Mixed fletching?

[Prarie Bowyer]

HOw bad is it to mix up your wings when making fletching for arrows?  Say, hypotheticaly, that one made an arrow with two rt. wing feathers and 1 left wing feather.

[ionicmuffin]

i think that it would wind up taking longer to recover(if it does at all) and would have terrible flight pattern.

[PEARL DRUMS]

It doesnt matter a bit. Shoot it and find out.

[adb]

It's not a good idea to mix wing feathers. You should offset RW feathers to the right and LW feathers to the left for best results.

[danny f]

i bought all my feathers and they were already seperated so i dont have a clue which wing they was from but they shoot straight so i would say it doesnt really matter.

[bubby]

if your worried about it just go two fletch, but i've allways been told not to mix them, of course i never was much good at doing what i was told , Bub

[lostarrow]

I've done it by accident ,and you can tell right away. The tail of the arrow spins around like it's trying to stir a pot of porridge.If you look at the feather ,it will have one side that the colour looks vivid  and the under side of the feather will look dull or muted.Regardless of right or left wing ,if the dull side is the same on all of the feathers on the arrow ,you're good.Even if you put your feathers on straight, the structure of the feather will cause the air to flow differently over the top and bottom of the feather. Even a straight fletched arrow will spin because of this.Mother nature is a marvelous designer! If you are still unsure ,grab an un cut /full feather and take note of how it looks.

[handirifle]

i bought all my feathers and they were already seperated so i dont have a clue which wing they was from but they shoot straight so i would say it doesnt really matter.

It's easy to tell.  Look at the feather from the back end.  If the base extends out to the right, forming an "L" then it's a right wing, if the base looks like a backwards "L" it is left wing.  Remember the base points to the wing.  Base points right, right wing etc.

[PEARL DRUMS]

If you use the same clamp to attach all three feathers it will not matter. If you use a LW clamp on two feathers and RW clamp on one feather it will fly badly. Use the same clamp on all three and it doesnt matter at all. Ive done many, many times over. 

[adb]

i bought all my feathers and they were already seperated so i dont have a clue which wing they was from but they shoot straight so i would say it doesnt really matter.

It's easy to tell.  Look at the feather from the back end.  If the base extends out to the right, forming an "L" then it's a right wing, if the base looks like a backwards "L" it is left wing.  Remember the base points to the wing.  Base points right, right wing etc.

No... you got this backwards!

[adb]

If you use the same clamp to attach all three feathers it will not matter. If you use a LW clamp on two feathers and RW clamp on one feather it will fly badly. Use the same clamp on all three and it doesnt matter at all. Ive done many, many times over.

I wasn't aware that there were LW or RW fletching clamps. You can offset R or L with a straight clamp, or do the same with a helical clamp. Offset to the right with a RW feather, and offset to the L with a LW feather. What type of fletching jig are you using?

[PEARL DRUMS]

All jigs are available with left or right wing clamps. I use a Bitz. The only thing you need to do is wait plenty long for the glue to dry on the opposite wing. It will naturally want to curl the other way. If you let the glue set hard the feather wont move and it will be fine. I dont do it on purpose, but it works if your in a pickle or short on feathers.

[Cameroo]

Here's a picture of the different clamps, the helical clamps are twisted the opposite way.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Thanks Cam! Pics are always good.

[adb]

Here's a picture of the different clamps, the helical clamps are twisted the opposite way.

Yup... that's for helical. With a straight clamp, you set the jig itself for RW or LW offset. Are those bitz clamps?