Arrows spine for a 33# chinese bow

[neos1976]

Hi there
First of all i need to say, loving this forum and all the informations im finding here
Now my question, recently i bought a chinese horsebow (of course it's a replica, not a real hornbow) and started to learn the thumb release.
Actually im using cedar arrows 5/16 - lenght 32" spined for 30-35 lbs. Arrow heads 100 grn. and 4" feathers.

Are those arrows too "delicate" and should try stiffer and heavier arrows?
Celestino Poletti, the seller, suggested me to try with 50-55 lbs shafts, but the results aint that great :/

Any suggestions are more then welcome

[neos1976]

Here some pictures about the bow and the arrow i've made and painted.
The arrow in this 2 pics it's a 32" 3-35#





And that's a 50-55# arrow, nock is in wood but looking forward to make self nocks in the shaft.

[jack farrell]

Neo; You are trying to shoot a canonball from a gun. Maybe try different arrows (lighter) before deciding. Those heavy points especially are killing the long cast.

[neos1976]

Neo; You are trying to shoot a canonball from a gun. Maybe try different arrows (lighter) before deciding. Those heavy points especially are killing the long cast.

The lsat picture is about the heavier arrow i tried, right now im shooting light arrows 30-35# (the red an brown one in the first 2 pictures)

[Amarutu]

few questions:
whats the drawweight of the bow?
at which drawlength is the drawweight measured?
how far do you draw the bow?
how do you meassure the drawlenght?
how wide is the bow where the arrow passes?
do you twist your wrist while shooting?

[neos1976]

few questions:
whats the drawweight of the bow?
at which drawlength is the drawweight measured?
how far do you draw the bow?
how do you meassure the drawlenght?
how wide is the bow where the arrow passes?
do you twist your wrist while shooting?

Draw weight 33# @32"
I Draw the bow till i feel the arrow point on my index finger
Measured the draw lenght using a shaft with the different draw lenghts on it
With wide you mean the size of the handle is?
If you mean the bow hand, yes i twist sometimes the bow to the left for some degree, but only when ttesting different styles, else im not twsiting nor the bow hand wrist neither the draw hand when using the thumb draw method.

[Amarutu]

okay - i estimated a wideness of the gripp of 2,5cm - and a draw of 32" - all meassured after amo. put these data in a calculator - and looked for a fitting shaft. so - just using a tool, no experience with this bow!

the calculator can be found at http://heilakka.com/stumiller/

it works for me and others, so i hope, it works for you.

thing is, you have a light bow and long drawlength. those two things do not match with wooden arrows and good performance at the same time. i'd recommend carbon arrows - because they are light - even in long arrowlenghts.
something like a carbon-arrow with a spine of 1.000 - 1.200 should fit. for example the arrow "sf carbon" from www.skyart-archery.eu could do it with a 100grs tip. its long enough and light.
it is easily below 300 grains of weight, so it could make a good performer. the 100grains (grs) tip gives you a lot of stability. i'd give it a try.

[neos1976]

Thanks Amarutu,
going to take a look

[Amarutu]

your welcome.
if you want to stay strictly with wooden arrows - try some 25-30# ones and taper them at least to reduce weight.

[Bede]

The real problem you will face is the weight of the arrows if you are shooting 50 metres or more. At shorter ranges it is simpler. If the arrows are too stiff, you can use the point of the arrow to aim at the target. If they are too soft you can use the outside edge of the bow to aim with. The degree of offset depends on where you are drawing the arrow to, the right shoulder or the ear.

At 30 lbs, you should be able to shoot an arrow up to 600 grains up to about 60 metres accurately, but it will be slow. However, that will mean you will be able to see any deviations in its flight. As a method of learning how to shoot, this can be very successful.

[neos1976]

Thanks for the advice Bede,
sadly the weather doesnt allows me to go out and start some experiments with lighter and heavier arrows.
It keeps snowing and cant go out with my car... plus im ill in this days ^^
Forgot to say that im left handed.
Tried to a friend's training spot, at 30 meters, with the light arrows i was able to get nearly the gold on the target.
The heavy arrows kept going to the left... a lot to the left.
Guess i need to work a lot on the release

By the way, sorry for my horrible english hehe

[Bede]

My comments still stand. If the heavier arrows go to the left and you are left handed, it means they are stiffer than your light arrows. Sorry to hear you are not well. I understand the frustrations of bad weather. Even though it is summer here, we had four inches (100 mm) of rain in one hour yesterday in Western Sydney.

Don't be embarrassed by your English. There are so many people here who use English as a second or third language that you should feel at home. They are doing very well and so are you. We English speakers appreciate the effort that our non English speaking friends put into communicating.

[jack farrell]

Go with bamboo arrows. Asian traditional. Bamboo comes in all sizes.

[neos1976]

My comments still stand. If the heavier arrows go to the left and you are left handed, it means they are stiffer than your light arrows. Sorry to hear you are not well. I understand the frustrations of bad weather. Even though it is summer here, we had four inches (100 mm) of rain in one hour yesterday in Western Sydney.

Don't be embarrassed by your English. There are so many people here who use English as a second or third language that you should feel at home. They are doing very well and so are you. We English speakers appreciate the effort that our non English speaking friends put into communicating.

Thanks a lot Bede, the weather is still acing crazy, snow, rain, snow again and rain. But going better now.
Will try some different shafts and see the results, i just love to do some experiments
How's the weather now?

[neos1976]

Go with bamboo arrows. Asian traditional. Bamboo comes in all sizes.

Hi Jack, was thinking to get some bamboo shafts from Poletti. Seen and reading some test done with bamboo shafts and im really curious to try it out