I’ve been shooting wild rose (I believe it’s multiflora) exclusively for years, because it’s easy to find here in Central Pa and I’ve been able to make really nice arrows from it. My bows are from 50-60# and are straight end, bend through the handle longbows. A few years ago I made a spine tester. All my rose arrows are sized through an 11/32 sizer and cut to 29.5 inches long (my draw length is 27 inches). I would then sand down the shafts until they flexed to the recommended spine for a 60 pound non-center shot bow.. I made them flex to about 50-55 pounds for a centershot bow on the AMO chart, which was 15/32-17/32 inch of flex. I would then attach the heads, which weighed from about 150 grains max for a broadhead to 125 on the low end for a blunt. ( I don’t shoot field tips because the rose has an inner pith which doesn’t allow for tapering). I was not taking into account that the heavier head was making the shaft flex more. The arrows weigh in at between 600-700 grains. For some reason, despite the inner pith, rose tends to be dense and heavy. I figured the shafts would be overspined for my 50 pound bows but work fine for the sixty pound bows. I didn’t want to bother making a second set of shafts for the lower weight bows. I have noticed the arrows would sometimes clatter loudly off the side of the lower weight bows, which I heard was a sign of being overspined, but I was able to shoot well and didn’t care as the lower weights were to play around with and I was only concerned about my shooting with my sixty pound bows. The arrows fly quietly and smoothly out of the sixty pound bows and I’ve been able to shoot well and take small game with them out of a 55# bow ( no luck with a deer yet, haven’t been able to draw the bow without frightening them). Anyway, a few weeks ago I became annoyed with the concept of having to sand down each shaft till it flexed properly, as well as the issue with the inner pith, as sanding the stiffer shafts down left more pith and less wood, which seemed somewhat unsafe with the self nocks. Instead, on my last group of shafts, I left them all 11/32 and then checked the flex. Some flexed right down to 16/32 and some were a lot stiffer. I put the heavy broadheads on the stiff shafts and the lighter blunts on the flexible shafts. They all seemed to fly great out of the sixty pound bow. The issue is now that I have been doing a little research on YouTube, the internet etc and am wondering if I should do a better job of tuning my arrows. I am considering leaving the shafts about 32” long and attaching the head, then “bare shaft tuning” by shooting them into a hay bale and seeing if they end up nock left or right, then cutting them down from the nock end if they are too light spined, until they fly properly. At this point I suspect most of my arrows would be on the stiff side and I should be making them a little longer with the same weight point. However, I’ve never “bare shaft tuned” and don’t know what to expect. I don’t know if this is all worth the effort to begin with. How picky should I be? Thanks for any help anyone can offer.
