Fletching Jig Options! Input Wanted!

[Captain*Kirk]

Bitz. What's $20.00 in the long run? You will never need another jig and it will outlast you and probably your grandkids as well.
If speed is a concern, the Bohning fletch tape is as fast as it gets. You can apply on three feathers in the time it takes one feather to set up in a Jo-Jan.

[RedShaft]

Bear paw make a sweet clamp with a nice hard helical

[hitman]

Bearpaw for me. Have Bitzenbergers but like Bearpaw better.

[the rifleman]

I used the grayling type for about 20 years.  Just bought a bitz and it is the cat's a$$.
Forget about the multi fletchers unless youre going into the arrow making business.    The plastic models will do the job, but if youre in this for the long haul, like my youll likely end up with a biz eventually--- my stubbornness took me 20 years to make the switch.

[Grey Taylor]

I'm going to be the sole dissenting voice in the wilderness...
I use the Vador jig. The design, like most jigs, is similar to the Bitz but it's injection molded plastic. I have a table of twelve of these jigs and used them pretty frequently when I had a small arrow business. No problems.
I've tried a Bitz, got it used somewhere, but I didn't care for it. The Bohning Classic nocks I use won't fit into the nock receiver unless I drill it out.
Glue sticking to the clamp, I don't use so much glue that it squishes out that badly. When I was learning I did and it pops right off the clamp, no worries.
I don't adjust the jigs with a hammer and a chisel so I don't see any reason why they won't last for a couple more decades, they've already gone through one.
One Bitz clamp costs as much as one complete Vador jig. The math was easy for me.
As always, Your Mileage May Vary.

Guy

[Eric Krewson]

I use a fingernail clipper to lower the indexer on a Bohning nock, one quick snip and the nock goes right in a bitz receiver. You still have the indexer on the nock but it is much lower.

[Captain*Kirk]

Originally posted by Eric Krewson:
I use a fingernail clipper to lower the indexer on a Bohning nock, one quick snip and the nock goes right in a bitz receiver. You still have the indexer on the nock but it is much lower.

Ditto. I have a tiny pocketknife blade that will peel the indexer right off with one pass.

[Grey Taylor]

Those are good fixes for the nock not fitting into the receiver. They'd be great for limited production of wood arrows. Truthfully, I cringe at the prospect of doing that for every nock I used when I was producing orders.
As for drilling it out, I really feel that the most popular jig should be ready to use with one of the most popular nocks.

Guy

[Captain*Kirk]

Originally posted by Grey Taylor:
Those are good fixes for the nock not fitting into the receiver. They'd be great for limited production of wood arrows. Truthfully, I cringe at the prospect of doing that for every nock I used when I was producing orders.
As for drilling it out, I really feel that the most popular jig should be ready to use with one of the most popular nocks.

Guy

I agree on two points; 1) it would be a major PITA to have to trim production orders (I build arrows a half-dozen at a time on a snail's pace) and; 2) You should not have to modify a $90.00 jig.
That being said, the Marco Snap-On nocks fit the Bitz without any modification to the jig or the nocks.

[Pat B]

I don't think you can beat a JoJan Multi Fletch. I've used one for many years and have been totally satisfied. I don't know how they handle modern shafting but for commercial and home made wood shafting and cane and hardwood shoot arrows it does the job well. As far as cost I don't know. My JoJan was given to me by a friend years ago and he received it from an old timer so it's probably 60 years old...and still works just fine.

[YosemiteSam]

Call me crazy but I use a cheap Bohning plastic jig.  I give a swipe or two of wax (same stuff I use on bowstrings, boots, etc.) about every 2-3 feathers to keep the glue from building up.  At my volume of 1-2 doz per year, it doesn't make any sense to invest in anything fancy.  Plenty of helical to straighten things out.  No complaints.  No frills.  But only half the cost.

Takes longer than a full setup of 6 jigs.  But it only takes a minute to set a feather & then I can do something else.  It's one of those things that I do throughout a day or two of yard work or housekeeping chores.

[Bowguy67]

Bitzenberger.

[Sam McMichael]

I am neither an artist nor an artisan, but I have made good arrows with both my Grayling and the Bitz.