# Easton Tuning Guide - please read



## RickBac (Sep 18, 2011)

+1


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## SupraFreak (Mar 31, 2015)

limbwalker said:


> There seems to be a proliferation of threads about tuning these past few years. Not sure why. Maybe just more new archers in the sport, or folks are getting a little more serious. Might be that we're all taking this "tuning" thing a little too far? I dunno.
> 
> But the first and best advice I can offer anyone on tuning a bow shot with fingers is to download this document.
> 
> ...


So I just looked through the Arrow selection chart in the Easton tuning guide. Its saying for my 31 7/8" DL at 55# DW I should be shooting a 265grain arrow. According to the Easton Arrow Selection Chart:
http://cdn.eastonarchery.com/upload...Easton_Target_Arrow_Selection_Chart-White.pdf

My PSE Freak shoots 300-325sps, 38" ATA, 31 7/8" DL @ 55#, I should be using either group T11 (31" DL)or T12 (32" DL).
Ill assume Group T12.

Even at the lights GR/inch (7.9) 
size spine MODEL WEIGHT GRS/INCH
370R 0.370 A/C/E 7.9
A/C/E Aluminum/Carbon/Extreme
a 32" arrow is 252.8 grains. That means I have <13 grains for fletchings, inserts and tips.

What am I reading incorrectly?

Thank you!
Eric


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## Mulcade (Aug 31, 2007)

SupraFreak said:


> So I just looked through the Arrow selection chart in the Easton tuning guide. Its saying for my 31 7/8" DL at 55# DW I should be shooting a 265grain arrow. According to the Easton Arrow Selection Chart:
> http://cdn.eastonarchery.com/upload...Easton_Target_Arrow_Selection_Chart-White.pdf
> 
> My PSE Freak shoots 300-325sps, 38" ATA, 31 7/8" DL @ 55#, I should be using either group T11 (31" DL)or T12 (32" DL).
> ...


Supra, I think you're confused on a couple things. First off, unless it has changed recently, compound bow manufacturers say arrows must weigh at least 5 grains per pound of draw. At 55#, that would make your minimum total arrow weight 275grains. Anything less than that and you run the risk of causing dry fire type damage to the bow as there just isn't enough arrow mass to absorb the energy of the shot. With the ACEs you mentioned, you're looking at between 360 and 400 grain arrows after tips, fletchings, and nocks. So, you're in the right ball park with those arrows.


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## dchan (Jun 29, 2004)

> Folks, I hate to be so blunt, but if you can't find the answer in the Easton tuning guide, then please keep working through the process until the light bulb finally goes off.


Every club should have a (if not a few) printed copies of it as well. I need to print another copy as my club copy has flown the coop..


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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

I like reading multiple takes on the tuning process, and often a second take helps compliment and clarify the first take. 

Along with the Easton Tuning Guide, a study of this tuning guide can help clarify many concepts of basic tuning: http://www.acsbows.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/tuninglongbowsandrecurves.pdf

It's not as lofty ... and might not be everyone's cup o' tea ... but it is short, sweet, and will add to the conceptual mix of general tuning principles.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Yup. I remember when O.L. wrote that. He did a great job of simplifying the concept.


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## ButchD (Nov 11, 2006)

I have a question as to the meaning of fishtailing. This section seems to correlate stiff and weak arrow behavior with fishtailing. Figure 11 seems to be addressing stiff and weak arrow behavior. Is fishtailing caused by stiff or weak behavior? Is not the correction for stiff or weak done with bow weight adjustment. If so, why is plunger tension mentioned first, as a corrective measure?

Fishtailing
If the arrow leaves the bow with the nock end leaning to
one side or the other, Fishtailing occurs. The nock end of
the arrow will appear to move from side to side as the
arrow follows its flight path. See Fig. 11.
Use the Bare Shaft Planing Test to correct Fishtailing.
Shoot three fletched shafts at a distance of 15 to 20 yards
(meters), then shoot two identically-aimed, unfletched
shafts.
If the unfletched shafts impact left (stiff) of the identically aimed,
fletched shafts, as seen in Fig. 11 (for a righthanded
archer), either decrease the spring tension on the
cushion plunger, increase bow weight slightly (if your
bow weight is adjustable), or increase arrow point weight.


