There's been a lot said about whether to use an arrow calculator or just saw off some of the shaft put a field tip on it and shoot it.
One thing that I feel has been overlooked. I was reminded of this when I was reading a bowhunting magazine and saw a compound shooter calculator...that they were charging for the download!
I so appreciate what effort Stu has made to allow us to have a starting point in making an arrow that flies as good as we can get it by using his calculator for FREE! It was/is a gift to the traditional bowhunting community. I don't know anything about how he made this thing...heck, I can barely copy and paste stuff! haha But I am sure he has put a lot of effort and time into this calculator and it's updates. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate his God-given talent and how willing he has been to share his this talent in this way to help us Tradgangers along on our journey. Thanks Stu! :thumbsup: :clapper:
Sliced bread definitely takes a back seat when compared to Stu's calculator. It has revoulutionized how I go about setting up arrows for bows.
I still do the required tuning checks and fine tuning but the calculator get's me way beyond just the ball-park....I'm just a few short steps from home plate when I use it.
Stu's calculator for me has been very accurate with multiple bows and arrows. I am very grateful as well and he has saved me a lot of money in trial and error.
So true Snag .When things start to go a little wrong and off track I double check with Stu`s calculator ,man is he ever close when I do my job right.
Great job , Thanks Stu.
Amen!
Stu's calculator took me from a complete carbon "no-nothing" to shooting darts in no time.
Thanks Stu!
Another big "thank you" to Stu Miller here! :clapper:
You are so right Snag! Stu is most of the time deadly accurate when you put all the right figures in. I use his calculator all the time. It also learns you a lot what happens if you change things. i.e. you can see what happens if you put a skinny string on, what happens if you cut your shaft, increase your point-weight and so on. Another big "thank" you from overseas. I would say Stu did a LOT for traditonal archery and I think we can't imagine how much effort and dedication it must have costed him. He did not only make a calculator, he truly made a "MONUMENT! :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: Give the man a cigar!
Give him TWO cigars!!!!
As with anything related to a computer, the adage "Garbage in equals garbage out" applies in spades when using the Calc. Make sure you know what the bow draw weight is, what your draw length is and how your bow is made (center shot). When you are accurate here, the Calc will give you something valid to work with.
I learned early on to weigh all my desired components, plug them in and let the Calc tell me how long to cut the arrows. I see folks all the time fighting with it because they have this thing in their head that they MUST have 28", 29", etc. long arrows! Who cares (as long as they aren't too short) if the Calc says to cut them to 28 7/16"!
I spend a lot of time figuring out the length of shafts for each bow and end up with very specific lengths that tranlate into perfect dynamic spines per the Calc. And.......the end result proves its accuracy. Carbons that shoot like darts and are VERY forgiving. And the best part......since using the Calc for about two years now....I have yet to have to make any adjustments when I put broadheads on those shafts. It has proved its worth to me many times over.
Pick a point/broadhead weight that you want to use, weigh everything and don't guess at anything.
My best results have been with standard parallel shafts like CE Heritage. I will admit to having to play with shafts that have built-in EFOC. You can use the percentages provided in the instructions for shafts like these and they come out very close, but they tend to show a bit stiff for me when I bare shaft. Now I have a problem....you can't add length! They end up being "re-calculated" for a heavier bow (and cut a bit long to be on the safe side!). Otherwise they end up as tomato stakes!
You are so right! garbage in is garbage out! But an acurate input gives an accurate arrow. When you end up with a shaft which is a bit to stiff, you can play with box 14 (personal form factor)
I used Stu for Gt traditionals and woodies and he was dead-on. The bareshaft test proves it.
....and it's FREE! How's that for giving of your talents?!
Ask my wife.... :)
I am VERY THANKFUL to Stu... The effort and genius that must have gone into his calculator is mind boggling... For those that are having problems with his calc. "garbage in-garbage out" is so true. Must be accurate.. especially the cut to center number. You can't "just guess" at this one.. Also read and study (his directions) on how to enter the insert number. It matters.. I have found it to be very accurate if the proper numbers are inputted.. Can't tell you how much time I've spent playing with all the different combinations there are.. Thanks again Stu..
Nothing wrong with doing it "the way I've always done it"...just saying "thank you" for showing some of us how to do it differently and having fun with it along the way.
