i just got a dozen hicory shafts..... needless to say im extremely dissappointed with the queality. these are bent to a rediculous amount. ive spent hours and tried every way i can find on this site and google and just cant get these things strait. ive never had this issue with any other shafts. is there ANY advice you can give me? each shaft seems to be bent 4 dfferent directions. sorry for all the complaining i needed to vent some. so again is there any advice you can give me on these things?
steven
Check out the How To section Guru has a straightening method that works.
X2 on the how-to section.
I have a grooved out spot on my work bench from a knot that I've "massaged" over time into a nice cradle for straightening. It can get quite warm but I think that helps.
For hardwoods, use a craft heat gun, and heat the shaft up so that it is hot, but not scortched and not burnt. The shaft will limber up like kind of like a noodle. So heat the spot where the bend is, and straighten when hot, then work on the next spot. It takes a little time to heat the shafts each time but not too bad. Make sure you seal them when cool shortly after straightening them, because they do take on moisture rather quickly. Doing it in the winter is ideal, when humidity is low.
I just bougt ash shafts from Kzoo, 2 dz. I decided to foot cedar rather than shoot all hardwood. I use the arrow fix tool and expoxy 2 3/4 inches to the front of my cedars. So I straighten my cedars, and use about 2 ash shafts for a dz cedars as footings. I had really bad luck with real footings, so I tried this arrow fix tool and am much happier with the strength of the arrow.
Don't give up on em if you're lookin for a durable shaft. I shoot ash, and have had some rough ones. Heres what I do: First, find the natural high side that wood shafts seem to have. I use the burnishing method, without heat, to help remove this. If its real stubborn, warm it just a little first on the side you are rubbing. After that is done, I use high heat from a heat gun to heat the other crooks then straighten em by hand and then cool that spot with a slightly damp rag. I made a homemade stand that i spin mine on, and hold a ruler behind the shaft to watch for bends. Just seal em up good and they should stay very straight. This works for me, I hope it helps you some :wavey: