Walk back tuning and wood arrows

[KnrS510]

Hello everyone!! First off, I wanted to say I come here seeking some advice. I trust the opinions of people on here much more than other places, plus I am not finding the info I’m looking for through research.

I have always wanted to dabble in wood arrows. Having said that, I finally decided with a new bow on order and done here very shortly, it was time to finally take the plunge. I have the test kit on order and will be attempting to tune it out once I get both bow and arrows to me.

I have been shooting traditional for about 13 years now and have tuned carbons numerous time. However woods is a whole new ball game. I am looking for some advice on how to go about walk back tuning since that is what I have always heard is the preferred method of tuning for wood arrows. Everything I’m finding when researching this method is only applicable for compounds. Should you have any other advice when it comes to tuning wood arrows, please throw it out there! I am trying to be a sponge and absorb as much as possible before getting the process started in hopes of making this a little less daunting.

Thanks in advance for any help and God bless you all!

[Bisch]

I’m no help! I’ve been trying to figure out wood arrows since about 1998 with no luck.

Maybe one of the guys that does have them sorted out will chime in with some helpful info for both of us???

Bisch


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[tradman]

I was able to help a buddy tune wood arrows for his recurve about two years ago. Our go to references were Clay Hayes on youtube and the guy who owns "Addictive Archery". The guy who owns and runs Addictive Archery helped us get the right arrows and tip weight to make the process "easy"! We tuned his arrows the same way I would Carbon shafts. I always thought walk back tuning was geared more towards compound bows with an arrow rest... but I see it being applicable if you are shooting an adjustable rest or adding shelf material on your trad bow.

The biggest hinderance we ran into was consistency of spine on the wood shafts and the fact that no two were the exact same. It was a daunting process as we ended up with maybe 5 out of a dozen arrows that were pretty much perfectly tuned and the others were close enough to work... hope this helps and good luck!

[KnrS510]

Thanks tradman! I didn’t even think to check out clays channel. I’m hoping I can end up making woods work, but we’ll see. I’ll be ordering the new Greenwood shafts which are from what I hear strictly spine matched and weight matched also. Hoping that helps the process some

[tradman]

The Greenwood footed shafts are top notch from all reports I have heard! I have a 33.25" draw and shoot a 64# recurve, so wood arrows stiff enough for me to shoot are like small logs, therefore I have never personally had the desire to go that route.

[tradman]

by the way, no matter how you decide to go about the tuning process, a person standing over your shoulder recording in slow motion is a MUST! I sure this most likely not new info for you, but just in case!

[KnrS510]

Talk about a power stroke!! I’m sure that DL flat zips and arrow. I’m on the opposite end only drawing at 27”. Upside to that is that it makes tuning a little more forgiving at least.

I’ll have to recruit the wife for some filming when it comes time haha

[wytex]

I've been shooting wood arrows for 25 years or more.
Spine will also depend on how centercut your riser is.
Talk with the arrow folks and they will recc. spine for you. I usually just order 5# more spine than my bow weight. I shoot a longbow with a fast flight string, carbon limb lams.

I really prefer taper shafts and have been shooting footed doug fir taper shafts for many years now, bois d'arc footed doug fir.

A good tapered arrow will fly like a dart. Mess around with fletching, 3 or maybe 4 fletch and see how they fly, different feather shapes as well.
Learn how to straighten them, not hard at all.

Buy quality shafts and you'll have less tuning issues.

I find staining, sealing and fletching enjoyable. Buy your shafts with the knock and point ends ground or tapered . You'll have to know your actual draw length for that.

We personally like heavier arrows but not the hardwood heavy shafts. My finished arrows weigh in about 500+ grains for my 50# longbow.

[Felix40]

I was pretty disappointed in my Greenwood arrow shafts. Several of the dozen were cracked around the footing, almost none had a square taper, one had a gap behind the footing that I could see daylight through, and one footing was so crooked that it couldn’t be straightened. Also, shooting a 60 pound bow at 29” I ordered the stiffest spine he sells. I had to cut them to the shelf and use 125 grain points to get them stiff enough.

With that said, slow motion video is really helpful. I basically bare shaft tuned mine the same way I would carbons. Just a tiny dot of superglue on the nock, shoot, trim, repeat. When you get it right glue all your nocks oriented the same way based on grain. The only problem is if you aren’t fairly close to the right spine when you start, you will probably break an arrow when it hits the target crooked.

[Felix40]

None of this is a huge deal but for $170 and a 6 week wait I think there are better options. I literally built two longbows in the time it took t get them.

[Felix40]

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[DRT]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is the frustrating kind of experience I'm afraid I'd have going to wood.

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[wytex]

Man those do not look good to me.
I bought mine from Raptor Archery and some way back from Cedarsmith. Both very high quality and back then about $120 per dozen.
I believe Raptor Archery sales a jig for making you own.
I think I have 4 different kinds of footed arrows, the Raptor ones have bois d'arc feet.

[tradman]

I would be contacting those guys and see what they can do to make it right. I have heard they pride themselves on quality. I hope this was a fluke... not acceptable either way, but I can't imagine that would pass the "Tradlab" quality test...

[Felix40]

I did email Cody and ask what was up with the arrows. I told him two were not shootable and he offered to send me 6 new arrows. On the ones with hairline cracks and crooked tapers I just squared them up myself and filled the cracks with super glue. It’s not a huge deal like I said but I have seen footed arrows from the footed shaft that didn’t need to be fixed like that. They are the same price hence my saying there are better options.

Either Cody is a member here or knows someone who is because this is the first time I have said anything about them and he just contacted me again offering a refund. I am going to shoot the arrows and I know it took a ton of labor to make them. I told him I don’t need a refund. The customer service is very good and he is very willing to work on issues for people.

Hopefully that clears some stuff up.


FWIW I mentioned I had to cut the arrows pretty short and use a 125gr point to get them to tune. That looked like something I was saying is a negative but I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to put it out there that they need a stiff spine and light point weight. My finished arrows are still 560 grains.