RE: New Archer: Tips & Questions
 

There are a lot of different woods available for shafts, but I think that Port Orford cedar is probably the most popular.

Yes on tool for tapering the shaft. Some use a power tool and others like myself use a large pencil sharpener lol. Just kidding. I use an older version of the True Center tool. The newer ones can be had for around $26.00 and extra blades are available for them. They're not as precise but work very well to taper both ends of the shaft.

As far as practice, I started with field points. Much easier on targets and much cheaper to bust on rocks and easier to dig out of trees. When I started hunting with my bows, I started practicing with broadheads only, and don't shoot field points except at the one or two trad only shoots that I'll attend during the year.

If you're lucky, they will hit close to where your field points hit. If not, it's time to rethink shaft spine and bow tuning. Two blades will be more prone to plane, dart and dive than a 3 blade will, but there's no shortcutting it. A properly tuned bow and arrow combo will always be more accurate, predictable and penetrate better than a setup that isn't.

Make em sharp and shoot em straight, or leave em home.