a.h.,

That' s a heck of a question to try to " sum up" , but I' ll give it a shot. First off, go to Easton' s website and download the tuning guide. Please note before you read this document as a tuning " Bible" that all the adjustments and test results may not apply to you. Many were written for finger release, etc. Just use this as a source to try to understand what adjustments you should be able to make yourself and how they might effect the arrow.

People use all kinds of evaluation methods to see if their bow is " tuned" . The goals are: 1) Proper spine and 2) Proper alignment. aka, " Spine & Align" . This has nothing to do with sight settings. It has everything to do with good arrow flight and tight grouping.

I prefer the " Bare Shaft Planing Test" for several reasons:
a) No additional equipment needed: bow, fletched arrows, " bare" arrows (cut off the fins only, not the bases, for weight), and a target
b) Results are clear-cut and can be measured
c) Tuning to a finer degree can be accomplished by simply backing up to a farther distance and repeating the test
d) Good results in this test have resulted in an easy transition between field points and broadheads
e) The method makes the most sense to me logically

Remember that tuning will not evaluate how close your arrows hit to your current sight settings. You need to tune your bow, THEN adjust your sights later to match where your " tuned" arrows are flying. Don' t try to conform your tune to match current sight settings. Your goal is tight groups, then you sight them in.

Your life will be a lot easier if you don' t carry any pre-conceived notions into the tuning process (i.e., " I' ve got to pull 70 lbs of draw weight." or " My nocking point is supposed to be 3/8" high because Joe' s is and he shoots the same bow." ) Commit yourself to adjust ANYTHING in the goal to attaining good arrow flight, and only compare yourself to your neighbor in HOW WELL YOU HIT WHERE YOU AIM. Not how you compare on a chronograph or how much weight you can pull or how well the blades of your broadhead align with your fletchings.