How do YOU cut your carbon arrows to length?

[ShockValue]

It's a tubing cutter for gods sake, not a diesel powered combine carrying nitro glycerine being held by an epileptic pygmy striking matches repeatedly while juggling sticks of dynamite! If you ran over a carbon arrow with your truck tire, the tire and truck will be safe. You blast the same shafts out of your bow a mere inch from your eye! Is it that volatile? Worst thing you could do is go to fast, against the posters instructions, maybe have a dull blade, and end up with a rough cut end. You should not have ANY emergency room bills here. If you do, step away from the tool box, and list your bow on Ebay. I liked the idea of a poster practicing on a bad arrow. That's just common sense. Oh, and don't use anything but Harley oil in your Harley. You'll ruin it, the engine will cease up, and the world will be a bad place. At least accoring to Harley. They also have people in an "I'm scared to try it mode". Helps with the bottom line. I like people who are do it yerselfers and can think through a fix, instead of tossing money at it, regardless of their personal finances.

Let me guess....you just finished this book.

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[tamu_bspeck]

thats some enginuity sp? Im lazy I just buy my arrows from BPS or Cabela's and let them cut em. However the dip this last time didnt push several of my inserts all the way in... I might have to try that dremil setup

[El Coyote]

Let me guess....you just finished this book.

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now thats funny right there...

[HIDE-N-SEEK]

Dremel

[Tubby]

archery shop, no charge when I get them from there

[DRT]

harbor freight sells this mini-saw with ceramic blades for $25 ..... sometimes on sale for < $20

works like a champ as I use this setup to trim/cut rifle brass for my wildcat cartridges

you could DIY and make a arrow saw real easy

I've seen that and thought about it. Thanx for the advice. I'm on it.

[Magnumglide]

I'd say he was SHOT through the hand. The previous poster posted about a hand operated tubing cutter, that you turn about 1 revolution every 5 seconds. The picture was not some tubing cutter spinning like mad in an unsecured vice. Can you cite the story behind the picture as a man using a hand tubing cutter, when that arrow blew up and shot into his hand? I'm thinking not. Nice effect but I'd need much more than a picture. I'd say he over drew a short arrow and it came off the rest and he shot into his own hand. Or he was holding a target for a drunk buddy. The possibilities are endless. The last thing I would believe is total explosion from a hand turned tubing cutter. Been in the field 22 yrs. I could post some pictures where you wouldn't sleep as well tonight. But they would be off topic and not applicable.

[Magnumglide]

Mike, Other than being poked at with a little fun, what did you find that was unintelligent? NUMEROUS other posters have displayed the types of saws, tubing cutters, and Dremels, that they have either purchased or fabricated to do it the cutting themselves. You never questioned their intelligence. Perhaps I poked too much fun, sorry for the offense taken. Having googled How to Cut a Carbon arrow, this thread popped up. After seeing tons of ingenuity, I saw the typical "You guys can do that if you want, but it's not safe" type response. It wasn't a response stating that you don't want to mess up arrows due to not having the right tools etc, but a pan on people who enjoy their own skill and prowess in doing it themselves. I'm sure there are some that will say they won't fletch arrows because the fletching might come off and their arrow could fly in the wrong direction and hurt someone. I exaggerate only slightly here. I told a guy the other day that I do my own brake jobs on my cars, after he told me he just got an estimate for over $400. He told me he leaves that to the pros. I asked who his pro was, some $8/hr kid that's making money to get his next 6 pack? Now I googled cutting arrows because I have never cut carbon. But I worked with carbon quite a bit when I was marathon canoe racing. My 18.5' Savage River canoe weighed 26 lbs, with seats and foot braces in it. I've patched it, smoothed out the resin to keep a sleek finish etc. All the while trying to do a nice job on $3,000 worth of equipment. So, I'll do it the way I'm comfortable doing it. If you're not comfortable doing it that way than who am I to tell you to stretch your personal limits when you feel your safety is at stake? I only jumped in because after getting a few good ideas, I saw the thread go from it being a good idea if you choose, to well maybe we sholdn't take the risk. And then it's gone now to posting pictures of accidents that occurred during unrelated events. (Bow shooting versus arrow cutting). Again, sorry for too much panning. I enjoy a few jokes as much as the next guy.

[Long Stem Wells]

just shoot the dang ole arrows and let them break off naturally where they want to as they hit bone........ sometimes they stick out the other side and are snaped off by trees/rocks or the ground.?.?.? Alwayways ,,seems that they break at just the right spot everytime. if they pass thru and dont break i just use them again......seems pruty simple to me..........
gotta love them carbons

[InfantryCPT]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Cutoff-Saw-Gr8-For-Came-Lead-Stained-Glass-Arrows_W0QQitemZ390155577441QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad715a861

http://cgi.ebay.com/American-Archery-Products-8K-RPM-Ultra-Dust-Arrow-Saw_W0QQitemZ230425208946QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a669a872

Some more resources, 27.95 (mini chop) and 89.95 (for 8,000 rpm with extras)

[MC70]

I don't know how useful this information will be but...

I used to work carbon fiber when I was in New Mexico. We built racing bike and mountain bike components primarily, but would also do custom work on whatever a customer could dream up. It follows that we didn't have any sort of specific tools to machine the carbon after it had been fired (you lay it up, pressurize the mold to remove/reduce voids, then cook it).

We used regular old cut off saws, chop saws, carbon drill bits, etc. Nothing fancy. Most of the bigger manufacturers do this as well. The downside to not buying super-high-end bits is that they dull fairly quickly, but you can usually replace a standard bit/blade far more times than the 'high-end' item would cost initially, and the life expectancy would most often be shorter on the high end item for the same money spent.

Using a dremel would absolutely be my first choice, followed shortly by a diamond chop saw. Just finish the end with some sandpaper and then spray with clear to prevent splintering in the future... if you want... We'd clear-spray our stuff primarily just to make it look a little prettier.

So, save your money unless you really want to spend the big bucks to have a specialized tool.

[Bill]

That's what I loved about shooting cedar wood arrows from my recurve- they smelled so great when the broke in 1/2 all the time.

If you buy from a local archery shop and help keep him in business instead of a big box or mail order, he'll cut 'em for free.

[Cull]

Apple arrow saw

[Magnumglide]

Checked the Dremel like I have on the web. $58 one, which I paid a little less, goes from 5,000-35,000 RPM. The mini chop saw does 8,000. They say use high speed saws of at least 5,000 RPM. These cheap saws turn faster than some of the arrow saws. Went to Carbon Express' site. They tell YOU how to do it. So it must be able to be done because many of the posters here are still alive, and Carbon Express accepts liability for telling Joe Schmoe The rag man off the street how to do it. They say don't use tubing cutters. I would imagine because that's the easiest way to make a mistake. Go too fast like you're doing copper, too much of a turn to cut too fast might cause splintering at the insert point. I'd still say the masking tape, tubing cutter method would be fine, if you go slow, and take a lot of turns to make the cut. Seeing as I have 2 Dremels that out do some arrow saws on RPM's, I'll go that route. Have to look into the G5 squaring device one gentleman mentioned.

[Snackdaddy66]

Tubing Cutter

anyone tried the tubing cutter yet?

Just tried - took two times, but it works