Tuning arrows to your bow

[vectordawg]

If you are getting, for example, a left tear in paper, how do you know if it’s the bow tune or an arrow issue? I would hate to cut my arrows too short only to find out they were the correct spine but my bow was out of tune. Where do I start?
Thanks,
Ryan

 

[laltaffer]

It’s really an either or - at least if it’s not too severe. Seems like most people tune their bow to the arrow but many prefer to do the opposite. It’s usually more costly to tune the arrow. Costly in time and materials. So if you got a lot of arrows and can afford to waste some you could tune the arrow with different lengths and weight combinations. You’re trying to match the dynamic spine to the bow at that point. But if you had a dozen cut and glued arrows and don’t want to it can’t cut more off of them or buy new ones you’re better off trying to tune the bow to those arrows.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zac]

You can start by tuning the bow. Sometimes if you can't get that to work your only option is to start cutting on your shaft. I started out with a 29 inch Axis with my Ventum. Ended up with a 27 inch shaft even after shimming. Usually tuning is a combination of interventions. If cutting the shaft would not have worked, I could have tried adding more weight to the back. If that doesn't work I would have had to spine up.

 

[Beendare]

If you

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[Billy Goat]

Crank the poundage down to confirm it is actually a weak spine. If it's spine it will correct it.

Likely it's not weak spine on a compound. That's still a carry over from recurves and finger shooters on the charts. Your weak spine will show bareshaft tuning or broadhead tuning more than likely. Paper is really forgiving on tune. It's kinda a get it close starting point.

 

[vectordawg]

Thanks, guys! What y’all said makes sense. I don’t have a ton of arrows or time so I’ll just make sure what I have flies straight. Thanks again!

 

[vectordawg]

Crank the poundage down to confirm it is actually a weak spine. If it's spine it will correct it.

Likely it's not weak spine on a compound. That's still a carry over from recurves and finger shooters on the charts. Your weak spine will show bareshaft tuning or broadhead tuning more than likely. Paper is really forgiving on tune. It's kinda a get it close starting point.

When you bareshaft tune, do you start with paper?

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Start with the bow as close as possible to the manufacturer's specs (draw weight, axle-to-axle length, brace height, cam timing) with the rest at recommended centershot and arrow running level through the Berger hole using an arrow spined appropriately (per manufacturer's chart or a spine calculator) for its length and point weight at your bow's draw weight.

From there, make adjustments to the bow as indicated by your tuning method of choice. Fix vertical issues first by adjusting cam timing, rest elevation, or nocking point location then horizontal issues by adjusting cam lean/spacing or rest windage. If you reach the limits of cam/rest adjustment but still can't get a satisfactory tune, make sure you're not getting any fletching contact and that your broadheads (if applicable) are all properly aligned with the arrow shaft. Only after exhausting all those possibilities would I begin altering my arrows in hopes of improving the tune.

I personally don't think the conventional wisdom of "left tear = arrow is too weak, right tear = arrow is too stiff" (for a right-handed shooter) is applicable to a compound bow shot with a mechanical release. For a traditional bow shot with fingers, I can understand why a too weak or stiff arrow would cause a tear in a particular direction. For a compound bow not influenced by fingers on the string with a cut-out riser that allows the arrow to remain in line with the string path throughout the shot, I can't conceive of why an overly weak arrow would leave the bow nock left and an overly stiff arrow would leave nock right. In my messing around shooting significantly over/underspined arrows (relative to what the charts recommend) out of various compounds, I haven't witnessed these purported horizontal tear patterns. I think most compounds can handle a wide range of spines, so when I see a tuning issue, I assume it's either something needing adjustment on the bow or a problem with the shooter's form. If I'm within ±.050" of recommended "optimal" spine, I don't give spine another thought.

 

[Billy Goat]

When you bareshaft tune, do you start with paper?

No. I don't use paper but on a target face.


If I'm really worried about it I might start shooting bareshafts at 12-15 yards, but I don't put them through paper. Normally just start at 20 and move out.