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

SupraFreak said:


> So I just looked through the Arrow selection chart in the Easton tuning guide. Its saying for my 31 7/8" DL at 55# DW I should be shooting a 265grain arrow.


Just to clarify what Mulcade said - that's a _*MINIMUM*_ 265 grains, for safety reasons. You can shoot as heavy as you like.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Thanks you I can't tell you how many times I've posted the link to that document. 
well said Limbwalker!


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## c365 (May 15, 2013)

Going by the Easton guide is probably too much like work for most..they buy a setup, go to the range and expect it to shoot tens right off the bat. And, they haven't even touched on developing their form yet. After a good while of messing around, I finally realized, I have to actually sit down with wrenches in hand, manual in front of me and do it step by step.


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## Astroguy (Oct 11, 2013)

c365 said:


> Going by the Easton guide is probably too much like work for most..they buy a setup, go to the range and expect it to shoot tens right off the bat. And, they haven't even touched on developing their form yet. After a good while of messing around, I finally realized, I have to actually sit down with wrenches in hand, manual in front of me and do it step by step.


 My Son-in-law (who never owned a bow) traded his iPad for a hunting bow with tuned arrows on a hooter shooter from a pro at Avery Outdoors. We did some indoors and he got his first robinhood within a month and averaged about 270/300. He really wanted to tear it down to find out what would make it work better. :BangHead: I pulled off the weak Octane stabilizer and put on a 30 year old 12" Full Adjust from Lancaster. He only shoots spots indoors now. He has no idea what amount of work went into his bow before he got it. All I did was tell him how to think and what to feel , before taking a shot. Also when to let down.


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## Astroguy (Oct 11, 2013)

SupraFreak said:


> So I just looked through the Arrow selection chart in the Easton tuning guide. Its saying for my 31 7/8" DL at 55# DW I should be shooting a 265grain arrow. According to the Easton Arrow Selection Chart:
> http://cdn.eastonarchery.com/upload...Easton_Target_Arrow_Selection_Chart-White.pdf
> 
> My PSE Freak shoots 300-325sps, 38" ATA, 31 7/8" DL @ 55#, I should be using either group T11 (31" DL)or T12 (32" DL).
> ...


 I sent you a PM. I also own a Freak and advised you on spine first before arrow weight. This area is meant for recurve target archery.


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## wfocharlie (Feb 16, 2013)

There is a lot of self satisfaction in knowing how to tune a bow yourself. Like so many things in life the effort is worth it and it takes time to learn. I like feeling like a complete archer (notice I didn't say a good one mind you). Its like being fly fisherman who can tie their own flies or a motorcyclist that can work on their own bike.


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## AngelRa (Nov 15, 2010)

The Easton Tuning Guide assumes the bow cables and string are set perfectly and only hard equipment is moved (i.e. arrow rest, nock, and plunger). In reality most tuning and setup problems come from the string and cables twist or length. There is no mention of Yoke, timing, creep, tiller, cam offset, and cam lean tuning.

So, this guide is only useful if your bow is perfect and you are dealing with issues with the accessories only (rest, sight, nock), not a very realistic expectation.


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## dchan (Jun 29, 2004)

AngelRa said:


> The Easton Tuning Guide assumes the bow cables and string are set perfectly and only hard equipment is moved (i.e. arrow rest, nock, and plunger). In reality most tuning and setup problems come from the string and cables twist or length. There is no mention of Yoke, timing, creep, tiller, cam offset, and cam lean tuning.
> 
> So, this guide is only useful if your bow is perfect and you are dealing with issues with the accessories only (rest, sight, nock), not a very realistic expectation.


It's a basic tuning guide. 

Most recurve equipment needs very little to get a basic tune.

Most compound bows, once setup with proper DL are pretty close to ready to shoot and get a basic tune as well. VERY Realistic expectation for a beginner/intermediate archer. 

You can always take the concepts to an extreme level but most recreational archers will do fine if they learn the basics in this guide. 

