Bent an arrow stump shooting, not badly, so I tried to straighten it by hand & completely ruined it. What is the best way to straighten an aluminum arrow?
look forward to hearing this cause i have NO IDEA....
I've been through the same experience as you Zinndl and I finally broke down and purchased one of those high-dollar straighteners by AAE.
It's made extremely well and does the job. The lever arm is designed so one can readily apply pressure to the shaft...sometimes the required force is considerable!
About a week ago I was shooting a field course and lost one of my fetching. I went on and shot the arrow on the next target and it flew so wild that it bent when it hit the target. I straightened it by the usual look down and press on the side of the bend.
It took several "adjustments" but finally straightened nicely. Replaced the feather and now it flys fine.
Trouble I've had straightening arrows has been that I usually use too much pressure and straighten it too far. I think it is an acquired skill and just takes practice.
About 20 years ago I purchased a Full Adjust arrow straightner with the dial. It was like learning to ride a bike it seamed to take forever and then I caught on .Now after the seasons over and its cold as blazes I spent an evening straightening shafts. I can get them to just about the same specs as new arrows, EXEPT for real hard bends,but most I can save. An investment well spent.
Go to F-S archery and look at the Vador arrow straightner,its about 60 bucks and works good. I broke down and bought one and its saved lots of arrows .You just have to play with it to get the hang of it but doesn't take long.You can almost get them back to factory specs.Its not the most expensive one but works the same way with probably the same dial indicator?
Thanks to all for the info!