Trouble tuning arrows

[buckeyebowhunter]

I seem to be having a lot of trouble getting arrows to tune to the first bow I made using the bingham plans. The bow is about 53# at 28. I have always bare shaft tuned and so far I've tried beman centershot 400s and then 340s and both shafts started out full length and I slowly cut them down to 28". The problem is no matter what I do the shafts fly weak. I started out with the 400s and then went to the 340s and thought for sure that would work. But after cutting them they still show a weak spine? I've also tried lighter point weights to no avail. At this point I'm honestly not sure what else to do.  Any opinions/ideas would be great. Thanks in advance!

[kennym]

False reading. Bouncing off riser. Try a 500 if you can. A lot depends on depth of cut on sight window.

[buckeyebowhunter]

Kenny, Thanks for the quick reply. I was concerned about the sight window. I really don't know a lot about the relationship of tuning arrows and depth of sight cutout. But I have heard that cutting past center will be more forgiving for tuning. The bingham templates have the sight window cut to the center.

[kennym]

I cut to right at center and by the time I shape and sand usually just past center(narrower) and shoot 500s with 200 up front up to almost 50@28  .  I put a 10 strand bcyx string on with one wool silencer and had to go to 400s with 200 up front but an inch longer.  Was using a 12 strand D97 with 6 rubber catwhiskers .

We made a 6 strand D97 for my bro's bow and speeded it up a bunch. Careful with skinny strings tho, need loops and obviously the center serving padded up ...

[Bvas]

How long are your arrows Kenny?

[kennym]

500s are 29.375"  and 400s  are 30.375"

[Wolftrail]

Would leather rests/pads work.

[Roy from Pa]

When you bare shaft tune, are you only shooting bare shafts?

Or are you shooting bare shafts and fletched combined to see where the bare shafts hit compared to the fletched shafts?

Try raising your brace height a little, or build out the arrow side plate a little.

If the side plate is leather or something soft, slide a toothpick down in behind it.

Good video on arrow tuning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSJ6-HjPMTM&t=6s

More tuning info:

https://www.fenderarchery.com/blogs/archery-info/basic-tuning

[Crooked Stic]

What is your true draw length?

[buckeyebowhunter]

Roy thanks for the video I've watched it many times and to answer your question I've been shooting both fletched and bare shafts. Like i said the 400s and 340s both flew like turds. Haven't had a chance to try 500s yet.

Stic my true draw is about 27 inches. I honestly have never had this much trouble bare shaft tuning a bow. I'm not sure if this is due to being home made or what. My shelf material is just a bear hair rest and strike plate. 

[Roy from Pa]

Ok good deal, it's possible that the tiller on your bow isn't quite right and causing the erratic arrow flight.

Try a stick on elevated rest and see what happens, and or play with the brace height, up and down.

[Crooked Stic]

Those arrows you are shooting should be way stiff with 27 in. Are you sure your not getting weak and stiff reading mixed up. 

[buckeyebowhunter]

Haha I'm positive Stic. Every arrow i shoot from this thing shows nock left ( weak right? ). Maybe I'm crazy.   . I actually dug up a couple 500s and they didn't seem to fly so bad.

I am assuming the tiller is slightly messed up.  I'm shooting 3 under and my bottom limb is slightly more stiff. But wouldnt raising the nock point remedy this?  Might have to throw this thing in the fire pit an start over 

[Crooked Stic]

https://stalkerstickbows.com/techtune/tuning-tips/

[kennym]

Try some heavier tips on the 500s?

[buckeyebowhunter]

Kenny right now i have 175 up front and they're actually flying pretty good. 125 tip and 50 brass. I also stuck a piece of felt under the hair on the shelf at the deep part of the grip. Which was recommended in the adcock article Roy attached. I appreciate you guys helping me. The bow just seems very finicky. But it's also the first I've built so maybe that's why.

[Roy from Pa]

Bob what are the tiller measurements for the top and bottom limb?

For 3 under it will shoot better with a zero to 1/8th negative tiller.

[buckeyebowhunter]

Roy, I'll have to check measurements to be certain but i believe my bottom limb is maybe 1/8" shorter gap between riser butt and string as compared to top limb. What exactly constitutes a negative tiller?

[Roy from Pa]

What you described is a positive tiller.

Positive tiller, the measurement for top limb is greater than the bottom limb.

Negative tiller, the measurement for the bottom limb is greater than the top limb.

Zero tiller is when both limbs have the same measurement.

Most bowyers when tillering a bow for 3 under shooters, tiller for either a zero tiller or 1/8 th negative tiller.

Maybe stick on an elevated rest to get the arrow a little higher, or trying raising and lowering the brace height, before you go messing with the tiller.

[buckeyebowhunter]

Roy, thank you for the explanation!