DIY Arrow Spine Tester: Cheap & Easy

I have a few videos where I use a spine testing device to start my nock tuning process. I received a handful of questions on how I built this. So this video goes in to what you need and how to build. This works great to get you started on nock tuning and is a cheap DIY option.
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[@Manley_Crypto]

Z-Man, I finished building my spine tester today. Looking forward to using it when by shafts come in. Thanks for the great content!

[@ZManOutdoors]

Awesome I’m glad you liked the video and found it helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting

[@Freduccine978]

Thanks for this, i came across a field and stream article outlining this build. looks like it works great in action

[@ZManOutdoors]

Yeah, that’s what I based mine off of with some minor changes, but it does work real well and wasn’t expensive at all! Thanks for watching

[@knolltop314]

for wood shafts, 26" between supports, not 28".

[@ZManOutdoors]

Ahh didn’t know that, good tip!

[@loh3n785]

26" for wooden shafts but 28" for carbon shafts

[@jhuntley575]

Alot better then flexing them in a press or floating them in water. I'll probably build one thanks

[@ZManOutdoors]

Oh that is for sure, may not be 100% accurate, but more accurate than floating them in water IMO haha. Thanks for watching!

[@peterp1143]

Swap arrow ends in L brackets and you will get a different stiff spot on the arrow

[@jkgkjgkijk]

Nope

[@itechhen]

What a minute... nock tuning? Shit, I just came here after googling "arrow spine" Do you have an in depth arrow building guide or one for crossbow bolts? I'm trying to use some scrap aluminum shafts to diy some bolts but i didn't realize how involved this is ur how precise everything needs to be. Tried making some wooden nocks and they either fall out after a while or get smashed into the shaft. Think i need to switch to plastic nocks on.

[@alessandrog5261]

Thanks for the video, jus a question: how can I translate the measure I read on the dial into Spine measure?

[@ZManOutdoors]

That is a very good question, and I honestly have not researched and dug into that deep enough. My main use for it was for spine alignment. You could probably dig online for how exactly they measure that and come up with an equation or formula to calculate it. If I get some time I may do some digging as well!

[@hammer5490]

Should be inch * 1000, so a 1 inch bend will be 1000 Spine, half inch is 500 etc.

[@vincentlok8894]

Set the dial to zero with the arrow on the tester without a weight. Put the weight on as close to center as you can. Whatever the dial reads in thousandths of an inch is the spine (multiply the number by 1000). So if it reads .5500 then your spine is 550. If it reads .7540 the your spine is 754, etc etc

[@aaronivanherrera]

Thanks for sharing your setup. Have you noticed any wear and tear on your arrows at the ends where they spin around the L-bracket holes?

[@ZManOutdoors]

I did at first, but I took some sand paper and scrubbed it pretty good to smooth it out. Once I did that, it wasn’t bad at all. Could also put some tape or something soft on the bottom side of it. Just may need to make the hole a bit bigger if you did that. But sand paper worked just fine for me

[@dariuswhite2543]

@@ZManOutdoors the heavy spine side would be at the bottom right

[@ZManOutdoors]

@@dariuswhite2543 I put the heavy/stiff side up. The key is that every arrow is consistent.

[@888yhwoArt]

Does it matter if you spine test after or before you glue in your inserts?
If my cut arrows are 25”, would you put the 4” L braces at 24” apart? (1/2” on each side?)

[@ZManOutdoors]

So I would think the inserts may change things a little bit, so probably should do it before gluing the inserts in. As far as distance between the braces. I based this off the AMO standard of 28”, but if your are just trying to get the stiff side vs the weak side it may not be a big deal. You could always spine test them before you have them cut, or look into victory arrows since they are spine aligned for you. I’m testing out some victory arrows in my build this year

[@Intranetusa]

Do you have the measurements of how high the machinist dial is supposed to be mounted above the board?
Does the exact height of where the machinist dial is mounted matter very much since I presume the extendable section is adjustable? Thank you.

[@ZManOutdoors]

I do not think the exact location matters, it was one of the last things I installed, I just made sure when I put an arrow in that it pushed it up. I just took a measurement and it looks like I was about 6 5/8” off the top of the base

[@Intranetusa]

@@ZManOutdoors Thank you!