Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Medieval Fletching
Rod:
Before the scientific measurement of spine, shafts might be sorted by cross sectional size and weight, which works well enough most of the time, there being a general but not precise relationship between density and stiffness in a shaft material of a given dimension.
Beyond this they are sorted by feel when bent in the hand and by where they go when shot cleanly, if necessary.
Rod.
bow-toxo:
--- Quote from: Davepim on September 22, 2009, 04:42:59 am ---
--- End quote ---
Helical fletching works well for short feathers, but for long ones of the English Warbow arrow type, you don't need them for the reason stated above. The ONLY advantage of the long feathers on these military arrows was rapid stabilisation of the arrows which were of a standard length and spine (well, more or less) whereas the bows were not, so arrow spines were not typically matched to the bow.
Cheers, Dave
[/quote]
Have just got back from Europe and my first visit to the Mary Rose museum. Quite wonderful. i met Alex Aldred who is working on a book based on her study of Mary Rose archery gear. In a position to consult the person who has seen more of Mary Rose arrows than probably anyone in the world, I asked; 'Straight fletching or helical ?" Immediate one word answer: "Helical". That's good enough for me. Others more knowledgeable than me can debate whether modern fletchers have better ideas than theirTudor ancestors. Also, are sheaf arrows together in a leather disc all different lengths ? No.
Davepim:
Bow-toxo,
Although I have been to the MR museum, I haven't yet seen the stuff in the "back". You are correct regarding the lengths of the arrows being mixed, and this has been commented on many, many times on this and other forums, which is why I stated "sort of" referring to standardisation of the arrows. As to the fletching, I have seen several photos of the lines on the shafts where the fletching was glued, and I have to say that they look straight to me. I have seen 16th century chinese arrows with very low profile fletching, of a foot or more in length, that were glued helically onto the shaft, so I would certainly say my original statement regarding helical fletching only working for short fletching was wrong!
Dave
adb:
--- Quote from: bow-toxo on November 01, 2009, 02:38:08 pm ---
--- Quote from: Davepim on September 22, 2009, 04:42:59 am ---
--- End quote ---
Helical fletching works well for short feathers, but for long ones of the English Warbow arrow type, you don't need them for the reason stated above. The ONLY advantage of the long feathers on these military arrows was rapid stabilisation of the arrows which were of a standard length and spine (well, more or less) whereas the bows were not, so arrow spines were not typically matched to the bow.
Cheers, Dave
--- End quote ---
Have just got back from Europe and my first visit to the Mary Rose museum. Quite wonderful. i met Alex Aldred who is working on a book based on her study of Mary Rose archery gear. In a position to consult the person who has seen more of Mary Rose arrows than probably anyone in the world, I asked; 'Straight fletching or helical ?" Immediate one word answer: "Helical". That's good enough for me. Others more knowledgeable than me can debate whether modern fletchers have better ideas than theirTudor ancestors. Also, are sheaf arrows together in a leather disc all different lengths ? No.
[/quote]
What evidence is she basing her statement on?
Davepim:
Sorry Bow-toxo, I misunderstood what you were saying. Your source tells you that the arrow-shafts were all of the same length in the arrow-bags? As well as having helical fletching? Did I get this right?
Dave
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