Two Arrow Building Questions

[Baffinland Archer]

Happy New Year Gang,

Two questions;

1. Fletching tape vs. fletching glue. How do these compare in terms of adhesive strength? I ask this question in relation to aluminium arrows.

2. Is there a standard/ideal distance between the base of the fletch and the base of the nock? On my arrows, it is just over 1/2" but not by my design: I have simply been following the template of whoever first built my aluminium arrows.

thanks

Robert

[Jerry Jeffer]

Tape works great, just use a drop of glue on each end of the feather. Your distance sounds good.

[8th Dwarf]

When my son and I owned Screaming Eagle, we did an experiment on our shooting range.  We made up two dozen arrows with Fletchtite cement and two dozen with Fletchtape.  We let our customers shoot the heck out of them.  Almost all the ones made with glue lost feathers.  The ones we did with the tape lost NONE!

Up to that point, I had refused to use the tape.  Now, that is all I use and it is SOOOO much faster!

To me, the distance from the nock base to the feather is there to clear my fingers.  I don't want my fingers to hit the feathers and make noise when I am nocking an arrow. I just measured one of my arrows and the distance between nock base and feather is 5/8 inch.

Too Short

[Aeronut]

I agree completely with Paul.  The tape is so much quicker and I have never had one turn loose yet.

Dennis

[ChuckC]

I have heard stories of failure by folks hunting in really hot conditions.  I have suffered absolutly no problems using tape and love it.  Course, I am in Wisconsin.  I shoot a lot all year, including the summer and it gets mildly warm here (80- 95) and still have had no trouble.  

A friend had trouble with a roll of it being poor stick quality.  We have reason to believe it was an old roll.  Tape, of any kind, does have a shelf life.
ChuckC

[Aeronut]

We have everything here from raining ice to cooking eggs on the concrete and I haven't had any problems with the tape yet.

You are correct that all tape has a shelf life though.

Dennis

[lodestar]

I have been making my own cedars for about 7 years using nothing but Bohning product. I will occasionally send a broken one to the woodland gods around my property. I have found several years later to find that the only thing wrong with them is that the feathers are gone but the quill is still glued firm to the shaft and even the finishes are intacked.

[tim-flood]

I started to use the thick super glue fletching cement it is fast too.  Pine ridge makes real good stuff if yo can find it and Bohning makes some too now.  I used tape once and it failed in a hot car here in GA.

[Matty]

I personally use the Tape But it seems to SLIDE initially so I put a very thin Bead of glue on the Quill,  then tack down each end with fletch tite.