Great advice here. Wish I would have learned this earlier in my hunting but grew up hunting bait piles.

Another 'one-off' with bareshaft tuning is while you can match the point weight you bareshafted with the same weighted broadhead....and get wonderful flight due to the straightening effect of feathers; the broadhead being longer effects dynamic spine making the shaft act weaker. A solid design broadhead weakens the dynamic spine more than a vented design. Kind of what Rob said, the bareshaft isn't the end all of the matter but it makes a straight shooting arrow. I my case the broadhead needs to be able 20 grains less than the field point most of the time.

Often the dynamic shaft weakening by the broadhead is largely offset by the addition of feathers on the back of the shaft...which stiffens the dynamic spine by nature of the 12 grains or so of additional weight which is mostly in the quill.

Sooooo...for the purpose of getting around the effects of the forementioned issues; I broadhead bareshaft tune after the finding the perfect bareshaft tune with field points. I do this by fletching the shaft and then cutting everything off but the quill and about 1/8" of feather. The broadhead tune imperfections show up quickly and then you make the same adjustments you did when using field points....only then do you have the perfect broadhead tune.

I do shoot the bow perfectly verticle to interpret correctly what I am seeing in flight when bareshaft tuning.

For those who have safety considerations it might not be worth taking the last step for tuning broadheads. In my case, I don't have a neighbor within a couple of miles in the direction I'm shooting. The 1/8" feathers is enough to steer the broadhead after field point tuning via bareshafting; but a bad release would miss your target; much like bareshafting field points.

No one needs to go the final step but I've done it for so many years its all second nature to me. Its just part of my normal tuning process.

Quote from: Kirkll on December 09, 2025, 06:18:37 PMDon't overlook the thickness of the strike plate for tuning, and the material used. Depending on your riser, and how far too, or past center it's cut. The strike plate material used can make a big difference on stiffer shafts. For example.... A Velcro strike plate is soft and has a bit of cushion, and a thin leather strike plate is harder and can allow more center shot using a stiffer shaft with less tip weight.

Food for thought...

100% agree. I fought for a couple of hours shooting .204 ID carbons out of my long bow cut past center and flat out would not bare shaft tune for me.  Finally took a break and sat down to ruminate. Only thing I had not tried, so changed the strike plate thickness and it was like magic.  Lazers with Broadheads too

I have to tune by flight because i use big broadheads and they can offset the point of impact on me if the arrow nock is badly kicking to one side,,, once i get straight flight at at least 15yds i then start over bareshafting but canting the bow at my normal stsnding shot and ususlly i have to lower string nock a smidge and raise the point weight...... but most friends just bare tune olympic style and go with that.   

Your form along with even tension on thise fingers is important,,, and if you are new one of those silent klydex draw checks black widow sells will eliminate so much mistakes,,, remove it after a year when your draw length and anchor are locked in solid!!!

Quote from: Mint on December 09, 2025, 04:00:50 PMThanks for responding, it looks like everyone looks at the flight as opposed to how it sticks in the target which makes sense to me. I'm going to use a lighted nock to tune since i will be hunting with them so that should make it easier to see what is happening.

If you're shooting in daylight, you shouldn't need lighted nocks to see deviations in the arrow flight.  If your arrow is flying true, all you really see is a nock flying away from you, but as soon as you have nock left/right/high or low, you see a shaft flying in that direction, and it's really obvious.

You shouldn't have to make any particular effort to focus on it.  Continue to focus on the target and you'll see everything you need to see in your peripheral vision.

Quote from: Crooked Stic on April 05, 2024, 08:00:26 AMMy experience using twill just adds to the stack.so how thick the twill is how much core to leave out. Stack is the same. Just twill and no glass may not be enough tho.

I've built several light weight Static tip RC bows (30-35#) using that twill over stable core on the back to give me .030 composite backing total. The torsional strength rivaled a 65# set of limbs and i didn't have to use a reverse taper either.

Yes those look awesome! I will try to get a sunlight pic tomorrow evening.

Quote from: Crooked Stic on December 09, 2025, 08:47:16 AMOkay so I know to get close I need to build one or two. So here is were I am at. Going to do a one piece in the same design as my now three piece. The three piece fade to fade is about 24 in. Am figuring a 20 in. Riser for the one piece.i figure I need to add to the stack. Any ideas how much?

I use a 30" double ended power lam on a the back of  a 20" riser for my one pc LB. Helps push that energy storage out a bit further, lessens string angle, and acts more like the TD bow with a long lean wedge. My PW runs about .120 to nothing both directions.   Running power lams up the belly ramps work too, but it's hard to control slipping in the form. Running that PW on the back, nothing moves.

.02 cents worth.

Quote from: BrushWolf on December 07, 2025, 04:06:45 PMMy boy started shooting a trad bow last summer. He shoots it with a fixed crawl and shoots it very well. He has killed 4 deer now with that style. I built his current bow and tillered it for shooting with a fixed crawl. I have recently dabbled into it myself and built a couple sets of limbs just for shooting that way. So far it seems to be working fine and something to play around with.we set are bows up at 15 yards and don't see an issue shooting to 20 yards

I'm curious how much positive tiller you are using for a fixed crawl?

I make those occasionally but what do you consider affordable?