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    • boutlou
        October 24, 2012 at 5:54 pm
        Post count: 6
        #5415

        I’m a first time builder of wood arrows. I have selected a dozen that are close (within 5 lb) in spine. How much variation in arrow weight (as a percentage please)would be considered tolerable. I am using a technique I found in the magazine a few years ago, soaking them in oil based stain so I can adjust. I would just like to knpow when to stop. Thanks

      • gigglemonk
          October 25, 2012 at 12:21 am
          Post count: 146
          #40829

          I try to keep mine within 25 grains. So the lightest might be 380 and the heaviest 405.

        • boutlou
            October 25, 2012 at 12:56 am
            Post count: 6
            #40859

            Gigglemonk wrote: I try to keep mine within 25 grains. So the lightest might be 380 and the heaviest 405.

            Thanks. My current batch of cedars are 49 to 55 spine and 355 to 375 weight. So I should be OK. Of course these are bare (oiled) shafts. There’s a lot to go yet. I’ve done aluminum and carbon in the past but this is my first time with wood. I’m retired now so I can afford time for the better things in life.:D

          • David Petersen
            Member
              October 25, 2012 at 3:15 pm
              Post count: 2749
              #41609

              There is “good enough” and there is “good as possible.” My limites are 10 grains max from lightest to heaviest with most clustered in the middle, and 5 pounds spine. Usually in a dozen shafts, more or less half will be really close and shoot good groups. Those become hunting shafts and the others practice, stumpers, small game, etc. With wood shafts it’s definitely “you get what you pay for” insofar as it costs more for someone to sort out matching straight shafts and that cost is passed along to us. An arrowmaker friend recently went through more than a hundred shafts to find fewer than a dozen that met my specs.

            • boutlou
                October 25, 2012 at 3:29 pm
                Post count: 6
                #41621

                David Petersen wrote: There is “good enough” and there is “good as possible.” My limites are 10 grains max from lightest to heaviest with most clustered in the middle, and 5 pounds spine. Usually in a dozen shafts, more or less half will be really close and shoot good groups. Those become hunting shafts and the others practice, stumpers, small game, etc. With wood shafts it’s definitely “you get what you pay for” insofar as it costs more for someone to sort out matching straight shafts and that cost is passed along to us. An arrowmaker friend recently went through more than a hundred shafts to find fewer than a dozen that met my specs.

                Thanks. Never thought of grouping. Makes a lot of sense. For a simple tool there are a lot of variables and really the bottom line is performance. With carbon and aluminum you don’t worry so much about variables.

              • gigglemonk
                  October 26, 2012 at 5:01 am
                  Post count: 146
                  #42257

                  David is spot on. Ill turn a dozen shafts and get them within 25gr. The best grouping 3 or 4 become my hunters.

                  The variables in organic materials can make for some fun surprises! Example: I made some bamboo arrows all with a 25gr variation. 3 hit consistently within 3 inches of each other… Two of them weigh 625 and the other weighs 602. I don’t get it either.

                • Jason Wesbrock
                  Member
                    October 26, 2012 at 4:32 pm
                    Post count: 762
                    #42829

                    When I sort wood shafts I do so in groups of 5# spine measurements (ex. 60-64, 65-69). From there I sort them into 10-grain subgroups (370s, 380s, 390s). Squirrels are hard enough to hit without adding mismatched arrows into the equation.

                  • jpcarlson
                    Member
                      October 27, 2012 at 1:26 am
                      Post count: 218
                      #43234

                      has anyone ever tried to soak just the front 4 inches in linseed oil to create FOC?

                      Jans

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