For 3 blade screw ons I use a nail stuck straight up in a board "method"
Lay your fairly thin piece of wood with the nail in it on a table.
Screw in a field point almost all the way.
Heat the point till the insert glue is soft ( I use hot melt)
Unscrew the point (pliers are nice for this)
Screw in the b-head.
Place the nock around the nail.
While on the nail, lay the b-head on the table.
It will align the head for you.
Nock one way for a 'Y" orientation.
Nock the other way for a " ∆ " orientation.

If you like your heads canted differently you can just bend the nail over a bit.

You can do it for glue ons too...just gotta be sure you re straighten the head.


Picked this idea up from Kirk.

I quit using the black O-rings for bh alignment years ago when I bent two adapters in the broadhead after they passed through the deer. In both cases the arrow struck the shoulder blade of the deer. I contacted the manufacturer and told them exactly what I was using. He told me that he has seen this before from others who had used the O-rings. Something to do with the bh not seating securely behind the inserts and allowing for a little bit of movement when it hits a hard object like bone. I do think they are great for keeping field point secure on shaft though. This of course is just my experiences, and I have not had any problems since.

QuoteOriginally posted by Zradix:
I've tried what Clint described before.

..Didn't work for me.
Each of my b-heads had a different alignment when screwed down.

is a good idea though..your b-heads must be more uniform than mine..lol

Did you screw all your adapters onto the nock indexed arrows then glue and align the heads? You need to screw the adapters. on with the same torque too. Done correctly, this method can't not work.

OH ...I'm hearing ya now Clint.

You're talking adapters..

I was just orienting the INSERT in the same method I described above....no adapter.
Even after doing that, changing head from one arrow to the next can be hit or miss.

There must be some slight variation in the base "length" between the heads so some of them need to be turned a hair farther to seat.

I can see how your idea should certainly work with the adapters.
Since everything is screwed down ..THEN glued. So all the base irregularities are taken out of the equation.

Now I get it!
Just takes me a little while to understand good ideas..lol

   

Thanks,gotcha. I'm a little slow in the my old age.  Blade orientation I understand, but that wan't where my mind went.  I do the same thing, but generally get them close at insert installation and then pick out the best when I install the heads.

I heat up the ferrel on the broad head and spin it until it is where i want it. I use the low heat hot melt (blue stick) on my carbons it works very well and makes things easy

kelley- yes, it won't work with factory screw in heads since the thread/blade alignment could be any where. For them you would be stuck with a certain head with a certain shaft.  It works great with heads glued onto adapters since all those alignment variables can be eliminated.

I don't like using o rings I seemed to bend heaps more adapters and striped the threads of inserts when useing them so I swapped to diffrent thickness fiber washers Even used diffrent thickness of paper to get them perfict but now I dont worry about broad head orientation and find no real difference in my resaults
Jim

"If you are using a carbon shaft from any company other than Easton or Carbon Tech there could be as much as a 10 # difference in spine weight in a quarter turn of the shaft."

I find that hard to believe... I gotta break out my spine tester and check my Gold Tips...

QuoteOriginally posted by ozy clint:
kelley- yes, it won't work with factory screw in heads since the thread/blade alignment could be any where. For them you would be stuck with a certain head with a certain shaft.  It works great with heads glued onto adapters since all those alignment variables can be eliminated.

   

Zbone. I just spine checked a 1/2 dozen Victory V1s in .400. There is an 8# difference in spine in a quarter turn on the worst shaft and 3# on the best. Victory and Gold Tip are made in the same factory in Mexico. You can expect the same result. You can get good flight with them but you must spine check every shaft, mark the shafts at the point they all spine the same, and index all of your components before you install them. Easton, Beman, and Carbon Tech are the only shafts on the market that you can index after gluing the inserts and guarantee the spine will match.

bigbadjon - Yeah, guess I'm gonna have to check.... thanx

The only common arrow shafts I have no experience with is PSE Carbon Force and Arrow Dynamics. If anybody has some they would run on a tester it would certainly be helpful.