# Best way to straighten wood arrows?



## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

I eyeball down the shaft or roll the shaft on a flat surface to observe where the irregularity resides. Then I'll isolate that point between my fists and use my thumbs to gently and repeatedly coax the bend backwards into straight. It often straightens immediately, but sometimes requires some patience and multiple manipulations to move from sour to sweet. There are other tactics, but I tend towards the simple hand manipulation with good results.

At each stage of your arrow processing you can take a moment with each shaft to continue to straighten it as needed. These multiple straightening sessions during the build continue to refine the shaft's final set. 

I meet the occasional shaft that is hopelessly crooked. It becomes a dowel for other purposes at that point. 

We are dealing with natural wood here, and I haven't found that a _very small touch_ of "less than perfection" in an arrow corrupts my shot in any significant manner. So long as the shaft is pretty durned straight, I am happy to shoot it. I focus mostly on matching spines and weights on a batch of arrows, with straightness being the third - although important - rung down the ladder below those first two considerations.

This is all the more reason to procure your shafts from highly-recommended sources that take great pains to provide you with top-notch materials in the first place. Garbage in is usually garbage out no matter how much effort you put into straightening. Quality wood and expert processing from the shaft maker is well-worth the cost ... which usually ain't much higher than sub-standard materials and processing.

Good luck.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

As above.... your arrows don't have to be gun barrel straight be accurate... basically they need to be aligned... :laugh:


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## Bender (Dec 6, 2006)

This is what I use:

http://www.lancasterarchery.com/aae-arrow-straightener.html

I also use a heat gun along with this during the first couple of passes. 

By the time I'm done, 5 or 6 passes later, my woodies are down to +/- .003" or better.

Yes, during the course of a tournament they will not finish the day as being still that straight. I do cycle through them as the day progresses. But, barring crashes, by starting my day with them that straight, I do get more shots out of any one arrow before I'm no longer happy with it.

And of course I will run them back through the straightener when I get home.


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## Ernie80 (Nov 15, 2014)

Hi

It depends on which wood you have. 
Straighten them by bending only, without steam/heat, only works proper with poplar. 

Kind regards
Ernie


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## lunger 66 (Feb 16, 2017)

These arrows are fir, or spruce. I think he we trying to save me some money. I'd rather pay for the best, but not sure that he knew that. About 8 or 9 of them are very straight though. It wasn't a waste of time for sure, because i'm knew and got a lesson on how to use a fletching jig, and glue tips and nocks on. I may stick with the carbons that I bought awhile back, but would rather shoot wood. Thankyou for the help guys!


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## Ernie80 (Nov 15, 2014)

Hi

Fir and spruce can be straighten very good with heat. 

Kind regards 
Ernie


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## lunger 66 (Feb 16, 2017)

Thanks Ernie! I'll grab my wife's hair dryer and try it tonight.


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## dongyan (Mar 1, 2017)

First and foremost buy quality shafting! If it is POC, Spruce or Surewood Doug Fir-just finger straighten; it is not going to take much, if anything at all. If you are buying quality, most shafts will be perfectly straight.
Hardwoods will need some heat, and then finger straighten.
Once straight I wrap shafting with rubber bands-3 or 4 per bundle and put them away for later use.


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## webster2 (Nov 24, 2013)

Congrats on choosing wood and asking your question...not many want to bother with traditional arrows these days. 

It's best to straighten wood shafts early in the arrow-making process, before they are cut to length and made into arrows. Choose the straightest end as the nock end, cut he point end to get the final length. The hand-straightening process doesn't change whether it's a raw shaft or a finished arrow and checking/re-straightening every now and them is simple and quick. With practice most decent wood shafts can be re-straightened in less than a minute, although some are easier or harder than others. Straightening shafts is like tying your shoe...it's MUCH easier to do than to explain. 

Your best bet is to google some u-toob vids to see the basics...how to hold the shaft, how to spin and put the right pressure on the 'high spots' to level them out, how to use friction heat to 'train' the difficult high spots to stay put. etc. The same process will work for aluminum arrows as well, though it does take a little more hand pressure. Success depends on what section of the shaft is bent...the closer the bend is to the shaft end (point or nock end) the harder it is to remove the bend, regardless of shaft material. 

Turning real wood shafts into your own finished wood arrows and learning how to customize/maintain them is a hobby in itself and lots of fun. You may discover that doing so provides you with much more archery satisfaction than simply buying and shooting ready-made hollow weighted polymer tubes.


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## lunger 66 (Feb 16, 2017)

Update. ...i've got the arrows way straighter, but not perfect. To my surprise, they flew great and shot tight. At least in my garage, at ten yards. Going to try 15 or 20 yards soon. I'm shooting 4 inch groups most of the time at 10 yards with a few that do better. Once in awhile i'll mess up a shot pretty good though, and that's why I haven't been in a hurry to shoot further. Been just shooting 3 shot groups so I don't tire too soon. I sure appreciate all the help I've received from you all on the forum. Lunger


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## 5 Arrow (Nov 20, 2015)

Thin Man said:


> I eyeball down the shaft or roll the shaft on a flat surface to observe where the irregularity resides. Then I'll isolate that point between my fists and use my thumbs to gently and repeatedly coax the bend backwards into straight. It often straightens immediately, but sometimes requires some patience and multiple manipulations to move from sour to sweet. There are other tactics, but I tend towards the simple hand manipulation with good results.
> 
> At each stage of your arrow processing you can take a moment with each shaft to continue to straighten it as needed. These multiple straightening sessions during the build continue to refine the shaft's final set.
> 
> ...


Copy this reply and read it when you straighten your woods. It's all here and there ain't no more.


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