The other thing about John's comment/point is if an athlete learns the concepts in this guide, a lot more of the fine tuning aspects will make more sense as well. (your comment about cam/timing/lean/yoke/etc) so the guide is VERY useful as a training step as well.

DC


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## enewman (Jun 5, 2007)

ButchD said:


> I have a question as to the meaning of fishtailing. This section seems to correlate stiff and weak arrow behavior with fishtailing. Figure 11 seems to be addressing stiff and weak arrow behavior. Is fishtailing caused by stiff or weak behavior? Is not the correction for stiff or weak done with bow weight adjustment. If so, why is plunger tension mentioned first, as a corrective measure?
> 
> Fishtailing
> If the arrow leaves the bow with the nock end leaning to
> ...


I use the Easton chart for reading. But it is set up for mainly finger shooters. Yes you are correct. A stiff or weak arrow is fixed by tip weight, knoc weight, cutting or not cutting arrow or changing the lb of bow. I've made this statement several times. Moving your rest as the Easton chart states has nothing to do with weak or stiff. This is for a compound being shot with a release. 

It is just getting the arrow infront of the power stroke. Now if the arrow is weak or stiff the power stroke will not be the same for every arrow. But again my opinion moving the rest or yoke tuning is just getting your center shot set. 

So is the Easton tuning chart any good. Great for finger shooters. Good info for reading. But not that good for release shooters. Unless you understand when it's talking about weak stiff and fixing it by moving rest is incorrect


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## Coodster (Feb 3, 2006)

It's a must have. 
I printed mine out 13 years ago, it's a must read in my book no pun intended. 

Chad


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## ButchD (Nov 11, 2006)

ButchD said:


> I have a question as to the meaning of fishtailing. This section seems to correlate stiff and weak arrow behavior with fishtailing. Figure 11 seems to be addressing stiff and weak arrow behavior. Is fishtailing caused by stiff or weak behavior? Is not the correction for stiff or weak done with bow weight adjustment. If so, why is plunger tension mentioned first, as a corrective measure?
> 
> Fishtailing
> If the arrow leaves the bow with the nock end leaning to
> ...


I am a recurve shooter, and my question restated: Does the Easton tuning guide mean, from the quote above, that fishtailing is caused by a weak or stiff arrow?
I have looked at the guide dozens of times, and never noticed that.
Thanks, Butch


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

Yes.


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## Joe T (Apr 5, 2003)

ButchD said:


> I am a recurve shooter, and my question restated: Does the Easton tuning guide mean, from the quote above, that fishtailing is caused by a weak or stiff arrow?
> I have looked at the guide dozens of times, and never noticed that.
> Thanks, Butch


You get fishtailing when the airflow onto an arrow is at an angle to the arrow shaft axis. The arrow "weather vanes" to and fro due to the restoring force ( the fletching action) always acting to straighten the arrow up. It's essentially a harmonic oscillator behaviour ( F(x) = -Kx ). Fishtailing (directly) has almost zero effect in terms of the changing the arrow flight direction, it can have indirect effects e.g. the coupling of the offset angle to the arrow spin (both gyro and Magnus effects).

AFAIK nobody ever seriously suggests "correcting fishtailing". An arrow always fishtails as it is unavoidable (well maybe not with no air and no gravity  ).

The quote you are making is not really about correcting fishtailing but correcting some of the factors which can create fishtailing i.e.
- arrow bouncing off the riser on the way past
- arrow coming out of the bow at an angle to its flight direction
- Arrow rotating out of the bow so the shaft angle to its flight direction increases during the initial phase of flight.

All of the above can occur if an arrow is too "weak" or too "stiff" in the tuning sense.

PS Easton Tuning Guide, in terms of technical content, long ago superseded by the WA recurve tuning manual. On a practical level little difference.


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## Warbow (Apr 18, 2006)

> WA recurve tuning manual.


Can you point us to this document? Or is it part of one of the coaching manuals?


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## Casualfoto (Mar 10, 2009)

To me the most underestimated aspect of tuning is the ability to shoot consistent groups day to day, and week to week. I see too many young people (and their parents) becoming obsessed with tuning while they’re still unable to shoot consistent groups.


