arrows straight vs. spine

[RUTTIN]

One thing that I find a lot of people don't take into account is the position of the spine in the arrow. I like to set up all my inserts so that my broad heads and fletches sit at the same orientation to the spine. This has made, by far, the biggest difference in grouping with my hunting arrows. My average group size at 70 yards dropped 0.85'' between the arrows with the spine orientation matched and the ones where they weren't matched.
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How do you find the position of the spine in the arrow? I have heard of floating them in the bath tub, but curious how to do this.

[Whitetail101]

In my experience building arrow set ups for hunting, 3D and competitive target competition, straightness is quite important. I alway got the straightest shaft I justify buying for all the set ups I have. Right now all my arrows are +/- 0.001'' manufacturers specification straightness.
From each dozen I measure all the spines and pull any that are too far out. This makes a much bigger difference in my 90 meter arrows than my hunting or 3D arrows.

One thing that I find a lot of people don't take into account is the position of the spine in the arrow. I like to set up all my inserts so that my broad heads and fletches sit at the same orientation to the spine. This has made, by far, the biggest difference in grouping with my hunting arrows. My average group size at 70 yards dropped 0.85'' between the arrows with the spine orientation matched and the ones where they weren't matched.

As far as the spine being 'shot out' of the arrow, I believe it. Arrows seem to have a certain number of shots they can take before things start to go hay wire. I don't know if it is the friction of target impacts, I think it would have more to do with the materials in the arrow being broken down by repeated shock and flexing.

In the days of wooden arrows the grain of the arrow had to be aligned a certain way to allow the arrow to flex in the proper direction for accurate shooting. They termed this "aligning the spine". In todays market with carbon and alluminum arrows there is no grain to align as most carbon arrows are wrapped in various cross or X patterns. It is no longer necessary or possible to align the grain of the arrow, what is needed is properly spined arrows that match the dynamics of your setup.

I would suspect that what you are calling "aligning the spine" is in actuallity you are aligning to slight bends in the arrow due to them not being perfectly straight.

[walleyed]

The link appeared in my post from earlier its a good read check it out. Good info flowing in. Thanks to all

[*******]

Whitetail101: For wrapped and spiral bound carbon arrows, your right, there is no real spine to the arrow. With these types of arrow, I don't align to the spine. For all the other arrows that are produced from linear carbon fibers formed on a mandrill there is a noticeable spine. To find this I have an arrow spine checking set up (the classic weight and deflection scale method). Hang your weight with a narrow surface area hanger (small wire) and rotate the arrow to find the spine. Alternately you can use the same method used on carbon fishing rod blanks. Apply force the shaft to flex it against a hard, narrow ridge (counter top edge). Roll the rod slowly down the edge until you find a place where the shaft is harder to flew or skips (slides) rather than rolling.

Most of the woven fiber arrows are pricey and not everyone uses them. For the rest of us with linear fiber arrows, aligning to the spine helps.

Ruttin: I've never heard of a floating method, sounds interesting though. I'm going to have to give that a try.

[wolftalonID]

This may seem a bit strange, however I have found perfect arrows cost me more very fast. I have destroyed so many from shooting groups. I tried a target with 9 small spots to shoot at, but I love shooting groups of three or four arrows. The more spendy the arrow, the closer the group as they say, but then again, I cant afford to buy $120 a dozzen arrows every weekend.
For target shooting to limit my arrow destruction rates, I have been shooting the off brand that sportsmans labels as their own, even though they changed them about 19 months back, they still seem to work. At 50 yrds I can keep them on a pop can. If thats tight enough to hunt by its tight enough of a group for me.