Arrow spining help

[jaarus]

Thanks for everyones advice so far - I now have my Longbow on order.

So onto the next bit - Arrows.


The bow will be 47lb @28"
I have a 28" draw
I do however understand that I will need to get them a couple of inches longer than my draw so 30" shafts (being safe) so that it sits well on the knuckles.
I also believe that longbows lose a couple of pounds draw weight as they settle...

How will that affect my spining etc for the arrows?

Anyone care to tell me what arrows I need?

[Kae]

If anyone can give you a definite answer then it'll be a joke i'm afraid.

Longbow speeds vary so considerably that the only way you are going to get a well matched set of arrow is to experiment.

The good thing though is that longbow arrows are cheap (very cheap if you make them yourself).

If I was making a set of arrows for a new bow I would buy two arrows of each spine: 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 pounds.
Put nocks and screw on points on each (if you use screw ons without glue, you can use them again ).
Shoot them, and see how well they fly.
Then when you've got a good idea of what's the best for your bow, buy two more of that spine, and fletch them.
If they fly as you want them, buy another 8 and you've got a set of twelve.

Its not the quickest, or cheapest way. But in the long run, it will save you money as you'll have correctly spined arrows first time!

Kae.

[jaarus]

I should have expected it not to be an easy process - hahahah - what is regarding archery!


This may sound a bit stupid but does it matter whether its 5/11 or 11/16?

[steve58]

Will you be shooting on Fastflight? If you are you will need a stiffer spine than on Dacron for the same draw weight. What I would do would be to get a dozen 11/32" shafts in the 45/50 bracket (My 43 pound bow works fine with 40/45 shafts and my 53 pounder with 50/55s, both on Fastflight). I would put 125 grain points on half and 100 grains on the others. (Remembering to build in a way to tell which is which eg colour code the nocks!) I would then put 3" fletchings on half the 125 grain arrows and 4" on the other half, same for the 100 grain arrows. Then I'd get up the field and shoot them! Points are easy to change, as are nocks. Not the most scientific approach perhaps, but would probably identify a workable arrow as a starting point. Plus... a good excuse for making lots of arrows! If this process (or any other) comes up with one outstanding arrow HiForce arrows offer to clone it off as many times as you like. I only buy bits from them rather than arrows, but that service is good and I've heard lots of good things about them from other archers at shoots and on this forum. Enjoy arrow building and let us know how you get on.

[jaarus]

I thought Longbows could only use Dacron?

[Miner Willy]

Originally Posted by jaarus

I thought Longbows could only use Dacron?

This is not necessarily the case. Some bowyers suggest that you only use Dacron because it has much more give in it that FastFlight and as a result is much kinder on the bow, others say FastFlight is fine.

I enquired about this with my bow and decided to stay with Dacron, purely because I don't particularly want to shorten the life of a £300 stick for the sake of a few fps of arrowspeed.

Also all the longbows I have seen die recently have been strung using FastFlight. Now I have also seen people use FF on their longbows quite happpily for years too.

At the end of the day it's your choice...


HTH

[jaarus]

Ok - thanks for that.
Love this forum -learning something new everyday!

Only about 6 looooooong weeks till I get my longbow!!!

[Miner Willy]

Originally Posted by jaarus

Ok - thanks for that.
Love this forum -learning something new everyday!

Only about 6 looooooong weeks till I get my longbow!!!

What are you getting Jaarus and from where if you don't mind me asking.

[jaarus]

Osage belly, purpleheart core and hickory back, from Keith at Yew Tree - really good chap, very helpful.

[Miner Willy]

Originally Posted by jaarus

Osage belly, purpleheart core and hickory back, from Keith at Yew Tree - really good chap, very helpful.

Nice bow, I hope you enjoy it as much I enjoy mine from him. In fact I hope I get my new one before you do!! I order mine just after new year so any time now!!!

Depending on the draw weight of your bow the one thing you might want to ask him to provide you with a thinner (less strands string) his standard strings are 16 strands of dacron,which is a little overkill. You can easily get away with 14 for 44lb to50lb and even 12 strands for <44lb. I make my own strings now so don't generally worry about it.

Nice, next time you speak to him tell him that Miner Willy (Michael from AireValley) suggested you speak to him.

Hope you enjoy your new bow, when it arrives.