Straightening .005 arrows
Equipment
Midwest posted this video by Tim Gillingham back in February. I’ve always shot arrow with .002 or less straightness but this video has me looking at cheaper arrows. I can buy two dozen cheapos and an arrow saw, spinner, squaring tool and still be money ahead over 2 dz of my normal $15 arrows. The particular arrow I’m looking at is an Easton aftermath for $5. I’m not an Olympic archer but consider myself decent. My question is who has done this and will I be able to get a 27” shaft that’s .002 or better out of these .005s?
How much difference do you think you were going to see in actuality versus hypothetically between those two tolerances do you think if you mixed and matched identically looking arrows you can tell which one was which based on how they shot
I shoot Gold Tip pro hunters. A few years ago I bought a 6 pack of the cheap hunters, the least straight they make. We had prairie dogs on our range and we liked to shoot at them so I always keep a couple in quiver. Anyways I could not tell a difference from the pros at all. All summer long I’d have a couple of the cheap ones I’d shoot along with the pros. That was back before bad shoulders and I was a good shot at least locally. With that said I still shoot the pros. I probably buy a dozen a year and don’t spend that much on arrows so might as well keep shooting the pros but wouldn’t bother me if I had to shoot the cheap ones.
Bou I don’t know the answer to that. I know in high school I could hit the ten ring with bent aluminum arrows. I also know those same arrows didn’t do well once you screwed a broadhead on . Are you suggesting an .005 straightness will shoot just well as an .001 at 50-60 yards with a broadhead ?
My guess if you cut both ends of a dozen shafts you will end up with a few that are + or - 0.001", a few + or - .002", a few + or - .003", some + or - .004", some + or - .005". And maybe one or two that don't even meet the arrow spec of + or - .005" which will make good prairie dog or grouse arrows with Judo points attached.
I've made up about 7 dozen Easton 330 Carbon Injexions for personal use that were supposed to be + or - .003" or less. Probably have averaged 1.7 out of spec per dozen shafts. If they were too bad they either went back to Easton or the shaft supplier....think I remember sending about 12 of 84 back. The rest could be cut to be decent shafts (cutting both ends as required with final arrow + or - <.003" with quite a few at + or - .001".
Good luck with it.
With todays spine aligned shafts most all but the very best shooters could tell a difference between .002 and .005. My best friend has one nine national titles, the worlds, Vegas and many field events. He would have a hard time telling the difference between those tolerances. Shawn
I increase the straightness of every shaft I purchase. I cut 2” off the butt end and then cut the front end to desired shaft length.
I’m not an Olympic archer, but I attempt to take advantage of any equipment improvement I can.
This procedure is neither cost or time consuming. Strive to have the best and be the best.
How is cutting 2'' of both ends going to make it any straight than cutting 4'' of one end?
No that’s not what I was suggesting but what I was suggesting is that very very few if any archers would be able to tell a difference in a blind shooting test I’m sure out of a shooting machine you’d probably get some pattern that would indicate some minor difference but even there I’d say it would be nominal
So the real question is is the person spending the money going to be able to tell the difference not whether there’s some theoretical difference that they wouldn’t be able to shoot well enough to recognize anyway
Some people don’t care about spending more and want to put every little thing in their favor even if it’s just from a confidence standpoint of knowing that they have but since your initial post asked about the difference in order to justify the cost savings it sounds like money is a consideration so why spend for something that doesn’t matter in practicality
I increase the straightness of every shaft I purchase. I cut 2” off the butt end and then cut the front end to desired shaft length.
I’m not an Olympic archer, but I attempt to take advantage of any equipment improvement I can.
This procedure is neither cost or time consuming. Strive to have the best and be the best.
John,
The runout is typically worse at the ends. You can follow the method Tim G uses or just cut from both ends. I cut from both ends and always am able to get everything to spin true.
I always assumed that carbon arrows were made in very long tubes that were cut so the ends wouldn't be any different runout. Are they really made individually and thus have worse runout at the ends?
