Carbon seam and spine consistency?

[xtrema312]

There have been a couple threads lately about these issues.  What I would like to know is what all the different shaft out there have for seams and shaft to shaft consistency.  If you have tested a shaft please post up the following info:

1.  What shafts have a seam?

2. Of those that have one which ones are more or less noticeable?

3. What shafts do not have a seam?

4. What is the range or spine shaft to shaft of the ones you have tested on a spine tester?

[saumensch]

The building process of a carbon shaft dictates a seam, but i havent tested enough to tell wich ones dont matter etc.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Yep, carbon shafts all have a seam.  It is simply how they are all made.

[Bill Carlsen]

A friend came by yesterday to have a couple of CX Maxims trimmed down. I could not find a seam anywhere.....nor do i see it on my Bemans or Axis shafts. Can someone explain to me why every carbon shaft would have a seam?

[saumensch]

Because they are made like a fishing rod, carbonfibre-mats get wound around a inner-form. at one point, where the mat touches or overlays itself again there is a seam. At fishing rods you need to take this seam to determine they way it will bend, BUT (and thats a big But) at fishing rods it just is an overlay. At carbon arrows it gets filed /polished down to the normal diameter. Nevertheless a slight seam can stay because of the fibres being more dense there. I even know people who determine this seam and fletch their carbons like woodies along the grain/seam.

I think i wont be able to shoot that good to make out a difference in years.

(Hope this complicated thing is understandable in my english, if not, sorry)

[Bill Sant]

I fooled around with this a little bit by floating the shaft.  Plug both ends by plugging them with foam board,(just push the arrow into it and break off so the end is plugged) and lay them in water.  Pretty quickly they will rotate so that they are seam down like the keel of a boat.  When they stabilize put a dot on the top of the shaft or mark them accordingly and you have a consistant measurement of the heavy side.

It doesn't seem to be all that much different in some shafts, but some were very heavy.  I have dissected some "fliers" (from premade arrows) and found that they were indeed different from others in that group.  The ones I played with were goldtip traditionals

[lt-m-grow]

I am with Bill, I thought some of the manufacturers used a process like this

http://www.forterts.com/tec_process.html

[Greg Skinner]

I just yesterday tested a batch of GT 35-55 Trads on my Ace SpineMaster.  Overall the shafts were very consistent. There definitely is variation as one rotates the shaft in the spine tester.  Maximum deflection variation was from .395 to .42, but it was pretty easy to rotate and mark a consistent .40 spot for each shaft.  I just rotated the nocks to match for feather placement and will fletch as usual.  I don't know if I'm a good enough shot to see a difference with just random fletching, but I think if a setup is borderline tuning-wise it could make a difference with broadheads.  As easy as it is to check them, there is no reason not to line them up.  In general I have been happy with the Gold Tips I have tried and have found them to be every bit as consistent spinewise as Carbon Express in spite of some critism to the contrary.

[Bill Carlsen]

That's what I was thinking, Dave. I think that PSE makes a radial weave shaft and in their ads they show a similar process. I have a faint memory that CX uses a similar process. Maybe different mfgrs. use different techniques for their shafts or depending on the quality of the shaft...high end vs. low end.

[xtrema312]

On another thread there was a link to a "Fred Eichler on arrows" clip.  He mentioned, I think, Easton full metal jacket and one of the other Easton shafts that has the internal inserts.  He said they didn't have a seam.  I figured there would be others.