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## Joe T (Apr 5, 2003)

Warbow said:


> Can you point us to this document? Or is it part of one of the coaching manuals?


Recurve set up & tuning manual

Module of the WA intermediate coaching manual. I strongly suspect that the Easton Tuning Guide and the WA Recurve Manual were both pretty much written by the same person. The WA version being an update (and more technically correct).


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## HikerDave (Jan 1, 2011)

Casualfoto said:


> To me the most underestimated aspect of tuning is the ability to shoot consistent groups day to day, and week to week. I see too many young people (and their parents) becoming obsessed with tuning while they’re still unable to shoot consistent groups.


I prefer not to see arrows flying sideways unless the wind is blowing.


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## dchan (Jun 29, 2004)

Casualfoto said:


> To me the most underestimated aspect of tuning is the ability to shoot consistent groups day to day, and week to week. I see too many young people (and their parents) becoming obsessed with tuning while they’re still unable to shoot consistent groups.


Which is why I wrote this

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2053983


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## ButchD (Nov 11, 2006)

Thanks for your take Joe.

"AFAIK nobody ever seriously suggests "correcting fishtailing". An arrow always fishtails as it is unavoidable (well maybe not with no air and no gravity  )." Joe T

"Use the Bare Shaft Planing Test to correct Fishtailing." from the Easton Guide

Perhaps the Easton Guide is imprecise in it's description. Use the Bare Shaft Planing Test to correct the imbalance which causes excessive Fishtailing.? 

Is your take on fishtailing, that what is being described is the periodic oscillation of the arrow, caused by sideways pressure exerted on the arrow by the string release( finger release) and the balancing pressure exerted by the pressure button? 
Thanks, Butch


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## Astroguy (Oct 11, 2013)

It is also good to read the Modified French Tuning in Nuts and Bolts PDF.


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## Joe T (Apr 5, 2003)

ButchD said:


> Perhaps the Easton Guide is imprecise in it's description. Use the Bare Shaft Planing Test to correct the imbalance which causes excessive Fishtailing.?
> 
> Is your take on fishtailing, that what is being described is the periodic oscillation of the arrow, caused by sideways pressure exerted on the arrow by the string release( finger release) and the balancing pressure exerted by the pressure button?
> Thanks, Butch


Fishtailing/porpoising has many causes. When setting up/tuning a bow you are changing *some* of factors for which fishtailing is a "symptom". You address the causes as appropriate not the symptom. Agreed that if your arrow is doing triple somersaults it's probably an indicator that something needs looking at


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## fezza (Jan 14, 2015)

Can someone tell me how to start a new post.
Searching " Nock point"


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## Joe T (Apr 5, 2003)

fezza said:


> Can someone tell me how to start a new post.
> Searching " Nock point"


If you go to the top of the forum (click on "F.I.T.A, N.A.A., Collegiate Archery, And J.O.A.D." breadcrumb as one way) then a blue "post new thread" button will appear.


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## fezza (Jan 14, 2015)

Maybe because I'm on my iPhone, but I canny find any of this


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## scolist (Sep 16, 2014)

Look right under my post to the right. See where it says Quick Navigation? Click on the "FITA, NAA, etc.", and then click go. When the new page comes up, on your left, you'll see the blue oval.


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## MIshooter (Sep 19, 2014)

fezza said:


> Maybe because I'm on my iPhone, but I canny find any of this


Are you using tapatalk or the website


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## ozzypop (Sep 23, 2010)

It is always good when someone reminds us we complicate things too much. Thanks Limbwalker


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

ozzypop said:


> It is always good when someone reminds us we complicate things too much. Thanks Limbwalker


The same obsessive compulsive behavior that makes many archers successful, can also work against them at times. I see it all the time. Gotta know when to go back to the basics and not overthink things.


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## MJAnderson68 (Nov 15, 2013)

On the flip side of this, I trusted Easton when I bought my first arrows and wasted $90 when they wouldn't tune. After that I've learned never to act on one person's advice (even Easton) and ask AT, a coach or fellow archers before moving forward on anything.


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