To be clear I cut the crookest end or ends as determined on my dial indicator style arrow straightener left over from the aluminum arrow days. And I put the nock on the straightest end. Old trick from making up 1,000 wood arrows a long time ago. I don't worry which way the shaft graphics point...irrelevant. You can't have 'em too straight for broadheads in my opinion. But everyone will have an opinion what is good enough. When very few shots a year are taken at big game, why not assure yourself that the arrow(s) are the straightest possible?
I used to buy the straightest shafts victory made. Till i checked the straightness before (very straight) and then after I shot them about 20 times.. None of mine were .001 straight after being shot 20 times.
So has anyone else found after shooting them, that your arrow were not new arrow straight. Most all .004 to if I remember .006 after being shot.
A friend of mine is an excellent shot. He says the most important thing to do with carbon shafts is to float the bare shafts in water & mark the high spot on each shaft then index your knocks to this mark.
I tried that one but they did not repeatably float the same. Instead I favor dynamic spine indexing via bare shaft
You can shoot every shaft bare as BUCKeye said and rotate nocks until they all group in the same spot, this is quick and easy.
John, I've had bad shafts in the "pro" pile. You have to contact them for replacement shafts.
It's simply a matter of length. If an arrow is within .006 end to end and you cut it in half it's probably going to be .003 (could vary a little depending where the anomaly in straightness is). If you cut it only 1" long it's going to be .0001 or whatever. The method of cutting off end(s) only works if your draw is substantially shorter than the raw shaft. In my case I only cut off a couple of inches, so it's not going to make much difference. I don't bother trying to cut 1" from each end, just do the 2 from one end. I always put the nock on the factory cut end, assuming that's the straightest cut and least likely to have a nock misalignment.
I cut both ends on my Axis shafts. For me it's easy and free to do so. Having a way to absolutely guarantee both ends are perfectly square is one of the best things you can do for broadhead accuracy. If you're using a quality shaft, many of the other efforts are "placebo" or psychological confidence building and nothing wrong with that. If you're serious about uber shaft accuracy, get a Hooter Shooter, bare shaft index every one and then fletch accordingly. Discard the very odd one that won't cooperate.
Too often we get a bug about adhering to something we read on the internet and it becomes an obsession that in the end works against us when it can't be achieved.
I'd like to see a comparison where two dozen quality shafts are tested. First floated for spine, indexed, shot bare, fletched then shot again from a HS. Then stripped, indexed with a spine tester, and repeat the test shoots. Then finally stripped again, indexed on the HS, re-fletched and shot again.
I personally believe there are too many variables too make floating a reliable method. What if the bend is one way but there is more weight opposite?
IMO, dynamic spine is the best indicator, or how the shaft actually flies in the real world. If I could consistently shoot 2" groups at eighty yards , I could do it without the HS, but since I can't and don't have the HS, I do what I can to have a good shaft and quit thinking about it.
Totally agree that squaring the ends is mandatory, I just use the factory squared end for nocks since I don't cut both ends. I square up the insert after it's glued in when using BHs.
I switched to the aftermaths last year because I realized I’m not a good enough shot to tell any difference. They were the weight I wanted and work just as well as the ones that cost twice as much. Basically 2 dozen aftermaths for the price of a dozen “top of the line” shafts.
I just tested a dz Carbon Express Mayhem Hunters on my old arrow strainer. It has a dial indicator. Only one shaft was not straight on the nock end. Then I square them up using the QAD squaring tool, cut to length, square the cut ends and install inserts. I find more problems with bad inserts than anything else. Square the inserts and check by spinning broadheads.
Yes, to the person who asked. Each shaft is made one at a time. Not cut from one long tube. Before Carbon Tech moved to Asia I was able to watch the operation. It was pretty educational to watch. Every shaft comes out of the same machine and are then checked for tolerances and sorted by a machine into each straightness category. 90% of the time, cutting two inches from each end creates nearly identical shafts. When you order custom-cut arrows from a retailer, they almost always cut the front end only. When doing this, I recommend buying the straightest ones. If you build your own, buy the less expensive ones and cut both ends.
I’m such a good shot, I cut both ends of my wood shafts so they are perfectly straight.
I crack me up.
I seem to spend too much time in the arrow donation line to worry about how the guys that gave me the arras built em........ =D
