Honestly...how hard is it to install adapters on glue-on BHs?

[Soilarch]

Seems like the ones I want to try (STOS, Grizzly Magnus I, Eclipse, Ace) are only glue-ons

I've avoided them in the past because I know if I screw it up my arrows will start flying like...well they'll fly poorly.

Any tips or secrets to it?

[George D. Stout]

Well it's almost too simple.  You simply glue the broadhead onto the broadhead adaptor.  That's it.  I'm not sure how you could screw it up. You would have to try.

I use old Bear Razorheads on aluminum adaptors.
Just a light skin of hotmelt around the adaptor, than apply heat and twist the head on until it seats tightly.  They will fly as good as any other head that is already made for screw in inserts.

[Mike Bolin]

Soliarch, I use glue-on heads with either 75 or 100 grain steel broadhead adapters. Here is what I do-
1. clean the inside of the ferrule. Check the inside of the ferrule for build up of paint/teflon or whatever. I use a fine grit sandpaper if necessary (it isn't in most cases) and a q-tip with alcohol.
2. Heat the adapter and apply hot melt, apply a slight amount of heat to the ferrule, reheat the glue on the adapter.
3. Firmly seat the broadhead with a twisting motion
4. Spin check the broadhead.
5. Cool the broadhead in water.
If the shaft wobbles on the initial spin test, while still hot, twist the broadhead an additonal 1/4 turn and spin test again. I use a low temp hot melt to mount my brass inserts in my carbon shafts, so I epoxied an insert into an aluminum shaft and use it to mount my broadheads on my adapters and do the spin test. That way I don't have to worry about my brass adapters coming loose. Several years ago,I bought a half dozen well known, "big name" broadheads and I could not get them to mount up straight. I finally called the manufacturer and he said to send them back. He sent me back 12 new heads with a hand written apology. Good luck! Mike

[Soilarch]

There's no trouble in getting them aligned?  I thought that was a real headache having to spin-test and adjust...spin-test and adjust some more...etc.

I've always had bad luck with hotmelt.  Would superglue or 1-hour epoxy work.  (I don't know what exopy it really is...but I've got a ton of it from a boat-building project and it is some very legit stuff)

[mike hall]

yep, clean everything with acetone, warm em up and slap some hotmelt (ferr l tite) and seat em - real simple

[Gordon martiniuk]

Use hot melt then if they don't spin you can straighten them very easy tpo do don't know how anyone can fudge that task up   :confused:

[mscampbell75]

I actually place my order for adapters today.  As soon as they come in, I will be trying my hand at this for the 1st time as well.

[Hedge Apple]

I just installed some 100 grain premium adapters (which are threaded) from 3 Rivers on some 150 Grizzlies, used JB weld, had them done in 20 minutes. Really went together nice. I used a vise to hold the broadhead and a straight arrow (with no fletchings) that has a insert installed. Just dope up the adapter on the arrow, insert into the broadhead and give a little twist. Wipe off the excess epoxy and spin them on the point and/or roll the arrow on a table top with the BH hanging off the edge to check it. After I'm content with the BH/adapter, let them set up, usually over night. Then put inserts on the BH/adapters and JB weld them on to the arrows you want them on in the position (Hor./vert.) that you want

[Mo. Huntin]

4 Minute JB weld baby.  Clean everything to the max, I like Acetone.  I just do what ever it takes to get it to spin good on my home made arrow spinner, rotate it a little at a time or just push the thing the direction it needs to go.  A bonus is that JB weld does not stink to high heaven.  WARNING I have not been doing this for years so I may find out different one day.  I think it is kind of funny that someone who would tackle building a boat or has studied the hardness of metals and knife building and uses a straight razor would worry about such a simple thing.

[Soilarch]

Never thought of that....

It is silly I suppose.

Somewhere along the line I had the thought that it was really hard to get them perfect...and I'm a perfectionist. I came in on the compound train and in that world (where 100 and 125gr is as heavy as it goes) you never feel a need for glue-ons.

Oh, and the boat is still in progress.  Suffice it to say I'm learning A LOT!!!  haha

Thanks guys, now I just have to worry about which BH to get after I figure up how much weight the new setup likes out front.

[Mo. Huntin]

yep I thought it might be tough to but it aint.    I kind of like the little gold tooth guy.

[George D. Stout]

Humans are never going to be perfect, so that "perfectionist" thing is all in your head. If you use that as a critera for any task, you will probably come away disappointed.        :D  

Sometimes it's best to look at a project and ask yourself, what can I screw up while attempting this?  You are inserting a round tapered object, into a round tapered hole.  Now, I suppose one could mess it up, but as I said, you would need to try very hard, considering the tapers match.

The biggest issue is not using too much glue, and turning the broadheads onto the adaptor to even the glue and seal the deal.  The final answer lies in just doing it, then shooting the arrows to make sure they fly well.

[Morning Star]

Soilarch,

No it's not hard, but sometimes it gets a tad frustrating to get them to spin just perfect.  That might not be critical to some, but it keeps me happy.

If you want to make the job quick and "perfect", try a Dixon Broadhead aligner.
It's a slick little tool.

[George D. Stout]

You can test alignment by holding the arrow shaft against your fingernails of your thumb and forefinger.  Set the broadhead on a piece of leather in your palm, and blow on the feathers to spin the arrow.  Doesn't cost a penny, is easy to do, and will show slightest misalignment.
Save that $40.00 for arrow shafts or broadheads.

[amicus]

I place my broadheads on a vise. Put the adapter in a short arrow, a couple of inchs long, and then place the arrow on my cordless drill. Put glue on the adapter spin it in the broadhead and it pretty much alignes it self. I then check it by spinning it on the drill. Works well and is fast. Doing it this way I can use Goat tuff, which dries very fast. m2c

Gilbert

[Morning Star]

George, the Dixon doesn't just test alignment.  
It has a magnetic process that you fit the end of the broadhead into.  As you spin your arrow with the head on(glue inplace), it floats the head into perfect alignment.   One thing that is nice about the Dixon, if you can't get a head to spin perfect quickly, you know you've got an issue with something.   Whether it's a bad BH, adapter or the arrow isn't swaged right.....

Just a tip that may save some monkeying, I know it has for me.

[Zmonster]

+1 on the Dixon tool. I still fat thumb hot melt, but the Dixon makes it real easy to get perfect alignment every time.

[Orion]

Good advice from George re amount of hot melt glue to use.  Too much can lead to alignment problems.   Being somewhat of a "perfectionist" myself, I wouldn't leave the job of aligning broadheads to someone else.  And that's what one is doing with many, not all, screw-in broadheads, which often are just glue-on heads to which someone else has glued the adaptor.  They may or may not be on stgraight.

[Charlie Lamb]

Here's a slight twist on the subject... I find the ferrules of most broadheads and the adapters are durn near perfect.

Make sure whatever glue you chose is spread evenly around the adapter... spin the head 5 or 6 complete revolutions.

Then (and this is where the diffence is) put the broadhead/adapter combo in a vice and tap the adapter with a light hammer. They seat perfectly 99.9% of the time.

You can also just drop the arrow point first onto concrete... repeat until it bounces (you be able to tell). Same result.

Point damage is minimal and easilly removed with light filing or stoning.

[bigbellybuck]

I bought some used magnus ones and mounted a few on 75 gr. steel adapters. There was a lot of slop between the two. Anybody else have this problem?