NO SPINE TESTER

[Blacktail]

CAN a person test the spine of an arrow without a spine tester....i want to make some arrows but i dont have a spine tester..could i just shoot it out of the bow i want to hunt with and if it shoots good then that is fine....john

[Pat B]

John, you can put two nails 26" apart on the side wall. If you have an arrow that shoots well place it on the two nails and hang a 2# weight from the center and mark the deflection. Theoretically other shafts that bend the same will be the same spine.

[bowtarist]

Pat's got it, but if you decide not to use that technique make sure you are putting the stiff side of the arrow against the bow in the case of shoots and w/ the grain feathering out the top towards the point end on dowels. What material are you using?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Ive done it the way Pat mentions. My dilemma? The difference between 50 & 70 is so minimal its hard to see and mark. I keep parallel shafts of known spines around and compare their flight to the unknown shafts flight.

[TacticalFate]

i printed out a little decimal ruler and taped it on the wall between my two nails, that way you can tell exactly what the deflection is.

[artcher1]

If you're like the rest of us, this is probably a life long addiction . So now would be a good time to get started on a tester. Lots of info abounds on the subject on several different forums.

Like you said, make one, shoot it out of your bow, and adjust from there if needed. When you find what you want, duplicate that. Nail, weight and a ruler, as was mentioned, is one way of accomplishing that............Art

[scattershot]

You can see more of the bend if you support the shaft from only one end, and hang the weight on the other. back in the day, Howard Hill used to  make a bunch of arrows, and shoot them into a clay bank. He would then gather them according to where they shot, and use them in groups that way.

[Buck67]

There are some good YouTube demonstrations of how to make a cheap spine tester.  Mine consists of a couple of nails, a 2 pound weight and a digital caliper.  The charts are online for printing and downloading.

That being said, as far as I can tell, the spine charts are meant for center shot bows with straight shafts.  I have been shooting a traditional longbow which does not have a cutout center shelf for the arrow, so that is strike one against the spine charts.  I have also been experimenting with shafts cut from trees and bushes.  These shafts are naturally tapered and so the spine chart doesn't apply to these arrows either; strike two.  Finally, some of the arrows are made from hollow stems so I have to put oak foreshafts on them, that is not covered by the spine charts either; strike 3.

So, I make the arrows, I shoot the arrows.  I don't worry about spine weight.

Buck67

[PEARL DRUMS]

I like your attitude Mr. Buck.

[aaron]

I made one recently based on a digital caliper- works great and now I have something new to geek out about!
Just do a google search for poorfolkbows spine tester.

[Grasshopper Mouse]

Even though a particular bow doesn't mesh into the standard spine charts it can still be handy to know the spine on arrows so you have a benchmark to go from. If a 40/44 spine works best from you're 52# bow then you know what you have to order/look for/make.

Additionally, the spine charts being used today are way off wack from trad bows anyway. This is why few people are happy when they walk into a brick and mortar archery shop to get their wood arrows. Many of those wheel centric shops don't have the necessary knowledge to work with wood and they just go by the charts pinned on the shop wall. Almost invariably the arrows will not perform as needed.
There's nothing wrong with build-it-shoot-it and see how it works but you stand the chance to put a good amount of work into an arrow that doesn't perform well. If you've got a bunch of bows at different weights you can always use the arrows in another bow. But if you don't, then you may have some wall hangers or gifts.

Guy

[steve b.]

YES.  And you should put more emphasis on your arrows flight than on the static spine, IF you are about hunting.  What you need to worry about is arrow WEIGHT.  Your arrows could measure 40 or 70 lbs. on your spine tester but if they are TOO light for your bow then that's BAD.  Bad for your bow and bad for your arrow.

If your KNOW that your arrow weight is within safe limits for your bow then shoot them and as long as they fly true and hit the mark, who cares what your spine tester says.  Capish?

If you have a bundle of arrows of different size and shape and fletching type, or whatever, shoot them and gather together the ones that hit the mark and use them as the arrow for THAT bow.

[Danzn Bar]

I think I heard this once before ....Shoot more ...shoot more often.  I think spine will get you in the ball park, but when your using natural shaft material ...wood , cane, boo etc. you just need to shoot as many shafts as possible from your bow to find the best combination.  Like I said,  a spine tester for natural material shafts is just a guide and some where to start.  Shoot , and shooting those arras is the only positive solution I have found.
DBar

[Blacktail]

WOW,lots of info....i will first try pats way when i get a shaft done...then maybe try some others...i will be using pondarosa pine just to see how it works..then other types..thanks john

[Pappy]

Even though a particular bow doesn't mesh into the standard spine charts it can still be handy to know the spine on arrows so you have a benchmark to go from. If a 40/44 spine works best from you're 52# bow then you know what you have to order/look for/make.

Additionally, the spine charts being used today are way off wack from trad bows anyway. This is why few people are happy when they walk into a brick and mortar archery shop to get their wood arrows. Many of those wheel centric shops don't have the necessary knowledge to work with wood and they just go by the charts pinned on the shop wall. Almost invariably the arrows will not perform as needed.
There's nothing wrong with build-it-shoot-it and see how it works but you stand the chance to put a good amount of work into an arrow that doesn't perform well. If you've got a bunch of bows at different weights you can always use the arrows in another bow. But if you don't, then you may have some wall hangers or gifts.

Guy

+1
Pappy