Nail Footing

[dhill1520]

Anyone have any experience with Nail Footing to improve FOC?

[wood]

Not yet but I am going to try it not so much for FOC but to help weaken some shafts that are a little too stiff for my bow. I already use 160gr points. To get decent arrow flight I have to leave them about 2.5" longer than I like. I don't like a bunch of arrow hanging out past the back of the bow at full draw. Just a quirk of mine. I hope to do some experimenting this weekend with the nail footing. I'll let you know how much weight I was able to add.

[wood]

Yup, I experimented all right. I took a field point and ground the point off until I broke through to the taper hole. I opened the hole up to accept a 5/32 drill bit. This centered the hole so that when I put it on the point taper of the shaft it would drill dead center of the shaft. This only left 3/32" of wood around the hole I drilled. First 2 arrows went perfectly. I added 2" of 16d nail which weighed 68gr to the point end of each shaft. So I break out some good cedar shafts fully confident that I could replicate the results I achieved with the first 2. Wrong! I evidently didn't hold the drill perfectly and drilled out the side of the next 2 shafts ruining them. These were nice arrows that I had sweated over to look purdy, 2 colors of stain, cresting, 4 coats of finish, and perfectly straight POC. I figure they were worth close to what the actual nail footing jig would have cost if I would have got up off of my wallet and bought the one at 3Rivers. I knew the biggest obstacle would be keeping the bit in perfect alignment with the shaft but couldn't come up with an idea to guide it precisely. It doesn't always pay to be a cheapskate.
Oh wait, I think if I solder a spacer to act as a guide to the end of jig I have...
Oh wait again. If I do that I will likely spend more than what a manufactured jig costs. Rats!
Hey! I have some 190gr points those should be meatier on the very point and may leave enough steel to act as a guide. Hmmm
I just took you through my thought process on this project. Scary aint it.

[dhill1520]

I haven't been brave enough to try it yet. I do think I want to get a nail jig from 3rivers. I was actually looking at them a few weeks ago. I figured I had saved enough in my archery fund to buy one of them and a new taper jig. Then I saw a new shooting glove...one of the Full Shot ones...well maybe I'll try again after I replenish the fund! The shooting glove is very nice by the way I need a second job to support my trad habit!

[Bowferd]

I've been doing the same with bamboo arrows the last few years. I tried with some success on my tapered poplars and spruce shafts but ruined enough before I found the proper tool.
I purchased the internal point weight and footing jig from Tim Harms at Braveheart Archery.
To my knowledge Tim no longer carries them but I believe they are still available elsewhere.
Mine is designed to do 11/32" and 23/64" diameter shafts. When footing my 5/32" tapered poplars I wrap the point end with the blue 3M tape. Just enough to keep the jig snug and true so that the drill bit remains centered.

[wood]

Fred, what do use to add weight when you use your jig? I was a little disappointed in only getting 68gr from 2" of a 16 penny nail. Also, what size bit does the manufactured jig come with? I will likely just break down and buy one. Who besides 3Rivers sells them?

[Bowferd]

wood,
I checked 3 Rivers and see they now have them. At one time I'd heard Kustom King was also, but have not seen them.
I generally use 12d or 16d and have drilled as deep as 3". The bits that come with the jig should allow you to get close to 100gr if I remember correctly.
The last couple years I've spent most of my time experimenting with bamboo shafts and you can drill them without the jig,
This year I'm going to hunt with some of Don Stokes barrel tapered "Superceders".
The arrows I have finished at the moment don't need footed because they're full length with 180-190gr up front.
I'm shooting 65-70 and 70-75 spine from 50-55#@28 bows. My draw is 28.5+ on my longbows and 29" on most recurves.
I generally don't trim an arrow back to 30" unless they should break behind the point. The slight amount of overhang has never interfered with my shooting and doesn't bother me personally.

[wood]

I ground the point off of a 190gr field point and drilled it out from the inside and it works perfectly. It makes a nice centered hole in an already tapered shaft. Using 2-7/16" of a 16d nail I was able to add 80gr to the business end of my arrows. I have done 6 shafts so far with no problem. The added point length of the 190gr field point serves as a guide for the drill bit and keeps it drilling dead center. I think I used a 5/32" bit to drill the point and now use a 9/64" bit to drill the shaft. So far it works great and I should get these overspined shafts flying good in no time without all of the extra arrow hanging out front. It also boosted my FOC to 19.4 even though I really don't pay much attention to that.

[Bowferd]

Sounds like you have it figured. When time is short or I am lazy, I also use Woodie Weights.