Preparing
   the arrows

Choosing the Wright arrows is important. With the properly trimmed arrows you'll hit the ten! Seek for professional help!

Makes sure that you get good arrows from the very beginning. You shoot with the bow, but you score with the arrows! Finding the proper arrows is the most important thing in your whole equipment selection procedure. How many of them you actually need? We shoot the longer distances with six arrows, so eventually you need at least eight. It is advisable to have couple of arrows as spare. The arrows will be selected with the help of a precise but somewhat complicated arrow maker's chart according to your bow weight, draw length and weather you are shooting indoors or outdoors. This actually means choosing first the Wright arrow type (aluminium for indoors and carbon arrows for outdoors) and then also the suitable calibre (spine =bend), with just the Wright weighted tips, nocks and fletches (feathers). Deciding what is your Wright arrow length is the most crucial point, since the length effects also on many other things on your arrows tuning. I would recommend that you let your dealer to measure your draw length and pick up the right arrows for you.

To be on the safe side, buy first only four arrows, since it is possible that you may have to go for an other calibre later. Why? In the early stage of your archery carrier your draw length will grow longer as you get your draw more and more to your back muscles which effects also on your arrow length and calibre. This is also due to the fact that your shooting technique will improve on the long run. In the beginning you need only four arrows to go through the unfletched arrow test which I describe in the Tuning your arrows section.

There are many types of arrows. Go for the aluminium ones first!

There are three main types of modern competition arrows: aluminium (e.g. Easton Eclipse on the left), full carbon arrows (e.g. Beman in the middle), and combination of aluminium and carbon (e.g. Easton A/C/E on the right) The aluminium ones will do you fine when starting at the short distance and what's best they are even the most economic ones, easiest to tune and they even hit best with your moderate skills.
     You can buy yourself the carbon arrows later when you have advanced in your shooting and you start practising on the longer outdoor distances.
      Your equipment dealer will tell you funny four digit calibre figures like 1816 describing the chosen arrows. Don't panic, the first two are telling the overall thickness of the arrow shaft in 64 of an inch and the later two the thickness of the aluminium tube wall in thousands of an inch. In other words the bigger the figures the thicker and stronger is your arrow. 
      Do realise here that the thickness of your arrow is dependant on the poundage of your bow and your draw length and not at all on the look of the arrows. 
So the best scoring arrows for you are not the longest or thickest available in the equipment store.
      For example for an archer with a 40 pounds bow and a draw length of 70 centimetres (app.. 29 inches) the right calibre will most probably be 1916 or 2014 and like vice for an arrow of 65 centimetres and 35 pound in power the calibre will be 1616 or 1714. The price for an A/C/E carbon arrow is around 28 Euros, but an aluminium Eclipse arrow only  about 12 Euros, so think a while before rushing in for the carbon arrows.
     There are also available a variety of ready made arrows (ready fletched and tipped) available, which are quite adequate to start with. You should still talk with the dealer to choose the Wright ones for your poundage and draw length.  If you are, however not buying ready made arrows and you want to prepare the arrows yourself, you should read the instructions below carefully to be able to do the job properly.


Please note that an arrow well trimmed (suitable calibre, exact length, adequate fleches and points) will hit the ten, but an untrimmed arrow will most of the time miss. It is too many times that the beginner just buys a set of unsuitable arrows and don't realise that it is the improper arrows and not the technique which leads to failure in scoring.

There are hundreds of different kinds of fleches and tens of different weighted arrow heads.

In addition to the arrow shafts, you also need points fleches and nocks. If possible, please ask your dealer to prepare your arrows. But if you want to make them yourself, you are facing a tedious, but yet interesting work of cutting fist the shafts to the exact length, carefully gluing the wanes and nocks and precise placing the tips. You should learn thoroughly the instructions I will give you below to be able to make yourself a set of good scoring arrows.  

Don't buy too big wanes, they look bold but grab the wind easily. Don't buy too short wanes either, because they might not guide enough your arrow. Buy the right length and colour just from the start. I would recommend you to purchase 55 millimetres long plastic fletches to begin with.

Be careful and take enough time for you when preparing your set of new arrows.

Inserting the nocks

The new arrow shafts are always uncut and of standard length. Insert first the nocks in the rare end of your shafts. There are two types of nocks, ones which will be glued on top of the rear cone and ones which are inserted in the rare end of your arrow shafts.  For the nocks inserted in the rare you don't need any glue, but the nocks which you place on top of the rear cone you should put a tiny drop of fletching cement to make them hold firmly on their place. tip a drop of glue on the cone, then place the nock by turning it once around its axes. Let them dry properly at least for twenty minutes before you go to the next step.

How to measure your arrow length?

Place the rear end of your nocked shaft on your chest bone under your chin and reach out both of your hands for the other end of the shaft. Your sufficient arrow length is there where your middle fingers touches the shaft. Ask someone to mark it down with a visible pen mark. 

Cutting the shafts

you can cut the aluminium shaft with a  small tube cutter which are normally available at your local archery club or at your hardware store. Remember not to ever try to cut the carbon shaft with that! You just destroy the carbon fibres on your shafts and would not succeed in cutting them! You cannot cut the carbon arrow with any other device but with a special disk cutter having a sufficient rotation speed. The insufficient speed in a normal carpenter's disk cutter will tear badly the carbon fibres on the surface of the arrow and not make a clear cut at all.
      Before cutting the arrow, add two centimetres to your mark. You are cutting the shaft now a bit longer than expected. It is vice to do so, because you can always cut more, but cannot add anything after the cut. After gone through four of your shafts (don't cut more yet) take a small round file (or a tiny roll of smooth sandpaper) and file the mouth of the shaft end in order to get the point nicely fitted in it. Try now to insert the point into the shaft and you'll notice that it won't still go in fully! The point wouldn't insert without heating up first the mouth of your aluminium shaft with a torch or candle flame.