 

[Billy Goat]

I personally don't think the conventional wisdom of "left tear = arrow is too weak, right tear = arrow is too stiff" (for a right-handed shooter) is applicable to a compound bow shot with a mechanical release. For a traditional bow shot with fingers, I can understand why a too weak or stiff arrow would cause a tear in a particular direction. For a compound bow not influenced by fingers on the string with a cut-out riser that allows the arrow to remain in line with the string path throughout the shot, I can't conceive of why an overly weak arrow would leave the bow nock left and an overly stiff arrow would leave nock right. In my messing around shooting significantly over/underspined arrows (relative to what the charts recommend) out of various compounds, I haven't witnessed these purported horizontal tear patterns. I think most compounds can handle a wide range of spines, so when I see a tuning issue, I assume it's either something needing adjustment on the bow or a problem with the shooter's form. If I'm within ±.050" of recommended "optimal" spine, I don't give spine another thought.

Overall I agree with this. But I have seen some speed bows (345ish) with a right broadhead impact at 60-70 yards that the only way I could fix was backing off draw weight, ultimately stiffening the spine. So I think for the most part it's correct to ignore a lot of the stiff/weak spine stuff with a centershot compound, but still some can come into play.

Could have been something else, but the only fix I found to work was stiffer spine.

 

[Zac]

Overall I agree with this. But I have seen some speed bows (345ish) with a right broadhead impact at 60-70 yards that the only way I could fix was backing off draw weight, ultimately stiffening the spine. So I think for the most part it's correct to ignore a lot of the stiff/weak spine stuff with a centershot compound, but still some can come into play.

Could have been something else, but the only fix I found to work was stiffer spine.

Do any of you think micro adjusting the centershot is the solution to all of this. I know that the point will always over correct to get in front of the string. This is where follow the rest with the point, and the tail with the cam comes from. However I have heard bows like the Elite are able to shoot multiple different spines perfectly due to their ability to micro adjust the cam lean. Do you think being able to make a micro adjust to the perfect position is the answer? All the other systems out there besides Bowtech have finite adjustments. Top Hats have a finite amount of adjustments, and even yokes are locked into individual turns.

 

[Billy Goat]

Do any of you think micro adjusting the centershot is the solution to all of this. I know that the point will always over correct to get in front of the string. This is where follow the rest with the point, and the tail with the cam comes from. However I have heard bows like the Elite are able to shoot multiple different spines perfectly due to their ability to micro adjust the cam lean. Do you think being able to make a micro adjust to the perfect position is the answer? All the other systems out there besides Bowtech have finite adjustments. Top Hats have a finite amount of adjustments, and even yokes are locked into individual turns.

I use micro adjustment at that range.

I'll use shimming/yoke tuning to get everything close, but you still need to fine tune. So I set centershot and tune with shims/yokes/cable guards, whatever till I'm doing the final broadhead tune at distance. That's when I'm using a micro adjust rest to dial it in. I'm using micro adjust to draw things together the last few inches.


I do this by hand now, but admittedly I have spent a lot of time with a shooting machine to dial in my process and be certain of what my adjustments are doing. That's how I can be picking up on inch or two differences.

 

[vectordawg]

No. I don't use paper but on a target face.


If I'm really worried about it I might start shooting bareshafts at 12-15 yards, but I don't put them through paper. Normally just start at 20 and move out.

So you get your bow within factory specs then start with a BS? So how do you know if the arrow is hitting in the wrong place because of tune or because your sight is off? I’m having trouble phrasing that, lol. I’m fairly new to the self-tuning rabbit hole but have read enough to have a general idea. I had a guy get me close last year then I went home and shot BS through paper until I got a bullet hole. Once I did that, the BS and fletched hit together along with my fixed blades. If there is a better way, I’m all ears. I have a press and a draw board.

 

[Billy Goat]

So you get your bow within factory specs then start with a BS? So how do you know if the arrow is hitting in the wrong place because of tune or because your sight is off? I’m having trouble phrasing that, lol. I’m fairly new to the self-tuning rabbit hole but have read enough to have a general idea. I had a guy get me close last year then I went home and shot BS through paper until I got a bullet hole. Once I did that, the BS and fletched hit together along with my fixed blades. If there is a better way, I’m all ears. I have a press and a draw board.

I'll shoot fletched and bareshafts, compare impact same as I would broadheads.

When tuning shafts before fletch, I nock tune till they have the same impact at 20 yards.