wearing out fletching

[vth0kie12]

yeah i know i should have left it alone and jsut got somemore arrows, but i thought getting it closer to center would have to help arrow flight. i guess i was thing to much like tuning a compound.

[Guru]

I shot cock feather out for 20+ yrs. and always had problems with bottom hen feathers wearing out.

I can assure you, my arrows weren't/aren't "too stiff" and are tuned very well. But the bottom hen always showed wear after some shooting.

So one day I decided to shoot cock feather turned in....wa-la!   No feather wear at all after hundereds of shots....arrows still fly great!

It was that simple for me...been shooting this way for a few years now and have no reason to ever shoot any different.

[vth0kie12]

thanks for the adivise i will try that also

[Art B]

Are you a right hand shooter using right hand fletching Guru? Art

[vth0kie12]

Art thats a good question should i be shooting left wing or right i am right handed. i am currently shooting left wing with left hel.

well i think i firgured out my srrow flight problem: it was all me jerking the bow trying to see the arrow.

still have flecthing contact any way i try the flecthing or point size or shaft lenght. also i still cant seem to get them to bare shaft tune either. i think i am just going to have to buy a test kit of arrows and points from 3river, unless someone know of somewhere else to buy test kits.

guys i do thank all of you that have help me out. its nice to have i site where a beginner can come ask questions.

[Art B]

I'm also a right-handed shooter Robbie and I use either fletch. Since I shoot wood arrows, with a fixed nock/grain oriention I don't have the option of flipping my arrows over. So I orient the hens for best clearence. Left fletch comes out just right in my left wing bitzenburger. I made a right jig that gives good clearence. But I've noticed many right wing fletch arrows where one hen rides against the window and the other on the shelf. Using carbon or aluminum arrows you can rectify this situation by simple flipping the arrow over. But not with doweled wood arrows where you are often locked in with grain run-ups.

First thing I thought of when you mentioned feather wear was these flimsy immuture fletching we're getting for our money these days. Last set of arrows I re-fletched with Trueflight feathers the lower hen frayed within a few dozen shots. I've since gone back to using wild turkey fletching.

[pickaspot]

I am late on this one - ran across the thread waiting on my daughter trying on clothes. Thank goodness for an i-phone and Tradgang!
Bill's comment caught my eye. My favotite recurve tuned cutting 1/4" at a time(bare shaft & paper) with BH and field tips in the same holes... But, I get the same wear patterns discussed above - subtle but noticeable wear on the lower hen feather and outside of my shelf (Velcro). Stiff? Maybe, but flight is great...
I am working on a new bow cut past center and still getting a weak reaction with arrow that should be way stiff by Stu's calculator. Getting ready to add to my strike plate & see if that helps. Tuning can be fun & frustrating!