Ozbow

Hi Im new to recurves and am playing about this weekend trying to get my arrows to shoot well. I have a 52 lb bow when I am drawing to 30 inches.
Im having some issues with fishtailing and I would like to try a 400 spine shaft , alas you seem to be only be able to buy them either by the dozen or at least six and if the experiment fails thats a waste of money particularly at this time. Powerflights OR aftermaths are ok as I have the nocks and inserts. Must be uncut as I am struggling with my long drawlength getting a finished arrow that stays on the rest. If you have a batch of unused shafts in 400 spine and am willing to sell one to a trad pumkinhead trying to figure it all out let me know. my number is 0423364277 if you have one I could buy flick me a text cheers David

G'day David,

When you say fishtailing, you mean side to side I'm guessing - what spine are you currently trying, now you're looking at .400 (65#), which I suppose isn't too overspine depending on the bow type. Have you tried playing with the brace height, and also if the nocks are too tight on the string this may cause a mild "fishtailing".
Is the "fishtailing" bad, as in off course, - and could you perhaps describe how the arrow lands into the butt, which way is the nock facing in reference to the point, is a better guide to help the correct spine.

cheers
sue

Hi I am currently using 300 spine arrows and come from a compound background so my knowledge of recurve tuning is very limited.
The target but I am shooting into is packed foam and the nocks are ending up left of straight on, but looking at the arrows as they leave the bow there is a dramatic right swing as it leaves the bow and heads down range. I have played with the brace height a bit and it seems to have only minor effect.
I have tied a d loop onto the string and used my compound release and they do shoot basically straight, so I thought it must be my release with the tab I have, but after hours of trying to get a clean release which I believe I have achieved Im still getting the fishtailing. The nock heigh appears to be ok as there is no porpoising up and down just side to side.
As I said I am very new to recurves but have been shooting compounds of and on for 20 years so I have a bit of knowledge regards proper arrow flight. By looking at a lesser spine I am just experimenting to see what effect if any it has, Its all a bit of a learning curve. The 300's were suggested by the shop that sold them to me and as I had not experience I took their advice and bought them. Now with the dramatic right swing on release Im thinking the 300's are too stiff.
Anyway thank you for your interest if you can shed any more light I am all ears. If you respond to this I may not be able to get back to you tonight I am about to head off and retrieve a stranded friend from her work. cheers David

Check out the Spu Miller Spine Calculator - I have found it to be pretty accurate:

https://www.3riversarchery.com/dynamic- ... chery.html

A couple of things you also need to consider

1. What type of recurve are you shooting - in particular, where the arrow rests in relation to centre shot.

2. What weight point are you using?

3. After release, where is your draw hand ending up? If it is way off from the side of your face, you are plucking the string which increases fishtailing.

4. Are you shooting off the shelf - if so, are you using feather fletches? If not, change over to feather. Plastic Vanes bumping the shelf or window will cause fishtailing.

5. If you are shooting off the shelf - try shooting with the cock/index/master fletch in. I have been amazed at what a difference this makes to arrow flight off the shelf.

Kendaric wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:38 pm Check out the Spu Miller Spine Calculator - I have found it to be pretty accurate:

https://www.3riversarchery.com/dynamic- ... chery.html

A couple of things you also need to consider

1. What type of recurve are you shooting - in particular, where the arrow rests in relation to centre shot.

2. What weight point are you using?

3. After release, where is your draw hand ending up? If it is way off from the side of your face, you are plucking the string which increases fishtailing.

4. Are you shooting off the shelf - if so, are you using feather fletches? If not, change over to feather. Plastic Vanes bumping the shelf or window will cause fishtailing.

5. If you are shooting off the shelf - try shooting with the cock/index/master fletch in. I have been amazed at what a difference this makes to arrow flight off the shelf.

Hi mate thanks for your response the rest is raise flipper style rest Im shooting with feathers and I have swapped over 100g and 140g field points thats about all I have at home at the moment. I think my release is pretty reasonable its ending up where it should be. I really just wanted to see if I could satisfy my 400 spine curiousity really, and buying odd sized shafts to experiment is frowned upon by local shops they want to sell you at least half a dozen of each spine rather than half a dozen of various spines. I would have thought it would be something they were up for but alas no. I guess its better $$ wise to sell 18 rather than 6, but as we are all in unsettled times i would rather buy 6 of 3 differing spines to experiment with than 18...anyway cheers for you input , its all a learning curve

Hi David,

Yes .300 spine is stiff and trying the .400 could be a much better starting place
An elevated rest can interfere with fletches however not quite as much as you're describing.
I just had a look and 3Rivers do have test kits of 4 different spines, in alloy and carbon however not in timber, and even we would sell you a minimum of 3 timber and the postage wouldn't make it cheap either, so your on the right track I wish you luck finding someone to assist, especially now, when the clubs aren't open either, which is a shame.
You'll certainly learn quite a lot along the way on our trad journey.

cheers
sue

thanks Sue will see how i go, hope your having a good easter

Hi David
What brand/make of bow are you shooting and how did you get the figures of 52 pounds at 30 inches.
I have four trad bows and that's all I have shot and hunted with for over twenty years (not the same four bows)
I shoot Goldtip Trads with all of them and have sets of them for each bow which have been bareshaft tuned.

With bareshaft tuning I do it on a day that is absolutely dead still because if there is even the slightest cross wind
you will get a false indication of the arrows spine, also have everything on the test shaft less the feathers
ie wraps, nock adapters and different nocks ( which I have all of them).
Happy to answer any questions if I can
Matt

matt61 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:36 am Hi David
What brand/make of bow are you shooting and how did you get the figures of 52 pounds at 30 inches.
I have four trad bows and that's all I have shot and hunted with for over twenty years (not the same four bows)
I shoot Goldtip Trads with all of them and have sets of them for each bow which have been bareshaft tuned.

With bareshaft tuning I do it on a day that is absolutely dead still because if there is even the slightest cross wind
you will get a false indication of the arrows spine, also have everything on the test shaft less the feathers
ie wraps, nock adapters and different nocks ( which I have all of them).
Happy to answer any questions if I can
Matt

Hi Matt its a bow I made myself from an old darton compound that i had blow up on me years ago , I carried the riser around as the bow had sentimental value to me. I have a mate use a cnc machine to make up limb pockets to get the angles correct and i just bought a set of samick limbs to see how it went. As i said its all a bit of an experiment at the moment but seeing as though it shoots straight when I use the release I figured that it would shoot well with fingers if I could get the spine sorted. I realize that it may still be the tab and release but as I used to shoot compounds with finger decades ago I think I have a reasonable release technique for the moment. I just wanted to try a weaker spine to satisfy my curiosity. I have 3 compounds and I just thought if I like shooting my diy recurve I might buy a better brand name bow later on. cheers for your input david