posted
Ok, I am still learning in the arrow world.
Now I have been having problems with glued on field points. I have been using Duco cement and the field points still seem to come off fairly regularly. I want to know what others are using and what results they are having. Maybe I should switch to super glue?
Posts: 334 | From: Kirkland,WA | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I use the hot melt glue from 3 rivers. I melt a little onto the taper and then heat up the point and push it on and twist it some to spread the glue evenly. On smaller shafts I sometimes use a thread tap to make grooves inside the point for extra holding.
BigArcher
Posts: 150 | From: Blaine, Wa | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
Hot melt glue (or ferrule cement, although it may be a bit brittle) is the only way to go. The darker amber colors seem to be superior to the white or lighter colored stuff. I use an industrial grade hot melt. I use an alcohol burner. The hear source can be anything from a burner to a propane torch to a stove element or even a candle in a pinch. Clean flames (alcohol or propane) that don’t produce soot is, I think, better.
Clean out the inside of the ferrule with a solvent or degreaser before gluing! They come out of the manufacturing process dirty. I drop the new points into a baby food jar of solvent and then pick them out with needle-nose pliers and wipe out the inside with a Q-Tip. All kinds of crud will come out of them.
I heat the ferrule while holding it in the pliers, and then apply heat to the glue stick to melt it, rub a gob onto the taper and then twist the ferrule on to spread the glue around the circumference of the taper. Then I press the point tip hard against a solid surface and then dip into cool water and quickly wipe off the glue that squeezes out with a wet finger (ouch sometimes). Then I spin them like a top to detect any wobble. IF they wobble I reheat the ferrule a spin it a quarter turn and repeat as needed until they spin true.
Another thing that can be done to increase glue surface and holding power is to make the surface of the taper irregular instead of smooth, which I do with a quick spin against the edge of a grinder wheel. It makes a shallow cut giving the glue a place to get into. I’ve heard some people, like BigArcher says, say they also score the inside of the ferrules on the points but I’ve never tried that. It makes sense that it would further increase the holding power of the glue. I never thought about how they do that; a tap is a good idea... duh, I suppose, they'd tell me...
Good luck.
-------------------- "To me, how you take an animal and how you conduct the hunt, and what you gain from the experience is what bowhunting is all about." -Jay Massey Posts: 345 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Clean out the points with laquor thinner and a Q tip,prime the arrow tip with fletch tite,spred it on with tip of finger...let dry. Then put fletch tite on again add the point and rotate the point a couple of times then press point agenst a hard serface te seat it....do the same thing for nocks...makes a real good bond...Hot melt is crap for points and nocks. too brittle when it dries.
Ive been using this process for years even if arrow hits hard serfices like atree points stay onn.
-------------------- Wounded Eagle Posts: 49 | From: west warwick r.i. | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Some hot melt glues are too brittle and some are not. I use sticks that I can bend with my fingers and they will be just as pliable once they are applied; it will give a little when I smack a tree and not break the bond like the the super hard (Ferr-L-Tite, for example) hot melts can.
If using a permanent bonding glue like fletch-tite, then priming the taper to seal the pores makes perfect sense. But a permanent application of an arrow point is not for me personally. I want to be able to change the point on any arrow. Will heat break the bond of fletch-tite?
-------------------- "To me, how you take an animal and how you conduct the hunt, and what you gain from the experience is what bowhunting is all about." -Jay Massey Posts: 345 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks Dale. It was the glue which I switched to upon your recommedation that resolved my issue. I'm steering clear of Ferr l tite or whatever that is called.
Posts: 334 | From: Kirkland,WA | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged |