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Author Topic: Arrow fletching  (Read 1534 times)

Offline Oneshot1Kill

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Arrow fletching
« on: November 23, 2010, 04:17:05 PM »
So i made 12 arrows from blank shafts to these awesome looking port-oxford cedar arrows. And I'm fletching em with a Martin J-8 left wing fletcher and Duco Cement. At first while making the arrows some feathers started coming off, i thought i just hadn't let em sit long enough.  :dunno: So i re did em and now they've been sitting for 2 days and i just went and shot em and 3 arrows had feathers come off. So i decided to check all the arrows feathers.  :bdid: Every single feather popped off.  :bash: :bash: What am i doing wrong?!?!?! Is it the stain I put on the arrows? Won't bond with the glue? I used this deck sealer that the glue says would work. I'm going hunting friday and need these things functional. Anyone know what to do? :'( :dunno:
Make every shot count cause ya might not get another.

Offline Snapshot

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Re: Arrow fletching
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2010, 06:40:17 PM »
I've had that happen with certain sets of arrows but it isn't a consistant problem so I don't know if it is temperature related or what. I don't use Duco, but rather Fletch-tite, so I can't comment on your specific combination of stain and cement. Is the stain the only thing you put on or did you topcoat them with a polyurethane or lacquer? I have used wipe stains (Watco for example) without a topcoat and found that in my garage environment in winter it took several days to fully cure! I had feathers pop off and learned that letting the stain thoroughly cure solved the problem. So you might try getting them into a warm environment so that the solvents in the stain can completely flash off.

Another thing I've found on occasion, not always, is that a super smooth dipped finish doesn't provide a surface that glue can grab onto well. So I steel wool my finished arrows lightly with 000 steel wool to make teeny-tiny scratches in the surface that the glue can bite into.

The last thing I'd suggest if you don't already to it, is to put a bb-sized drop of glue on the fore and aft end of each feather after you take them out of the clamp. It really adds to the holding power.

As a last resort you can wrap fine thread about the fletching after you are done with them; a search of Tradgang.com could probably yield a photo and description of the process. If you got yourself the Traditional Bowyer's Bible or The Bowyer's Craft you'd find it there, too.

I'd just like to remind everybody that it's about the hunting, not just the killing. In other words, it's about the total experience, the sport itself and the challenge involved. Bowhunting, done right, is a justifiable and honorable pursuit. Done for the wrong reasons, simply chalking up kills and seeking personal glory, it's taking away rather than giving back to a principled way of life that has to be experienced to be understood. G.StCharles

 


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