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Short Arrows and Shootless
JackCrafty:
Hello,
Growing up in NH, it was always easy to find materials for primitive archery. I took my free time (and free materials) for granted. Now I live in central Texas....and I'm getting back into primitive archery in a big way.
Anyone got dogwood shoots? I've tried a few times to BUY the darn things but the sellers are very hard to find and when I do find them, selling shoots seems to be a very low priority (compared to selling bow staves, for example). >:(
Also, I build arrows in the 22"-24" length range (not including arrowhead) in the Native American style. Most of the spine charts I've seen fizzle out below the 26" mark. Anyone got a short arrow spine chart? Has anyone had any luck using this one posted by "onemississipp"?
http://onemississipp.googlepages.com/spineweight.htm
Lastly, many Native American arrows are not drawn all the way to the arrowhead. How do you measure spine on an arrow that is only partially drawn? Do you only measure spine along the actual draw length? Do you deduct the brace height of the bow from the draw length? Is a spine chart measuring deflection of a SPAN 26" or and ARROW of 26"?
Thanks guys!
wolfsire:
--- Quote from: jackcrafty on January 25, 2008, 08:07:10 pm ---How do you measure spine on an arrow that is only partially drawn? Do you only measure spine along the actual draw length? Do you deduct the brace height of the bow from the draw length?
--- End quote ---
I think the spine is the same regardless of draw or brace. It is about how much the arrow will bend, which those do not affect directly, unlike arrow wood stiffness and length. If you drew the bow back farther, the bow weight would be more and you would need an arrow with greater spine, but the spine of the arrow you are using should not be affected. An arrow that is longer than the draw length has a lower spine if that spine is measure for that draw lenth. But spine can be measure on arrows of different lengths.
I'm hoping to build this variable lenght arrow spine tester this weekend. I think it has the chart you are looking for.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,4589.0.html
JackCrafty:
Thanks Wolfsire.
Hmmm....I followed that link but it's a spine tester build-along. I've got a spine tester (silly contraption that it is) and I'm confused about how to assign a spine value to an arrow that doesn't fit the mold (like many Indian arrows). Right now, I use trial and error to match my arrows to my bows.
JackCrafty:
Oh yeah....I forgot to mention the items I will trade for dogwood shoots (or any other hardwood shoot for that matter):
-Ashe juniper bow staves (they will be green) that are growing behind my sister's house.....she hates the darn things!
-Sinew strings. I make them out of deer or elk sinew and it takes me about 2 hours of labor for each string.
-Salted deer skins. I get 'em pretty cheap if I buy in bulk at the local sausage market...I wet scrape and salt them myself.
wolfsire:
--- Quote from: jackcrafty on January 25, 2008, 08:41:11 pm ---I'm confused about how to assign a spine value to an arrow that doesn't fit the mold (like many Indian arrows). Right now, I use trial and error to match my arrows to my bows.
--- End quote ---
The thing about the spine tester I linked to is that it allows you to test the spine of different length arrows. Yours might be set to 28".
The general rule is that you add 5lbs of spine for every inch shorter and subtract 5lbs for ever inch longer. I don't know if that answers your question. If you spine your arrows to say, 40 lbs at 28" then cut them down to 22", then your spine after cutting would be 70lbs (28-22=6 *5=30+40=70).
It you cut it to 24", the spine would be 60lbs. If you only pull it to 22", leaving 2" out front, then the spine is still 60lbs. If you bow is 60# at 22", then you are set. If you bow is 40lbs at 22" and you want to use 24" arows, then you need an arrow spined at 20lbs at 28" cut down to 24" to get you 40lbs at that length.
I'm just learing this stuff too, but I'm reading the books now, so I hope I'm getting this right.
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