mlj64

For clarity, by way of introduction, I make no claim to being a skilled archer. I only shot aluminum from my trad bows in the beginning, then stepped up (or down ) to woodies. These I did my best to straighten and keep that way. Many I defined as " straight" if they showed little, or no, wobble when rolled along our glass-top table. However, I have a nasty habit of being a " dabbler" ....probably a result of some obsessive-compulsive traits and a period spent benchrest shooting. So, this past weekend, I compared these arrows with some carbons I have left over from my compound days and was shocked/horrified/surprised at the difference when spun on a roller. My only saving grace is that I don' t have the shooting skill to warrant the straightness of carbon. My " straight" woodies bareshaft well and hit (more-or-less) where I intend them to. Is this an illusion? Should these arrows be even straighter? Is this the Holy Grail of the trad world?

Forever dabbling
Mark

IrishLad32

If I can' t see that it' s bent with my eyes, then it' s straight according to Brandan. And since Brandan' s shooting Brandan' s gear, and is happy with Brandan' s setup, making Brandan happy is all that matters Of course aluminum and carbon will always be straighter than wood because they' re synthetic, fabricated materials. By synthetic I mean dead/non-living materials. Therefore they aren' t subject to change and growth. I don' t think arrows within .oo3" of straight are absolutely neccessary, but if my lame eyes can see it isn' t straight, then it could stand to be straighter. I don' t see how one milimeter can throw off an arrow' s spine enough to eliminate it from viable selections, but it seems that' s how aluminums judge. Then again I' m not an expert. Aside from the rambling, if they' re straight to the eye, and fly well, why bother if something else is straighter? To me traditional archery isn' t about perfection; that' s what compounds are for.

Brandan

Floxter

Mark, get yourself a Grayling arrow straightener for 60 bucks. It has a dial indicator that makes it easy to keep ' em straight. I' m able to keep my cedars straight to within +/-.003. Usually takes about 10 seconds/arrow. Before I go to a shoot, I run all my arrows through it. Many carbons don' t come any straighter out of the box. Oh, and don' t let your shooting partners pull your arrows!

mlj64

Flox

I' ve learned to do my own arrow pulling....those woodies are a lot less forgiving than carbons. The Grayling straightener you mention, does it straighten the arrow or merely give an indication as to it' s straightness? Probably a silly question[]...still got lots to learn! If it merely indicates the degree of trueness, then my spine tester could perform a similar function (when the shaft is not under load).
Thanks

Mark

Floxter

Mark, it has a lever built in to allow you to straighten the arrow and adjustable rollers to center the bent/crimped section of the shaft, as well as a dial indicator to show the degree of bend in 1000ths of an inch. Go to:
http://www.keystonecountrystore.com/...em=42&mitem=76