spine indexed......now what?

[4rcgoat]

I've been shooting and tuning my bow since February using an old set of easton axis arrows that i wrapped and fletched myself.I was able to get bare shafts and fletched really close out to 20 yards,fixed heads are flying good as well.I just ordered in some new arrows to get ready,these have been spine indexed. My question is,how is this really going to help me to know this? I did not bother doing any nock tuning during the bare shaft process before i fletched them up. If you were to just put these in the jig and fletch them,what direction would you recommend orienting the spine? I guess i could go through them 1 at a time and bare shaft nock tune them before fletching them,but i just dont think im good enough of a shooter for it to make much of a difference. Bow is a Halon 32 @ 70 if that makes any difference.

 

[MT257]

I usually put my cock vane on the spined side thats marked. Im not sure how much difference it makes but I guess having that little bit of consistency might help?

 

[Planopurist]

I use the static spine as a starting point only. I nock tune each shaft to get the same paper tear, whether that’s a bullet hole or not. Next, I fletch “cock” vanes relative to that nock position.

I use the same color “hens” as my cock vane. I use the tab on the side of the nock to indicate the direction to nock the arrow. I turn all my arrows the same direction in the quiver so in the heat of the moment, I still nock the arrow the same.

You may want to bare shaft tune at this point to ensure the fletched arrows hit where you want. I generally have not had to nock tune the fletched arrows after that point, but I will walk-back tune my bow after fletching.


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[Billy Goat]

I use to run all my bareshafts over the spine tester to index the spine, I then fletched so my weak spine direction faced up. I found many times I still had to nock tune after I fletched. I now shoot bareshafts and nock tune at 25 yards, then fletch those shafts as they tuned.

If you don't care to do that I'd fletch for the index mark to be straight up, inline with your string. I do like fletching to be the same color, that way you can still at least rotate your arrow to a few different positions if need be.

 

[Zac]

You won't notice any difference at all static spine is totally irrelevant.

 

[5MilesBack]

The one time I got "spine indexed" arrows I had to nock tune them anyway, so I don't even bother until I've fletched them all. And then I shoot them long range and any that won't hit where they should, I nock tune them until they do.

 

[4rcgoat]

Thanks guys,good info.

 

[Beendare]

You won't notice any difference at all static spine is totally irrelevant.

I very rarely disagree with Zac ....BUT, I have had arrows that after doing everything else, they would not group with my FP's and the rest of my BH hunt arrows. This is one of the reasons I test all of my hunting arrows and use a BH that works with that system.

In the cases where they didn't group, I nok tuned [twisted the nok 90 degrees] and reshoot. That is typically enough to get them to group. Spine issues do pop up occasionally....but carbon arrows have gotten much better and its fairly rare now. Twenty years ago, it happened pretty regularly.

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[Planopurist]

You won't notice any difference at all static spine is totally irrelevant.

At best, static spine only a starting point, but how do you know there won’t be any noticeable difference in arrow performance?

He has 30” and 31” arrows with slightly different spines. We don’t know the gpi, straightness, wall thickness, component weights, etc. If he’s only shooting 20 yards (for example), it probably won’t matter.


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[Zac]

At best, static spine only a starting point, but how do you know there won’t be any noticeable difference in arrow performance?

He has 30” and 31” arrows with slightly different spines. We don’t know the gpi, straightness, wall thickness, component weights, etc. If he’s only shooting 20 yards (for example), it probably won’t matter.


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Yes that matters they will react totally different.

 

[Zac]

I very rarely disagree with Zac ....BUT, I have had arrows that after doing everything else, they would not group with my FP's and the rest of my BH hunt arrows. This is one of the reasons I test all of my hunting arrows and use a BH that works with that system.

In the cases where they didn't group, I nok tuned [twisted the nok 90 degrees] and reshoot. That is typically enough to get them to group. Spine issues do pop up occasionally....but carbon arrows have gotten much better and its fairly rare now. Twenty years ago, it happened pretty regularly.

