Giving it a try

[FUBAR]

#2481

OK, I went out and bought some Beaman ISC Hunters. When I got home, I scraped the vanes off of two and used a glue stick for inserts and 125g fields. I haven’t shot my recurve for almost a year since I tore some tendons in my wrist. I shoot a Mahaska recurve 60# @28. At ten yards, I was amazed that 3 out of my 4 shots hit bullseye. 4th was my fault.Before the injury, I was shooting terrible with my woods. The inserts ended up staying in the target after 4 shots. So question 1- How do you keep the inserts in without making it impossible to remove when cutting down arrows? 2) How do you cut these carbons?

[Jason Wesbrock]

#9848

I’ve shot Beman ICS carbons since they first came out and have never lost an insert. I first clean the inside of the shaft with a Q-tip and acetone, then glue the inserts with Ferr-L-Tite. To remove the inserts, simply apply gentle heat to the tip of a field point and, using a pair of pliers, pull the insert out by the field point. I cut my carbons with a cutoff blade and a rotary tool held in a simple jig I made from scrap wood. I’ve heard the cutoff saw from Harbor Freight is excellent as well.

Good choice on the Bemans, by the way. They’re excellent shafts at a great price.

[FUBAR]

#10229

Thanks. I got the bemans because they were the cheapest at the store, lol. I didn’t think you could heat near the carbons, so I used very little glue. Now know I can add more. To cut, do I need to tape the arrows to prevent splintering? Do you have pics/specs of the holder you made?

[Jason Wesbrock]

#10389

I’ll try to take se photos of the jig amd shoot them over tonight.

[Ed Ashby]

#10401

FUBAR wrote: How do you keep the inserts in without making it impossible to remove when cutting down arrows? 2) How do you cut these carbons?

For your bare shaft tuning attach your inserts permanently and then make your cuts from the shaft’s rear. No need to remove the inserts. That works for all except the tapered carbon shafts. On the tapered carbon shafts you do have to remove the insert and make the adjustment cuts from the shaft’s front. On the tapered shafts I use regular ferrule cement while tuning. To remove them I gently heat the point – not the insert itself – while applying pulling pressure until the point and insert pull free as a single unit. Go with care, as it is possible to overheat the carbon shaft, ruining it.

You need an abrasive cutting wheel and a high speed cutter to cut the shafts cleanly. A cutoff wheel in a Dremel tool will work. A simple guide can be made by drilling a hole through a flat, metal plate, of the correct size for the shaft to pass through. Make the hole close to the edge of the metal so that you can reach it with the Dremel’s small-diameter cut-off wheel. I found some 2 1/2″ diameter cut off wheels that fit a Dremel at Ace Hardware. They make the job simple. That method works nearly as well as my regular arrow cutoff machine.

Ed

[FUBAR]

#10637

Thanks for the info Doc:D Never occured to me to cut from the nock end. I’m assuming then, that the nocks just press in?

[Jason Wesbrock]

#10685

Yes, ICS nocks press in.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#11402

FUBAR,

I apologize for not getting those photos of the jig last night. We were packing up to head out of town for the weekend (setting tree stands on our property and such) and I forgot about it. The jig is rather simple, so here’s a brief description. If you still need photos, shoot me an email and I’ll get them to you when I get back home.

Use a 4’ piece of 1×4 for the base. A 2×4 or pretty much any piece of 4’ long lumber will work. You could even use the surface of a workbench if you feel so inclined.

Clamp your Dremel tool to one end. I glued and screwed a pair of small wood cleats on each side of the Dremel to keep it straight, but with good clamps it’s not necessary.

Glue or screw a small piece of scrap wood across your base just in front of your Dremel blade. A ½” thick piece of scrap is perfect. This gives the front of your arrow shaft something to lie on while you cut it.

Cut about 2” off the end of a 2×4 and, with the largest regular drill bit you can find (no spade bits), drill a ½” deep countersink in the face of the 2×4 scrap. You will clamp this piece onto your base and place the nock end of your arrow into it while you cut your shaft. We’ll call this piece your nock receiver.

To set up the jig, start by clamping your Dremel tool to one end. Measure where you want to cut your arrow shaft and mark the shaft with a pencil (or fine tip marker). Put the nock end into your nock receiver and clamp the receiver to your base so your pencil mark on your shaft is even with the Dremel blade. Start your Dremel, slide your arrow shaft into the blade until it cuts through the wall, and gently spine the shaft 360 degrees to complete the cut. By cutting through the wall and then rotating the shaft to finish, you assure a perfectly square cut on the end of your shaft. By using the nock receiver and clamping it to your base, you guarantee all your shafts will be cut to the exact same length.

That’s it; nothing to it. If you already have a Dremel tool, some scrap lumber, a few clamps and a drill, you can build an cobble together an arrow cutoff saw for free. 

[David Coulter]

#11729

Hi,

I’m using the same shafts and really like them. They are about the cheapest and I think they hold up really well. I do quite a bit of stumping and do manage to break one now and then, but it’s usually because they dead head into a stone.

