Wooden arrows - lower spine than should be for an Xlbs bow?

[Igor]

Hello,

I am thinking of getting a Viper Deluxe flatbow after taking all the gubbins off my bow at a recent fun shoot (just as a second bow!). I was going to try making my own arrows, and lots of good advice there is here. But just now I came across a comment that surprised me - it was that the 'spine' of wooden arrows should be 10-15lb less than the poundage of the bow, i.e. 40-45 'lb' arrows for a 55-60lb bow. How does that work and is this really widely practiced?

[Et tu brute]

The "-10 spine" (15 is too much, -5-10 would be about right) rule is correct for longbows that are shot around the bow, rather than off an arrow shelf, as the arrows have to bend around the bow. However for bows that have an arrow shelf, and are near centre shot you'd probably be best keeping the spine around about the same as the bow weight. Point weight can change this as well, a lighter point has the effect of stiffening the arrow (increasing spine) and a heavier point has the effect of weakening the arrow. 100 grain points are about right, so as not to have effect either way.

[Igor]

Ah, thank you, that makes sense. The Viper has a shelf, so this would not apply. Cheers

[jaselpool]

Originally Posted by Igor

Ah, thank you, that makes sense. The Viper has a shelf, so this would not apply. Cheers

Spine charts for trad bows are on my site here. ALL charts are based on 125gn points so needs to be 5lb weaker if using 100gn points as the drop in point weight will make the shaft stiffer.

The Longbow Shop – traditional archery supplies - 5/16 Port Orford Cedar (Powered by CubeCart)



Jase

[Raedwald]

Info I was given around arrows for my AFB was that a good starting point is around the weight of the bow.

Seems to be about right, as the current ones are spined at 46#47# and fly well.