Lefty feathers fletched righty?

[Kpete]

Some friends and I bought a tub of full lenght feathers at an auction.  My "fourth" of the treasure is 576 feathers!  The problem is that the other guys are set up to use left wing arrows, while I am not.  I think an aquaintance long ago used left wing feathers in a right wing fletching jig and said they flew fine as long as all were left hand feathers.
Do any of you have any experience with this?  Or I might have a pile of lefties to trade.
I could set up to use lefties, but in addition to new fletching equipment I would have to change to Left wing single bevels as well.
Thanks in advance,
Kpete

[bowtarist]

"Some friends and I bought a tub of full lenght feathers at an auction.  My "fourth" of the treasure is 576 feathers!" THAT IS FREAKIN AWESOME

"The problem is that the other guys are set up to use left wing arrows, while I am not." Not a real problem, specialy w/ that many feathers. I don't know what you mean by "left wing arrows", though?

"I think an aquaintance long ago used left wing feathers in a right wing fletching jig and said they flew fine as long as all were left hand feathers." Nope...someone may have said it, but I doubt if they flew true.  You can fletch either using a straight clamp, though.

"Do any of you have any experience with this?  Or I might have a pile of lefties to trade." Not a lot, but please PM me. 

"I could set up to use lefties, but in addition to new fletching equipment I would have to change to Left wing single bevels as well." Again, not really that big of deal. 

In retrospect Kpete, I think you should just PM me and we'll talk about a possible trade.   

2thumbsup, dpgratz

[Kpete]

Ah, left wing arrows?  I meant to fletch their arrows using left wing feathers?  My brain was not engaged.

[adb]

Can you not adjust your fletching jig for left offset?

RW or LW... it doesn't matter, as long as you don't mix them on the same shaft. LW should be offset to the left, RW to the right. Don't fletch them the other way! RW offset makes the shaft spin clockwise in flight, LW counterclockwise.

RW feathers are NOT for RH shooters, or LW for LH shooters. Funny thing... most archers in N. America want RW feathers, and most in the UK want LW feathers. Go figure.

So, your LW feathers are fine, and you can use them no problem. Set your fletching jig for left offset, and away you go. If your fletching jig does not allow offset, get a new one. Fletching your arrows with straight fletchings is not good... the arrow will fly much better with some spin. Think of it like a pitcher throwing a knuckle ball (no spin)... the ball fies very eratic... as opposed to a football, which flies true with spin.

Fletch your arrows LW, left offset, and you're good to go.

[gstoneberg]

I'm assuming you have a right wing helical clamp?  If you don't want to buy a left wing clamp or a second fletching jig I'd trade them.  Personally, my right wing fletching jig does a much nicer job than my left wing jig.  Weird.  Are you sure you got all left wing feathers though?  I find it interesting that you didn't get feathers off both wings in a group that large.   Sounds like a great find though.

George

[JW_Halverson]

I once did fletch up a dozen shafts with left wing feathers in right wing right helical clamps.  I was furious with myself, but thought it would be a good lesson if I went out and shot 'em.  They flew fine.

BUT...and I got a big but...they were stripped feathers, not split and ground.  I think that made all the difference, being stripped there was no stiffness to the base of the feather and they conformed to the arrow just fine. If they would have had a slightly stiff base I don't think they would have worked as well. 

The fletching tool used was an Arizona Easy Fletch.  I'd still recommend you use a left clamp with the fletches, maybe I was just lucky. 

[Kpete]

Thanks all.  I do have a right helical. They are commercially processed feathers.  I was sure there were going to be some rightwing feathers in there for me, but no. they are all left wing.
I might borrow a few left wing fletches from one of the buddies and fletch them up on some shafts that I know fly well for me and see what happens.  If they don't I will begin the trading process.  Might do it anyway

[gstoneberg]

What kind of jig do you have?  I think I have an extra left wing Grayling clamp.

George

[Kpete]

I have a Bitz.

[adb]

Your Bitzenburger jig should be fully adjustable, and you should be able to set right or left offset. It won't be helical unless you have a helical clamp, but left offset should be no problem.

[JMcCauley]

I don't know what kind of feathers you have but when using large feathers I split them and use both sides. I make groups of 2, 3, or 4 and organise them by curvature. Also have you tried fletching by hand. I have never even used a jig, and my arrows come out great. Depending on whether you are using glue or just cordage it should take 10 to 30 min to fletch an arrow, it takes some practice though. I could post some pictures of the techniques I use if you would like.

[Scowler]

Why not just tie them on?

[mullet]

I have a Bitz also and like Adam said just set your adjustment for Left and use the straight jig.

[markinengland]

I've fletched arrows the "wrong" way. The only difference I could see was that right wing fletched with left helical (or the other way round) was the the fletchings stood up on the shaft slightly differently. They shot just fine.

[adb]

I've mixed up RW and LW on the same arrow, and they flew horribly. I couldn't figure out what was going on for the longest time. I thought my shooting skills had gone down the crapper in a big way. The arrows flew like knuckle balls, dodging and diving all over the target. I don't know about LWs fletched with opposite offset, or vice versa, however. I also used to fletch arrows with no offset (ie. straight and parallel to the shaft), and they didn't fly worth a hoot either.