any tips on fletching?

[recurve shooter]

hi. i think i hav got the basics of cutting, cureing, streightening, and so on for an arra , but i am clueless about fletching them . i need any tips yall have got, if you would be so kind. ex. do you use a jig? if so, what is it and how dose it work? what do you wrap it with? what do you use for glue? how do you cut em? how do you get em smooth so that they dont cut your hand when shot from the hand? any help apreciated guys.

[david w.]

they have fletching jigs  they make things alot easier but i dont use them.


i cut my feathers long and then i cut the feather fibers off back and front so i have about 1/4" tab to tie it on on each side.  Then i take all 3 and tie them on with a few wraps then i position them and wrap tighter.  Then i start wrapping down the arrow.  I space the wraps about 1/4"   and try to keep the feathers in positon the best i can and wrap down until the end and then i wrap around the other tab and thats it.

[recurve shooter]

cool. and what do you wrap with?

[JackCrafty]

There are some really good threads on fletching in this forum...just do a search.

As for me, I don't use a jig of any kind.  I just "eyeball" the placement and wrap the ends of the feathers with thread or sinew.  I lay the feathers on straight (parallel with the arrow shaft).  I leave about 1" of quill on the front and 1/2" on the back of the feather.  I don't glue down the middle.  I prefer tail feathers....they are straighter and quieter.

[Kegan]

Gently pound the feather's quill, then slice it with a knife. Stick the knife tip into a board, handle up, blade away from you, and steady it with your chin. Pull the quill back and forth across it to smooth and thin it. Cut to length and use a pair of scissors to trim the shape. Make sure you leave a small tab in front and back. About 1/4".

Or buy some premade and cut a small tab in the back.

Use a small bit of fletching glue to coat the under side of the back tab. using artificial sinew or other strong thread, tie a slip knot and wrap around the tab once- aligning the featehr slightly off center perpendicular to the nock. Continue with the other two in the same way, just further wrapping the thread around now instead of more knots. These should be equidistant from the cock feather. Now, starting with the cock featehr, apply some glue to the under side of the tab on the front. Pull it tight with a knife, and slightly offset (helical). Use another slip knot and wrap. COntinue until they're all attached thusly. Then apply a thin bead on the inside of the quill along the shaft, and coat the thread with pine pitch for durability. Putting the shaft under you left arm and using all your fingers to hold the shaft, the thread, and the glue bottle helps. It sounds hard, but after a little practice it becomes rather easy and you'll be able to fletch and arrow perfectly in about ten minutes.

[ricktrojanowski]

I cut the quill of a primary in half then put the feather in a homemade clamp device.  Then grind the quill with 80grit sandpaper.  Touch up with 120grit until its the right thickness.  I cut the best 5" section of the feather before this.  I then use a Bitzenburger(Not very primitive) and glue with Duco cement.  Then when all feathers are glued on I burn them into shape. Then wrap the point end and nock end of feather with sinew and the easy titebond hide glue.   Sometimes I barberpole the whole feather with sinew, but the extra time involved in that makes losing an arra really suck.

[recurve shooter]

cool. thanx. that helps alot.

[markinengland]

The Trueflight web site has some good tips on fletching, which way is meant to work best for which wing etc.
A fletching jig can work well on POC and commercial shafts, using commercial cut fletchings and glue but isn't really needed. It is quite possible to whip the fletchings on by hand and eye and get a good result. Three fletchings is normal but two works well and is easier.
Wrap can be with cotton, linen, sinew, silk or just about any fibre. Rafia as a binding and pitch as a glue for the feather and binding works well too.
To avoid the fletching cutting your hand the min things are to ensure the fletchings are ground down smooth and that your nocking point is high enough as is binding over the front of the fletching.
Mark in England