Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: GaryR on August 20, 2014, 07:25:01 pm
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I'm about to fletch for the first time and I thought I had seen a video of the feathers being glue down with pitch prior to sinew wrap. Should I keep the feathers straight or give them a helical twist? Please tell me what to do and not do before I make my first mess.
Gary
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If you are using natural feathers they should have a natural twist to them. That is why you can either use the rights, or lefts but not both.
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I got that part and am splitting feathers now. Do you glue them down before or after the sinew wrap, or not at all?
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When doing three fletch and wrapping quill at front and back I always glue down the feathers first then wrap the extending ends of the feathers front and back after all three feathers are on and glue has dried.
For two fletch I use no glue and wrap front and back of quill.
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glue them on straight or helical?
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guess it depends on how thin ur quill is, if quill is thin n loose u can do whateve's, or if quill is still a lil stif there will b a kind o natural helical to the fletch , i tie mine down first and then go bak n run a lil glue down the quill n then wrap thread from front to bak just to hold quill down, then remove thread after dry
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Helical Gary.
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Will soaking the quills in water soften and help the helical shape?
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I don't soak mine but I believe some do. I don't go with a radical helical just a slight amount using the natural shape
in the direction the feather wants to bend. I use a jig and left wing clamp for left wing feathers. Occasionally I will use right wing feathers and then I use a straight clamp and offset the the front of the feather by 1/8" or more since I don't have a right wing clamp.
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check out the post at the top o the page from jamie , the primitive fletching jig , awesome. it really helps when fletching by hand
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Yes, I've looked at that jig for quite some time, finally made my own last night.