Ok, I'm new but not stupid. More like cheap, but actually responsibly poor! I'm shooting 45 lbs, and arrows spined for 55 lbs. I know, that's just not right, but I'm not going to buy new arrows. I'd rather just make it work. (if possible) from what I've been able to gather in some online articles, I have 2 options.... Go heavy in the head and/or make the side plate on the shelf thicker or thinner. is this accurate info? If so, someone give me a starting point for head weight and which way I need to go for the plate. (or be honest and tell I'm stupid)
Give us more information...what is your drawlength, what kind of arrows are they, how long are they now, what kind of bow do you have, is it cut to center, past center,..give us those answers and you will get some more accurate advice.
If you will add all the info about your set up, help will come. This is not a stupid question
OPPS I see Rastaman beat me to it.
(http://tradgang.com/noncgi/graemlins/knothead.gif)
Yeah I shoot a 50# with 60# spined shafts and a 67-68# with 80-85# spined shafts. I have a 30" draw though and shoot around 175-200 grains up front.
I would err on the heavier side and just leave them a little longer, cutting them back until perfect. Or, if you are flexible on point weights go a tad heavy too. So far as the side plate, you can add material but you can't remove it when you are to the bow...Are you shooting a center shot bow? There are a lot of variables to consider before you make your purchase to get very close. Do you have a way to taper the arrows if you have them too long? etc
I have some bows that shoot an arrow of the spine being the same as the draw weight. Others will shoot an arrow of 15 to 20# overspine just fine. And one that shoots 60-65, 65-70 and 70-75 spine ranges to the same spot. You can play around with riser pad thickness, brace height and nock height and head weight (I use 125 gr or 130 gr for all my broadheads and points).
Your release will also make a difference. A clean release from a bow cut to center-shot is very spine tolerant.
Is there a trade-off to fixing slight overspine with inserts and heavy bh's? I assume it is harder to get em flying right if you have to do it with a lot of weight up front? Since I was in between spines on carbon, I chose the higher spine b/c I wanted to put a lot of weight up front - approx. 200 grains on a 550 grain arrow.
Sorry to take so long to respond with my specs. I'm shooting a 45lb wing slimline 62" and a 50lb bear kodiak 52". My draw is just shy of 28 and arrows cut at 28 inches. Arrows are .400 spine, I believe. I have no idea if these bows are cut to center or not. One of you probably do. Ok, have at it!
I just saw your initial post and have no fears, your worries are over. You already have it figured. I shoot arrows from 45 to 65 lb spines from a 46# and a 50# bow and I do alright. You can change your arrow to your bow and do just fine. Good luck.
By adding weight up front it will make the spine of the arrow ack weaker. By making the sideplate thinner if possible your bow will be able to shoot a bow with heavier spine.
Yep I do the same, and it works out ok...
In my experience, I've always needed stiffer arrows than the draw of the bow would indicate but I have an almost 32" draw...
It's all part of the tuning process. You are real lucky to have a draw right in the 28" range, makes life a lot easier.
I've found that about 30 to 40 grains added to the point will allow you to shoot arrows spined one group higher than your weight. That is, if your bow is 45# and your arrows are 50-55 spine instead of 45-50, that's perfectly fine if you take the point weight up a little.
If you are shooting carbons, I'd suggest buying some 125 points and some 160's or other sizes you find available. You can probably get the same arrows to shoot just fine out of both bows by switching from heavy points for the lighter bow to light points for the heavy bow. Just play with it a bit and you'll figure it out. Really, with both being within 5lbs of each other, they might both shoot the same points just fine.
Sounds like they are already cut a little short, which only magnifies the over-spined situation. Might look into some 50 & 100 gr. brass inserts plus a selection of heavy field points. Could take a lot of weight to make those fly well.
How do those arrows shoot for you? That would be the first question. If you're shooting a centershot recurve, they may work just fine as is. If those shafts are indeed too heavy (stiff) you can:
-increase the point weight
-Sand down the center of the shaft
-move the sideplate in by adjusting the thickness of the leather pad
From easiest to most difficult, those would be the choices. You could also lengthen the shaft with Reparros, which would decrease the dynamic spine.
Good luck!
Sorry, just read your second post. The sanding and reparrow fix is for woodies.
Cat22,I draw 29" and tuned a set of .400 spined arrows,30" long, for a bow that is 45# at my draw.It took about 260 grs of point and insert weight combined,to get them to fly properly.2" less shaft length would stiffen the dynamic spine app. 10 lbs and that would require another 30-50 grains of weight on the front end to bring them back into tune.If you can go to a thinner sideplate,do it.1/16" thickness in a sideplate can change dynamic spine 3-5 lbs or so.Your bow may require a different point weight than mine but this example should give you an idea how far you are off.
Go to bowmaker.net,read the tuning information and take it to heart.The arrow is far more important in this equation than the bow.If you plan to hunt,poor arrow flight from an untuned setup will squander a lot of your bows energy that should have been delivered on target.A well tuned arrow will be the most forgiving of errors in form and hence,will be more accurate.
Personally,I don't scrimp on arrows or tuning.It is way too important.This doesn't mean you have to get expensive arrows but when you need different spined shafts,fork over.
If those bows were mine,I would tune a set of arrows to the 45 lber and then build out the side plate on the 50 lb bow till arrow flight would be perfect.I have a 48# and 53# bow,that use the same arrows just by tuning the arrows to the lighter bow and building out the sideplate on the heavier.
You can try going to heavier point weights but my guess is,you will need close to 300 grains on the front end to bring those into tune.
Limbender,there is no trade off to having more weight on the front as long as it is tuned properly.It does take a stiffer shaft to start out with as the front end weight weakens the dynamic spine of the shaft.They aren't any harder to tune as long as you have a wide assortment of field point weights to play with.I've tuned arrows to some of my bows,that have way more than half the arrow's total weight on the front end.
You should be in good shape.Just have a big assortment of heavy field points to play with keep going up in weight till they bareshaft well.Don't get a preconcieved notion in your head how much point weight you need.The bow and arrow will tell you that and it may be nowhere near what you thought.Again,read the bowmaker.net tuning information.
Thanks for all the info. Heres what I've decided to do. I'm going to try and increase point weight until I find what works. 3rivers has a field point kit that gives several different weights up to 250 I believe. Then if I need I'll get some brass inserts when I get into broad heads. Shooting is going really well. Hope it keeps getting better. Thanks again.
if all fails, sell them on this site and buy some used ones that will work
I think someone pointed this out. But you draw 28' and have arrows cut to 28' which makes it difficult to 'reduce' spine. You need the extra length to make adding weight up front a worthwhile variable.