Tapered Shafts

[rcoulas]

I have been reading about tapered shafts and would like to try some out. I see there are quite a few jigs that can be bought or made to do the job. I like to do things myself so I will make them. I currently shoot a Bear Montana long bow with 11/32 cedars. What I would like to know is if I will need to go to a larger shaft with the same spine or if the spine needs to start stiffer due to the tapper. My bow is 50# and I'm using 50-55# shafts.

[snakewood3]

Start with a stiffer spine and taper down to 5/16".

[Bjorn]

If you are talking about tapering the fletching area 9-10 inches it will have a minimal effect on spine, about 2#. The bending occurs primarily in the middle.

[cedar]

Use the same spine group as your parallels, you won't notice a difference with a 5 lb spine group.

[snakewood3]

I usually taper 16 inches and it does affect spine a bit more. I do these long tapers to get some really sweet shooting arrows off my self bows. For the shorter, more common tapers, Bjorn and John are certainly correct.

[arrow flynn]

Most of the competitors for the world longbow use parallels for myself tapers dont shoot any better. And they cost more talk to paul jalon at elite arrows.

[elkken]

They don't cost more if you do it yourself .... I have always had very good results with tapered shafts. I would think that shooting 50-55's out of a 50# bow is a bit on the light side. i usually start at least 10#'s heavier than my draw weight, especially if you are going to shoot broad heads.

[LEWIS VADEN]

Nothing but tapered, barreled, or breasted for me.  Any of these shoot much better than parallel for me.