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Nope we still agree, I nock tune. Thought he was talking about static spine stuff, like a spine tester or the marks Victory uses.

 

[Reburn]

Nope we still agree, I nock tune. Thought he was talking about static spine stuff, like a spine tester or the marks Victory uses.

The only use my ram spine tester has had is proving to gold tip that they sent me a dozen arrows out of spec. Other then that I haven't seen any benefit from using it. Maybe its better used building cross bow bolts. I have a feeling nock tuning would be more effective there as well.

 

[Billy Goat]

The only use my ram spine tester has had is proving to gold tip that they sent me a dozen arrows out of spec. Other then that I haven't seen any benefit from using it. Maybe its better used building cross bow bolts. I have a feeling nock tuning would be more effective there as well.

I use to use mine all the time, quality has really come up in the past 10-15 years on carbon arrows.

 

[4rcgoat]

Interesting info,thanks for the reply's. I will probably just nock tune these and see what happens. I suppose my question has been answered, i dont see any real value in knowing exactly where the spine is on the arrow if nock tuning will tell you what direction to go. To each there own i suppose.

 

[JimCraig]

Most overseas made arrows - gold tip, victory, carbon express - are made by a carbon sheet being rolled up like a piece of paper, which is where the "spine" comes from. The edge of the sheet of carbon creates a drop off in wall thickness, though it's probably not discernible. It'd be pretty hard for an average shooter (like me) to notice that factor being isolated as a reason for poor flight. However, if you don't want to worry about that variable, Easton arrows are constructed in a more concentric manner, not rolled up. Basically woven in line around a tube, so they end up with no spine.

 

[Zac]

The only use my ram spine tester has had is proving to gold tip that they sent me a dozen arrows out of spec. Other then that I haven't seen any benefit from using it. Maybe its better used building cross bow bolts. I have a feeling nock tuning would be more effective there as well.

Spine testers are for arrow nerds. I would have a great time with one, however its mostly used for knowledge.

 

[Zac]

Most overseas made arrows - gold tip, victory, carbon express - are made by a carbon sheet being rolled up like a piece of paper, which is where the "spine" comes from. The edge of the sheet of carbon creates a drop off in wall thickness, though it's probably not discernible. It'd be pretty hard for an average shooter (like me) to notice that factor being isolated as a reason for poor flight. However, if you don't want to worry about that variable, Easton arrows are constructed in a more concentric manner, not rolled up. Basically woven in line around a tube, so they end up with no spine.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Brendan]

Easton arrows are constructed in a more concentric manner, not rolled up. Basically woven in line around a tube, so they end up with no spine.

If you test them though, they do have measured spine variation like any other arrow. (Axis anyways), including stiff and weak spine readings on the same arrow.

I do test and index my own arrows - arrow nerd here. Even bought upgraded roller bearings for my Ram tester. Nock tuning will be more effective, but maybe the only benefit for me: By buying .001" arrows, measuring runout at both ends as I cut the arrow down (this is helpful), then spine indexing: I've never had to nock tune an arrow I built. So, I consider that a time saver.

 

[5MilesBack]

I've never had to nock tune an arrow I built. So, I consider that a time saver.

I like shooting, so it's no big deal to me to nock tune them all while I'm shooting them. I do a lot of "line shooting" for this, and tuning, and setting sight pins, etc. I can hold dead steady on a line on one axis so it's real easy to see what each arrow is doing. That's why my targets look like this below.......I think that target face was about 6 years old there, and used for three different bows and multiple string changes and arrow sets.

 

[4rcgoat]

I like shooting, so it's no big deal to me to nock tune them all while I'm shooting them. I do a lot of "line shooting" for this, and tuning, and setting sight pins, etc. I can hold dead steady on a line on one axis so it's real easy to see what each arrow is doing. That's why my targets look like this below.......I think that target face was about 6 years old there, and used for three different bows and multiple string changes and arrow sets.

View attachment 201288

So do you just nock tune a bare shaft along side of a fletched? Seems to make sense to me.