Building wood arrows for Bear "Montana"

[tonytwotimes]

So I've built wood arrows before but never purchased the stuff myself. My brother used to be the brains behind the operation. I'd like to build some more and have a few questions. I am going to be as specific as possible, sorry if I overlook anything, Just yell at me if I have  ;-)

Would like to make these my do all arrows for hunting, stumping, and killing paper. 160ish grain points.
Thinking 11/32" because I don't know any better. Heavy arrow wood also, suggestions please? Laminated birch and POC are the two I have experience with. Obviously LB is much heavier and more in the direction I am looking for.

Bow: 55# Bear Montana with a D97 string (factory set up) 64"


My draw length is 29 1/2"
So my arrows will be 31 1/2" correct?

According to the Traditional Bowyers Bible
My overall draw weight is about 62 1/2#, that's 5# per inch.
According to 3rivers I'm 58-59 1/2#, that's 2-3 # per inch. Which do you think is a more accurate estimate? 60-65# spine?

Again, according to TTBB I should be adding +5# for such heavy tips. (67 1/2" #) Now we're at 65-70#?

Also should I compensate for FF string even though that is factory standard? TTBB says add another 5# but I'm hesitant.

So am I looking at 65-70# spine or what?

Almost done, sorry for all the hot air.

What do you recommend for fletchings, length, cut, etc?

Any gaping holes in my logic? Missed parts? Math corrections?
Pointers? Tips? Disparaging remarks   ?

Thank you guys for all you do for this lurker, you really help me more than you know. I wrote this on my phone so if it's hard to follow I'm sorry.

[Orion]

Given your draw length, heavier head and fast flite string, I'd go with at least 70-75# POCs. 75-80# if you go with laminated birch because they'll weigh another 50-100 grains more and don't recover as fast as POC.

[Charlie Lamb]

Two or three pounds per inch after 28 should be about right.
I'd pick 65-70 spine if it was me.

I also favor Douglas Fir for wood shafting. Get it from Steve at Surewood shafts... a sponsor here.
Fir is heavier than POC and you should have some latitude in weight.
 
11/32" if you can or the larger 23/64. Either will be fine. You are only talking 1/32" difference in diameter.

Number and size of fletch gets to be a personal choice with lots of opinions about what's best.
For starters a 5" 3 fletch will do you good. Fletch with some helical or straight offset to get the best steerage.

Shield cut, parabolic, or banana cut is a coin toss.

[ron w]

I had a 55# Montana, I draw 29" and I shot 60-65 cedars with 125 up front, I left them full length. They flew like darts.

[Fletcher]

As Charlie said, you will gain 2-3 pounds per inch past 28, so about 4 lb for your 29.5" draw = 59 lb draw weight.  You also need to add 4-5 lb for each inch of arrow over 28".  Figuring a min 1/2 inch broadhead clearance you can shoot 30-31" BOP.  Most wood shafts are 32" and will give you a max arrow length of just over 31", so add another 10-15 lb spine and the 160 points add another 5.  I think a Montana will shoot spines right at draw weight with a 28" BOP and 125 gr point,so: 59+10+5= 74 lb spine, maybe more if you want to shoot a longer shaft.

Fir is a great arrow wood And if you talk nice to the guys at Surewood Shafts they will sort you out some heavy shafts. A 600+ grain arrow should be easy.  With a long shaft you won't lose much cut off weight so take shaft weight and add 25 gr finish plus point and you will be pretty close to finished arrow weight.

Welcome to the world of wood arrows, Tony.

[tonytwotimes]

Thanks so much for all the great replies, I will be purchasing all the stuff I need in a week or so. Just figuring out who to source from. Getting ready to go check out surewood shafts now.

You guys are awesome, thanks a million.

[tonytwotimes]

Just though I would post a couple pictures. Thanks to you guys and tbb I was able to purchase my materials and crank these out over the new year.

Sitka Spruce, 160g heads, 5 inch fletches.
Now I just need to go stumping to figure out which ones will get my 160g ace broadheads and blunt points.

[tonytwotimes]

[ron w]

 Looks good!

[drewsbow]

nice work

[Jon Kaw]

Those look great!  What made you go with spruce over fir?

Jon

[tonytwotimes]

Well to be honest I accidently chose spruce over fir when I was making my purchase. Also at 65-70 spine they were a little to big for an 11/32 guide with my true taper tool and a little narrow for the 23/64. I was just making the order too late at night and had a bit of an airhead moment. :-)

The shafts are light but were incredibly easy to straighten. I'm just going to call these my practice shafts and will get some more shafts and such on my next check.

Hoping to figure out a good homemade jig to try and crest the next ones I make. Maybe lighten up the stain a bit too so they are easier to locate under the grass.

[tonytwotimes]

Also thank you all for the help again and the nice words about my rank amateur attempt at arrow crafting.