Finally, ALL OF MY STUFF HAS COME IN TO BUILD MY ARROWS AND I GOT STARTED TUNING TONIGHT! In the past 20 minutes, I have broken 3 arrows.

Some would shoot "straight as an arrow" non pun intended, others a little nock high and nock left.

After each shot, I would remove the point, cut off about a 1/4in., retaper and reattach the point

Each session would show less nock left, but after two shots, my arrows would explode!

Any advice or thoughts, this is my first time with woods arrows, is this just part of the process?

We need some information??

What type of bow?  What pound at your draw? Tip weight? Type of nock? RH or LH draw?
What species, spine and diam. are your bare shafts? How far are you shooting from the target..? Target must be SOFT..
How high is your nock point above center?

Answer these and we can get you pointed in the right direction?
JDS III

Are the wood arrows breaking in the target? I would say you might have too weak of spine,you can break wood arrows by shooting them bare and the are weak spined.You may need some stiffer shafts.Were they hitting severly nock left? A little nock high is ok.I have bareshaft wood arrows and have broken them when they were really weak spined.More info,what spine of arrows are you shooting,bow type,string type and draw weight?

BOw. BW PSR 54 in, 55 lbs @ 28 inches.
Nocks are stick on nocks from 3 rivers
Draw length in is 29 1/2 inches
Arrow length is 30 inches.
Tip weight is 125 gr
RH Bow


Arrows are PO Cedar, diameter 11/32, 55-60 lbs
The arrows are breaking in the target

My first guess is the shafts are too weak.. Holding the bow vertical (only to see better whats happening) how bad are they "nock left"???


JDS III

Exploding shafts are not normal... They are hitting way out of center flight or into a target that is too hard...  Stand 15 to 20 "steps" and see what happens...

Yep, sound way to weak to me also. Probably going to have to try something in the 65-70# or 70-75# range to get good arrow flight.

If you ever get down towards the Dexter area look me up and maybe I can help you out some, or at least shoot a few rounds.

First off if you are shooting a 30" arrow with 125 grain points you will need to be at least 75-80# spine if not a tad more I bet my bottom dollar that 75-80# spine woodies will shoot very well for ya. Go to  www.arrowsbykelly.com  and check out his spine charts and you will see what I mean! Shawn

I should also say that ya want to end up with a slightly weak shaft as when ya fletch it up and add a broadhead it will stiffen the arrow a bit. Use OLs method as well! Shawn

First off the advise I would give you is to QUIT bare shafting wooden shafts, there is no need. Wood shafts are spine specific, in other words you can obtain just about any spine shaft you need. Go to a good spine chart, like mentioned above "Arrows by Kelly" or mine, "Whispering wind arrows" and calculate the spine using the formula used,And I'm going to disagree with Shawn, fletching a shaft and adding a broadhead does not stiffen the arrow. What happens is it takes a stiffer shaft to bareshaft. So bareshafting results in a stiffer shaft than you need when made into a arrow. This will not hurt if your bow is cut past center, however if you have a less than center bow you will be over spined. Calculating spine is not rocket science, just us a little common sense and a good chart.
Bob

Bob, I think you are talking the "kick" bare shaft method and Shawn is talking the "planeing" method...Apples and Oranges.

I agree, he's probably under spined but all he has to do is build out his side plate a bit and or lighter tip...O.L.

O.L is spot on. Everyone needs to understand that the two tuning methods are not the same, and mixing them leads to great confusion when trying to tune your arrows. Use one method or the other, but never try to combine them into one!

Me, I tune all my arrows, regardless of the material. Some of my bows are near center-shot, and some don't even have an arrow shelf; just a peg rest. The static spine vs. dynamic spine of wood arrows certainly makes a huge difference there!

Ed
TGMM Family of the Bow
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=93;t=000366

O.L. & Dr Ed:

Its amazing that before bareshaft tuning, that anyone ever figured how to select the proper spine shafting for the bow. As I said its not necessary for a wooden shaft a formula and a little math is all that is necessary. Guy's I've been making wooden arrows 50+ years for many clients and have never had to bare shaft their shafts
Bob

Its not about "have to".

Its about different methods and choices - some work very well for one person - others choose another.

The trick is to keep the methods seperate so as to get true readings.

Steve

Bob, "Its amazing that before bareshaft tuning, that anyone ever figured how to select the proper spine shafting for the bow. As I said its not necessary for a wooden shaft a formula and a little math is all that is necessary. Guy's I've been making wooden arrows 50+ years for many clients and have never had to bare shaft their shafts".

The way bows function hasn't changed and it was about 40 years ago when I started learning how much the advice of elders was lacking. All I can say is some folks ask for more precision then a ballpark guess from a chart, which they all are. 1/16" difference in centershot makes a HUGE difference in how a bow shoots and no one can come up with a perfect chart on that variable alone.  Sure, experience helps but those starting out can't buy that in a bottle or a dealer....O.L.

I always 'check' by bareshafting. A fletched arrow covers too many sins. My goal is smaller lower profile fletches, and bareshafting is a simple way to achieve that.

Like Bob, I never bare shaft. I use a math formula and it is spot on. Never failed me yet.

Danny

It's just a tool and some use different tools then others to do the same job. Some want to argue how one tool is better then another when it's obvious they've never tried it.

The only time I bare shaft is setting up a target or 3D bow I'll never shoot broadheads out of. Otherwise I tune with wide broadheads but the concept is exactly the same as bare shaft planeing method for the same reasons. Those just starting out need a method that sepreates form problems from tuning issues and it works well....O.L.

I use all three methods metioned here. But as metioned i dont mix them. I use the charts and math to get a ball park shaft that i know will tune to my bow. Then i bare shaft to get lenght and point weight very close. Then i use bare shaft planeing to get it all dialed in all the way to broadheads.

Bob, it is a fact that adding feathers acts to stiffen the shaft, whether y abeen making arrows fifty years or not. Adding weight to the rear of the shaft stiffens it and to the point weakens it. I bet dollars to donuts with a 30 or 30.5" shaft he needs 75-79# spine. Shawn