32" block of hard-rock maple and cut a "V" 1/4" deep down the center of one vace.  Put a finishing nail as a stopper in the "V" at one end (set to just below flush) to hold the shafts.  I straighten (seperate topic) then taper the shafts for nock and head.  I then put three pencil bands around the shafts to divide the length into even quarters (i.e. at 7", 14" & 21" for a 28" shaft)  Then I add pencil bands between those to make it easier to see where the wood has been removed.

Before
   

   

After
   


I use a Bowyers Edge tool (Dean Torges) to scrape paper thin shavings from each band towards the nock starting at the one nearest the nock end and I rotate the shaft one blade width after each pass.  Takes 21 passes to do the circumference on average.  Then repeat at the band in the middle.  Then repeat at the one nearest the head.  Smooth the shaft up with a fine 3-M Pad or 600 grit sandpaper.

Note that it's just as easy to barrel taper by flipping the shaft before doing the third band.

To straighten a tapered shaft I look down the length and apply heat and either use the heel of my hand, a purpose built straightening dowel or a screwdriver shaft to rub out the bend.

   

[Orion]

I've been shooting woodies for about 50 years now, parallel and tapered.  Well made arrows will pretty much fly the same.  That being said, I shoot mostly tapereds now -- from 11/32 to 5/16.  A 8-9-inch taper will usually take about 2-3# of spine off the shaft.    

To straighten, I roll them on a flat countertop as well to identify and work out any bends in the main part of the body shaft.  Can also get a feel for whether the taper is straight that way as well by watching the end of it as you roll the otherwise straight shaft on the surface.  Beyond that, it's pretty much eyeballing the shaft to identify any bends in the tapered ends.

[anw0625]

Do you guys taper the back about 9" and then the front about 5"?  How do you like it?

[Orion]

That's called a barrel taper.  Some folks do it.  I only taper the back 9 inches.