Fiddler's fletch-o-matic 5000 / second update with pics

[fiddler49]

Here's the finished machine. I thought it was going to be a grey stain but it went on like paint. Rope handle works well. No extra weight needed on the traveling arm. I took the wood skirt hanging below the table and glued it back on to the front right. The V groove on the traveling arm is probably not needed in hind sight, just the bottom track. Divider keeps arrow shafts on one side.
I used a past wax on the V track and sides for less friction. I like that the box carries everything needed and it can be set on a table, stump or ground. Perfect for the professional fletcher of Olde.lol You can fletch 5/16" to 1/2" arrow shafts.  The full build along is on the arrow forum cheers fiddler49

[fiddler49]

Here's the latest update on using the fletching tool. The wheel can slip so I rubbed bee's wax on it. This eliminates the slipping. Also I think the wheel can be made out of wood or most any thing as long as you rub bee's wax along the wheel for good traction. The paste wax really made the tracking arm move along the track much more easily, a good thing. The wheel depth is set so the body of the tracking arm pivots about a millimeter up and down with the right side facing you is a bit heavier and rides on top of the arrow.
If you are using a larger dia. arrow shaft say 11/32" and are getting 1/4 inch spacing and go to a smaller shaft and want to keep the same 1/4" spacing you have to adjust the wheel angle just a bit or the spacing will come out smaller. Same if you go to a bigger dia. shaft the spacing will be bigger. The feather splitter at the end of the arm needs very careful adjustment. The flat side of scarf needs to be the same angle as the feather barbs. The tip of the splitter needs to be about a millimeter away from feather quill when it's horizontal and a millimeter above. On the short feather stubble at the start you need to be careful and slower keep the thread close to tip and at the same angle as the feathers but as the feathers get longer you raise the thread higher against splitter keeping light tension on thread, then you can crank away pretty fast. Like any tool there is a learning curve and a little practice  makes a big difference. I've got about two dozen arrows made with the machine now with very fast uniform results. cheers fiddler49

[fiddler49]

Here's a second update on fletching tool. I added a thin brass plough share to the splitting dowel. It seems to work better at pushing the feathers farther to the left so the thread doesn't snag individual barbs. It's just super glued to the dowel scarf. Plus I made an all wood wheel out of a piece of 1/4 inch thick ash. I rubbed my ski wax on the rim.
Works very nicely.  cheers fiddler49