xx75 "singing"

[buejeger]

#6437

Hi, my first post on this forum.
I am a long time archer with about 18 years experience shooting mostly compounds. In January I began shooting trad equipment seriously, starting with a martin Dreamcatcher, but swiftly moving on up to a Black Widow psaII 50# @ 28″ I am drawing 28 1/2″
I shoot cedar arrows out of it for competition (trad rules here in Norway, no carbons or ally) but I am travelling to Africa in August for 14 days bowhunting with both my widow and the compound. I will be hunting with woods but also decided to build a set of aluminium arrows. I have got them to be the same weight as the woods by adding tuning weights behind the insert and they are hitting the same spot as the woods… so far so good….
However, my shooting buddy who will be joining me in Africa has noticed what can be best described as a “singing” sound from the 2216 xx75s when standing downrange, the woods are noticeably quieter with no such “singing” it almost sounds like a kind of tuning fork resonance… we have shot the same arrows out of his bow and the same sound, so it is not the bow…
Has anyone here had this experience? suggestions for solving it? I have spent alot of time tuning and am getting great groups, having robin hoods at 20 and 25 yards, so I dont really want to change to carbons… and I love the xx75s for there resilience for stumpshooting and the like…. and I can practice with them without knackering up my matched sets of wood arrows that I have spent so long building, and then swap to woods just before a competition with no adjusting my gap….
regards, Nathan

[MontanaFord]

#52122

Nathan,

First, welcome to the forums. It’s a great group of people here that all love traditional archery. As for your arrows singing to you…either you’re getting noise off of your feathers, which isn’t uncommon, or your tips are a touch loose. Those are my best guesses. Somebody else may have a better idea. I’ve stood down range when my uncle shoots, and his feathers make a bit of noise, and he’s told me that mine make a bit, too. I read something somewhere once about what feathers are quietest versus loudest, etc…but I don’t remember where or when it was. Best of luck with your singing arrows.

Michael

[buejeger]

#54026

Thanks,
points are not loose and I am using the same feathers on my woodshafts without the same problem.
This is a tricky one for sure 🙂
looks like I will be giving some other shafts a try to see if the sound dissapears…
Regards, Nathan

[Mark Turton]

#57923

Hi buejeger
Thought about this one over the weekend, the points may not be lose but the tolerance that the threads are made to may mean that the mating parts are not all in contact when the point is tight, just try a little locktight on the threads see if this damps any resonance in this area.

Can’t be any more help than this I’m afraid. Good luck in Africa let us know how you get on.

Pothunter.

[Carl]

#61111

i agree with pothunter – loktite on threaded connections and also there was an article in tbm on quieting aluminum arrows a while back where the author stuffed his arrows with foam – i think he used foam packing from old computer boxes – i dont remember the issue but it was very informative and detailed – if i can find it i’ll let you know – i was thinking of trying it myself

[MontanaFord]

#62167

Hmmmmm. Stuffing with foam. An interesting way to add weight, as well….maybe not a bunch, but any is better than none. Anybody ever tried that spray-foam insulation? That might not be a bad deal, either. Yup, gonna hafta give it a shot.

[looselystrung]

#62423

Hi Nathan…my first post here also. Are use using straight fletch offset or helical? If fletching is straight..try left (or right) helical dpending on your feathers and jig.
Also the spray-foam will not dry unless exposed to air and only make a gooey mess. I once put a can of the stuff into ballons hoping to make round foam targets and it never dried or expanded even. Dry chunks of packing styrofoam on the other hand might not be bad idea if all else fails.Could it be something with the weights you added for F.O.C tip weight possibly touching or bouncing inside shaft to create vibe?…just a thought.Maybe try one shaft without? Best luck Dan.

[Mark Turton]

#62561

I can just hear all the wooden arrow shooters saying ‘what the heck, cant you guys just use real arrows’ especially the ones who never have two arrows the same and still shoot tight groups.

Pothunter.

[Robin Conrads]

#9598

carl wrote: …also there was an article in tbm on quieting aluminum arrows a while back where the author stuffed his arrows with foam – i think he used foam packing from old computer boxes – i dont remember the issue but it was very informative and detailed – if i can find it i’ll let you know – i was thinking of trying it myself

It was in the Dec/Jan 2002 issue titled Stuff It! by Pete Charton. That issue is available here if you don’t already have it. Dec/Jan 2002 (US)

[shosier]

#13554

My guess is that the arrow length you are using is hitting a harmonic at that pitch. It starts with the paradox right off the bow. In other words, the paradox is the same length as the pitch wavelength(or a multiple thereof). Try shortening one or two arrows to see if that is the issue. I know you don’t want to screw up a good thing, but just out of curiousity, you might shorten one a half inch or so and see if the whistle goes away.

[Author]

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