I also would like to thank to Stu for this spine calculator. I live very far away from the archery stores, and shafts use to take more than 30 days to arrive here. Thus buying the wrong shafts is not a option to me. Thanks Stu.
Stu's FREE program is a virtual "what if" program where one can see the arrow results without having to buy arrows first.
It's been spot on for me. But, like others have said, all the info inputted into the boxes.....has to be correct for it to give someone a tunable arrow.
I wish I had this calculator when I was starting out in trad 47 years ago.
I had the privelege of meeting Stu prior to Kzoo last year...
A genuine guy and a great service... I'll say no more...
:thumbsup:
Many thanks to Stu Miller! He helped me out and even emailed to make sure everything worked out!
I am shooting great now and his generosity for sharing the calculator is unprecedented! Thanks Stu.
Kenny :bigsmyl: :clapper:
Snag and Night Wing, what type of bow do you plug into Stu's Calc. in place of a Blacktail? I've been using a Brackenbury. Is there a better choice?
Matbe we could get Stu to include Blacktails as a choice.
Scott
Stu's calc is no where close for Hi range EFOC and Ultra-EFOC. However using the Dynamic arrow Spine values from the Stu's Calc that have worked in the past have proven quite advantageous. Three consecutive set-ups, with different bows and specs have been successfully set-up this year using Stu's supplied values.
Each time I backed into the targetted recommendations and all three times ended up being spot on.
Note: There is much other valueable data supplied by the calc that I use.
Great tool and thank you Stu.
I have to agree with you Snag, Stu's calculator takes a lot of guess work out of it. It seems to fit me so well that if I have an arrow that I think matches the calculator but doesn't fly very well I usually start checking my measurements on the bow figuring I must have entered something wrong and usually I have.
Love Stu's Calc!
where can i find this calculator?
QuoteOriginally posted by glass76:
Snag and Night Wing, what type of bow do you plug into Stu's Calc. in place of a Blacktail? I've been using a Brackenbury. Is there a better choice?
Matbe we could get Stu to include Blacktails as a choice.
Scott
I would like for Stu to include a Blacktail in his (I hope for) next revision (upgrade) for his calculator.
I use "Generic Recurve" for the type of bow (Blacktail) I shoot. It's been spot on for me.
For your Brackenbury if it isn't listed, if it was me, I'd use "Generic Recurve" for a Brackenbury recurve.
Knowing the actual shelf cut-out dimensions may prove paramount.
http://heilakka.com/stumiller/
Here ya' go kirk. Now please send me a free bow.LOL
idk if im not putting in all the right info but it sways my arrows underspined but my bare safts and broadheads say other wise. idk.
If you have a valid data point like that, tweak the personal form factor until the bow and arrows match --- then use that number in the future.
Hello Snag, and All,
I am truly humbled an encouraged by all your kind words! The DSC has come a long way from my personal spreadsheet I used when to trying to figure out how to make a good accurate wood arrow. I have many improvements in mind and works and will continue to keep working on this with your help. As an example, many have emailed saying the speed is too high for what they are seeing in their own chrono results. This doesn't surprise me too much as the speed equation was originally developed using data from a shooting bench and mechanical release. If your release is anywhere as bad as mine then you know we loose some speed for sure off the fingers. Another factor is the effect of draw length. Basically when all else is equal the longer power stroke will shoot faster than a bow at the same poundage but at a lower draw. So, I have modified the speed prediction to know automatically compensate for both effects....I think you will find the results are much closer to "real world" shooting results now.
Also, I finally figured out how to rightly handle tapered wood shafts so in the next release there will be a selectable option where you can enter the taper parameters and those will then also be compensated for in the predicted dynamic.
Bottom line is that many of you have helped and blessed me abundantly over the years and I will continue to pay that forward by helping anyone wherever possible. Thank you again!
-Stu
Thanks for the info Stu. The calc. is very helpful.
Yeehaw, I got a maddog midsized longbow on the way and punched some numbers in stu's calc from arrows I have ready for hunting. Bow and arrow matched within .3 of each other. Man I hope its holds as true for me as it has for some of you all cause seasons close and I can't lose any arrow weight or add any of the arrow length back on.(LOL)
Thanks Stu