You glue the point in its place with a  special cement which smelts when heated.

Grip the point with pliers and heat up with a torch the end section of the point which will be inserted later into the shaft. Then spread the melting cement on the point insert end. Not too much! By the same time you should heat up also the aluminium shaft front end, in order to get the aluminium to expand.

If you have bought a set of carbon arrow please be sure not to heat at all the carbon shaft, because the heating will destroy the carbon surface on your expensive arrows. The carbon fibres will burn and loose their durability and strength.

If you have bought yourself a set of aluminium arrows note also that you cannot heat them either too hot. The excessive heating will destroy the anodised coating and the shaft will loose the stiffness.

On the same time you are  spreading out the glue on to the point, you should also heat up the arrow shaft mouth section by rotating the tube in the flame. the heating up will make the aluminium tube mouth grow wider, thus helping you to insert the point with your pliers in to its right place. Make sure that the point is all the way down to its place by pushing it towards something hard. If there will be excessive glue coming out of the shaft mouth, don't worry! you can easily remove it with your finger nail when it is first cooled.

Now you are holding an arrow in your hand with a nock and a point, but still with no wanes attached.
In the next section I teach you how to attach the wanes onto the shaft.

Heat up the point (above) to be able to spread the smelting glue on top of it (below).

Heat also up the mouth section of your shaft in order to make the aluminium expand (above). Then push the point into the shaft. (below). Don't hold the shaft in your hand too close to the flame, since the shaft really heats up!

You attach three wanes each in 120 degrees angle on your arrows.

In order to attach the wanes on the shaft you need an arrow fletching device. You'll find one in your archery equipment shop or why not try to lend it from your archery club. Do not try to glue the wanes by hand, you wouldn't succeed to be precise enough! The fletching device is equipped with a mechanism which ensures the wane the right angle of ascent and 120 degree's distribution. You can adjust the fletching clamp also in different ascending or declining (left hand archer) angles in relation with the longitudinal axis. The more declining angle your wanes have, the more your arrows will rotate. But do remember that the heavily angled wanes will also slow down fast the flight power of your arrow. On the other hand wanes in just the right angle will best guide the arrow to the ten. It is advisable to glue first your wanes without any angle at all. It is safest!


Try not to glue your wanes with no other way but with the help of a fletching device.

Before the gluing, sand gently with a fine sandpaper the surface of the rear end of the shaft within the area where the wanes will be attached. Instead of sandpaper, you can also use acetone without any oil (nail polish removers include oil!). Starting approx.  1,5 cm from the nock location and ending up in the spot where your wanes end (depending how long wanes you have). This helps the wane to attach better on the shaft surface.

Next unattach the gluing clamp from the device and place your shaft in the hole in the lower part of the device. In the nock hole, there is a divider for the nock slot and you should be careful to place your shaft always the same way around in it. Other vice you end up with arrows which are unevenly waned.
     There are three wanes on the shaft, one being the so called cock feather pointing out from your riser when the arrow is placed on the arrow rest.
      Then place the wane up side down into the clamp in the position prechosen (put a pencil mark on the clamp in order to be able to repeat the sequences). Then take the fine sandpaper again and sand down the wanes gluing slot in order to get better gripping for your wanes. Spread now an even glue stripe in wane slot and press the gluing clamp on the magnet tight towards the shaft. If the glue is extruding, don't worry, you can take off the excessive glue later with a sharp knife. Let it dry at least 20 minutes before you repeat the job for the next wane. Remember that when you are starting the next wane you have turn the knob in the lower part of the fletching device for turning the arrow exactly 120 degrees. Don't be in a rush, the wane gluing takes time and effort. The best result will be if you need not to redo any of your arrows later on.

Remember to turn the knob once more after releasing the ready fletched arrow from the fletching devise. Otherwise you will end up having the next arrow's cock feather the wrong way round.

Don't use any acetone on the wane slot, since it might smelt your plastic wane. 


When you have done all your three wanes, remove the arrow from the fletching device and extrude a tiny drop of glue on each end of the wane. These drops are called the power drops and they will insure that the fleches will hold firm in their places.

Cocktale

In order to take the arrow quickly from the quiver and notice that it is the right way round on the bow, Robin Hood made the out pointing feather of a male pheasant's tail feather. The two remaining feathers he made of  the female pheasant's tail feathers. This way Robin insured a perfect hit on the Nothinghams sheriffs knights.
       It is important to remember that the arrow must be placed on the string so that the cock feather always points out from your riser! If you do it the wrong way around the cock feather will hit the handle and you'll miss the target!




go next tuning the arrows link.

The wanes are attached to the shaft 
with the help of a special fletching device.



Before gluing the wane to shaft sand 
down the tiny slot on the wane. 
This makes the wane stick properly.


Spread an even strip of glue on the slot. 
Not excessively!



Press the clamp tight and evenly to the shaft edge and let it dry long enough before repeating the procedure for the next wane.