Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: aero86 on June 02, 2010, 12:08:51 pm
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i plan on building a bunch of arrows. ive found some already processed arrows, but they are only 4" long. if i dont plan on tying them down, is that length ok? they would be fletch taped and glue on the ends..
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man 4" arrows. that is pretty short. How small is the bow u are shooting them out of? >:D
joking. 4" fletch should work fine. Only one sure way to find out tho. You shooting out of a self bow or a off a shelf that is cut close to center. that might make a difference some. I like longer feathers if the arrow had to go around a wider shelf.
later and luck
wade
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woops, HAHAH! had to type fast, was at work and the boss was coming, and ive actually got cars to work on! anyways, yes, fletching not arrows!
none of my arrows are center shot or cut. most will have to pass around. i usually use a 5 or 5.5 inch cut, i cant remember what my chopper is. but i usually buy 100 whole feathers then gotta cut them all. i could buy 100 precut ready to go for cheaper!
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I'm cheep. I buy full length and cut them to 4.5 inch then burn then to shape after fletching. this way I usually get 2 fletching per feather. I believe that if the arrow is straight and you have a good FOC balance point, you can get by with less fletching.
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im cheap too. but, when i was paying 29 plus shipping for 100 turkey feathers, then having to process them and cut them, i just paid 29 plus 3 shipping for 5" shield cut grey dyed feathers. ready to go. i know how much work goes into processing the feathers. i like the time savings. yeah, i might miss out on an extra 30 or 40 fletches, but i save so much time!
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I usually use 4 or 4 1/2 inch,for no other reason than thats all I need to get the arrows to fly if they are set up for my bow. :) Larger heavy helical feathers really slow the arrow down and are sometimes noisy and I don't like either. :) I am not into speed but see no use in slowing it down for no reason. :)
Pappy
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Lotta people don't like to "bare shaft" test their arrows and go for the More Fletching The Better school of thought. While it is true that more fletching will correct arrow flight faster, you gotta remember what it is that is correcting the arrow flight: Drag. It's a drag, man, bummer drag.
Pappy has it right, no sense slowing an arrow down for no reason. When that arrow shaft comes off your bow 'as straight as an arrow', the least little bit of fletching is all you need to get the shaft spinning and stabilizing the flight. And before someone jumps in and adds the arguement that you need more fletching if you shoot broadheads take into account that even if you have a broadhead on the shaft, an arrow matched more closely to the bow must recover faster because the wind planing is less severe than a poorly matched shaft. That being said, I reserve the outermost turkey primaries for hunting arrows because they are much stiffer and I leave them taller than target, stump, roving, and general plinking arrows. They end up about 3/8" high at the back and 1/4" high at the front, straight cut, 5 inches long. Kinda Sioux looking, ya know?
I now yield the soapbox to the next person, thank you. Hope I didn't sound too much like a know-it-all.
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Dead on JW. :)
Pappy
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nope, you make perfect sense. the reason i use precut is because i like a bit of uniformity to my arrows. make them look like i knew what i was doing. but thank you for your answers, it makes sense to me now.
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I'm with ya. make sure your spine for the arrow is correct first. Then see what feather length ya actually need. As fer controllin Broadheads. It is common to want more feather to controll Broadhead flight. However, one of the Senior Archers at my club told me that unless an arrow is travillin at least 165 fps or faster, a broadhead dose not tend to fly on ya. Don't know how true that is, but it seems to work fer me. I do things the hard way, so I sacrafice a arrow with a broadhead, and trim the feathers off shorter with each shot, utill it starts gettin poor flight. I stop there, re-fletch and see ifin that works. Usually dose. Thats my feather length, fer that set of arrows, with the particular broadhead I am usin at that time.
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good idea. ive come across a bunch of broadheads that i plan to make a bunch of arrows with.
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Pappy Im gonna call u "Speed Racer" lol I agree with what u said about drag and noise. I make a lot of 5 to 51/2" then I make some that are 6" but cut real short all depends on your preferance. If you are doing it all by hand trial and error. Start out making afew arrows. Shoot them see how the fly. Listen for any hissing or noise, then make some with shorter if they fly straight are quiet and do the job then stop. U can then do modifacations to get more speed such as weight, spine, aero dynamics etc.. well good luck and show us some pics.
AA
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If your concerns are size or shape of your fletching and you are handcutting the fletching, there is a really simple solution. Just cut out the desired fletching shape from heavy paper and use that as a pattern when you cut the feather.
Cheaper than a feather burner, that's for sure. That being said, I own a Young's Feather Burner. Ted at Raptor Archery spent 5 minutes trying to talk me out of buying the bloody thing until I had to get a little short with him on the phone and remind him that the customer is always right. (and Ted, if you are reading this, I WAS right, that thing is incredible! I love it!)
Side note for married persons: If you should happen to decide to use a feather burner, do it on the day that your significant other is away from home for at least 8 hours, there must be at least a 20 mph steady wind, and you WILL do it outside and downwind from the house. I also recommend removing all clothing items after using said item and depositing them in an outdoor receptacle before re-entering your home. My dog doesn't mind the smell, so I'm off the hook!
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Mine actually come running when I start burning. ;) ;D ;D another thing I learned the hard way was when you got everything ready turn the arrow fast,that is probably in the instructions but I never read that stuff till I screw up.I though turning it slow would be good to be sure I kept everything right,WRONG,it caught the feather on fire and burned up on my brand new shaft. Now I spine them fast. :) :)
Pappy
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"caught the feather on fire and burned up on my brand new shaft"
Not THAT is a low fletch.
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Wow, what a great discussion! Worthy of a bookmark for sure, and might I suggest archive quality.
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I Hand cut a lot of my feathers, and a paper pattern works great. Heres a tip I ran across somers, ( not my idea) and it works fantastically. Cut your pattern from heavy weight papper. , Get yourself some a that Blue painter's tape. The kind ya tape around winders and such so ya can paint and peel off leavin no paint on the winder. Cut yourself a piece and tape it onto the feather with the leading edge of the tape runnin along the quill of the feather. Make the tape longer on both ends so you can tape the feather down to a flat surface. This will keep the feather straight while you work. Now ya lay your pattern against the quill on the tape and trace it to the tape. Take your sissors and cut along the line. Carefully, peel off the tape and ya have a perfect cut feather. Ifin ya can follow the line? Its the best way I know to cut a matched set of Custom Feathers of your own design.