Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

I know they advertise 1.5" cut, but I can only seem to scrounge up 1 3/8" from one blade tip to the next (which appears to be the furthest point from any given tip) when mounted on an arrow using the washers they provide with the heads.

Am I missing something here? Are they using the furthest point during deployment for their measurement?

When I compare them to my shockwaves, they' re not that much bigger and definately not .25" wider from tip to tip.

If they are only 1 3/8" wide I might as well be using Grim Reapers (I like the way they stay open once deployed) or hammerheads, maybe I' d get 1 7/8" out of they' re 2" cut lol!!

Could someone else please measure theirs and see what they come up with so I know I did' t get a midget batch?

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

Find a light piece of cardboard and with the blades open, push the head through it. Take a compass find the exact middle of the hole and draw a circle around the cuts making sure you are intersecting the very end of each of the three cuts. Now take a measurement and you will see the listed 1 1/2" cut.

All that being said, keep in mind that this measurement is without stress on the blades. With most mechanicals there is some flex in the blades when stressed so it is debatable whether one actually achieves the listed cut in hard stuff like ribs. Often times the skin will show a larger hole because of the stretch factor.

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

Wow, never thought of that.
So what they' re selling me is a triangular circle???


I tell you what, there' s a piece of card board at my house shivering with fear[>:], I see planty of holes headed it' s way. Where' s my composs??(darn it it' s in the attic[:' (])

Can I make it a little funner and mount it to my broadhead target and shoot the b/h' s into it with the blades held open???
I was shooting my shockwaves last year with a rubberband from braces in place of the factory o-rings and they were landing with all 3 blades open, flew pretty good like that too!!

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

...Heh heh, Dave I never was any good at geometry so your triangular circle description is accurate in my book. ;)

Just be careful that you don' t hurt yourself poking that thing through the cardboard, and don' t trip with your compass in your hand when you retrieve it out of the attic. :)

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

They advertise Diameter and with a 3 blade bh the distance from point to point will be less than its true diameter.

An easier way to accurately measure them is to find the radius of one blade. Measure from the tip to the center of the Body then multiply by 2. That will get you its true diameter:)

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

If you are holding the heads, without being on an arrow, the blades will fold back further, and reduce the diameter. When on the arrow, the blades hit the washer and insert, holding them to the specified size.
Charlie

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

Trebark, read my first sentance.;)


AE, no doubt!!

Rack, if that' s the case (and it seems to be) then NAP is giving a little sum sum with their shockwaves because they measure 1.25" tip to tip. Somebody quick, grab a spitfire and see what it measures tip to tip. This makes the new Scorpion even more appealing!! (why can' t it be 1.5" ??)

Hold an ARROW mounted shockwave next to an ARROW mounted Sidewinder and you' ll only see a slight difference in the two.

So what does this mean for the fourbladed sidewinders??? a squared circle?

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

DaveC,
I' ll take a big DUH for that one!:D
After reading so many of these post, I tend to just scan quickly over them, before they blur!
Charlie

RE: Rocket Sidewinders and true cutting diameter
 

Sorry Charlie (:D), No big deal!!
I guess that' s a good indication that my post are too long. I just want to make sure I' m getting my point across clearly.