I follow all the advice given above, using a dremel tool and the small cut off wheel. I don’t use a jig, I just mark the shaft, cut it slightly long and then butt the end into the wheel to the proper length. I turn the shaft while doing it to square the end. It might not be perfect, but it’s dang close and easy enough.

Doc’s right about taking it off the end. I do final tuning with the fletched arrow and using the same technique of turning the end into the wheel I can grind off very small amounts at a time behind the feathers until it’s flying right.

Have fun, dwc

[FUBAR]

#11765

Thank you for the info Mr. Westbrock. I think the photos would help me, because I am having trouble picturing some of it:shock:

[Jason Wesbrock]

#13855

PM sent.

[handirifle]

#14271

Has anyone ever used the metal cutting blade setup on the Harbor Freight cutoff saw? I am talking about the little $15 orange colored saw they sell.

I have that and the dremel, but the clamping system and straight down cut of the cutoff saw is preferred.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#14827

Handirifle,

A lot of folks rave about tje Harbor Freoght saw, bit I’m not sure which blade they’re using. I don’t think you could go wrong with that saw. If I didn’t have the Dremel setup, I’d get one for myself.

[handirifle]

#16618

J.Wesbrock wrote: Handirifle,

A lot of folks rave about tje Harbor Freoght saw, bit I’m not sure which blade they’re using. I don’t think you could go wrong with that saw. If I didn’t have the Dremel setup, I’d get one for myself.

Hey, I had an old carbon shaft laying around, one that had a boogered up end, so I dug out the HF saw with it’s std steel, metal cutting blade, the one it comes with.

I tried it on carbon and aluminum. Cut them slicker than snot!

Nice smooth edges, no burrs on either. One nice thing about the HF saw, it comes with a screw type clamp, that is grooved in the center allowing for perfectly square cuts. The arrow can be held stationary, while the saw moves in a perpendicular motion.

When on sale, they are around $16.

[FUBAR]

#17569

dwcphoto, what weight and setup are you using with those arrows?

[FUBAR]

#19689

Guess I am going to have to order heavier field tips on line. I drove the hour to the closest city and stopped everywhere I could think of. Heaviest tips were 150g. I was surprised that the archery shop not only didn’t carry them, but didn’t think anyone even made heads that heavy:shock:

[Ed Ashby]

#19742

FUBAR wrote: Heaviest tips were 150g. I was surprised that the archery shop not only didn’t carry them, but didn’t think anyone even made heads that heavy:shock:

That says a lot about the ‘expertise’ of the folks working at those shops – and I’m not surprised at all.

Ed

[David Petersen]

#19754

Here in Durango, CO — the heartland of elk hunting where you’d think they’d know better — the heaviest heads you can get at the one and only store that handles archery gear are 125s, mostly mechanicals. Of course they cater to the speed-and-straw crowd. Blind misleading the blind. The token few real bows they sell are, natch, the cheapest big-factory stuff. Just from a business pov if nothing else, if I were in the archery business I’d want to know all I could about all aspects of it and handle a wide array of stuff to reach the widest market. Laziness is all I can think of for their excuse. It lights a torch in my guts to realize how many grand wild animals are wounded and unrecovered every year simply because of the greedhead marketplace and “professionals,” including “factory pros” and outdoor writers, as well as consumers, who are too lazy to learn how to do it right and/or don’t give a tinker’s dam so long as they’re getting what they want from the deal. For these reasons and more, Fubar, we should all be supporting our traditional archery suppliers and to heck with the rest. IMHO

[FUBAR]

#20788

I hear that Ed and Dave. I have an archery shop 10 minutes from here, but the owner drives me up the wall. He always feels he must explain everything. I bit the bullet and went there first. He first tried to tell me I couldn’t shoot carbon arrows from a recurve. Then he switched and said they wouldn’t take over 100g. Then he switched and told me to make sure I used feathers. I interupted and told him I knew that. He continued to explain to me in great detail on why I needed feathers. He then told me that they didn’t make heaier field tips. When I told him they did, he got out his order catalog, which made the Detroit phone book look small, and preceeded to flip through it. I watched him pass page after page of tips, before stopping at one. He pointed and said yep, 125g is tops. Then he continues to hunting heads and tries to sell me every 125g listed. This guy is something. I don’t know what, but something. OK rant over, sorry.:roll:

[Troy Breeding]

#20816

FUBAR,

I owned and operated a full proshop for four years while in MO.

I even had sales reps for big wholesale companies tell me they didn’t make anything over 125grs.

I’d just laugh and tell them they needed to open their eyes to more than just what the wheelie guys wanted.

Still, the biggest laugh would come when the wheelie guys would see my hunting setup. Their eyes would almost pop out when I handed them one of my 750gr hunting arrows with cut on contact heads instead of one with an expandable.

Troy

[FUBAR]

#21684

lol, bet that got their attention Troy:shock:

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