wearing out fletching

[vth0kie12]

i just built my first recurve a few weeks ago. i have been shooting it quiet a bit since finishing it and i am wearing out the bottom fletching. i am shooting 400 spine arrows out of a 55 lbs bow. i have been shooting alum and carbons and both are wearing out quickly. anybody have any idea as to what might be causing this.

[red hill]

Okie12, are you shooting vanes, or feathers?  I believe feathers are more forgiving as they pass over a rest.  They seem to last much better for me.  Also if you shoot off your knuckle feathers are more user friendly.
Stan

[SEMO_HUNTER]

A few pics of the riser and the fletchings would help diagnose the problem. You might also try taking a pic of the arrow nocked on the string and get a side view so we can see how level your nock is in relationship to the riser. You may be way too nock low and the arrow is scrubbing hard on the riser? Or you could be way over spined for your bow and the shaft is slapping hard against the riser? Lots of possibilities to consider without seeing some pictures of your set up.

[PEARL DRUMS]

My bottom feather wears quickly as well. I shoot all the time, every day. Maybe you do to? If you can turn your nocks a few degrees it will help some, rather than a cock feather straight out try turning your cock feather down 15-20 deg's.

[mater]

I used to shoot alot. Seems to me if you are tuned right, you should get a couple years out of fletching. Some of mine is four or five years old and still useable. I used to shoot about 500 shots a week.

[Bill Skinner]

If it is your lower fletch and you are showing a rubbed spot on the outside of the shelf, your arrow is slightly stiff.  This can usually be tuned out by raising the brace height or going to a heavier point.  You might have all those perfect and just be short drawing as you get tired.  Bill

[vth0kie12]

yeah i wondered aboutthe short drawing b/c i have a hardtime fighting against it. i will try moving and turning my nock.

do you guys think i am shooting the right spine arrow. the arrow a easton epic 400, 29.25 inches and 125 up front. i started shooting these at 31.5 inches and keep trimin them down until i got to 29.25 where i like them the best. i also have one 500 spine arrow and it doesnt shot well at all.

[NYArrow]

Okie12 I checked out your set up on Stu Millers dynamic spine calculator and there was a large disparity between the bow and arrows you have selected. Your arrows spined out at 83.6lbs and your bow rated at 45lbs. Your bow and arrows should rate to within 2lbs of one another and as you can see here you are almost 40lbs off.

   Although this calculator is not always 100% it will always get "fairly close" to what actual spine you need. At a minimum its helps select the right shaft and you have to tune from there. If you don't have it google it and download, it is an excel spreadsheet file.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Add a 100 grain brass insert and try again with those shafts.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Yep, too stiff means riser slap by the shaft = premature wearing of the feather.
Experiment with different weights up front until you get perfect arrow flight. I started out with a 30/50 CX Predator which is .500 spine then added 100gr. brass insert which I had to file down the diameter so they will fit the inside diameter of these shafts, which made them 90gr. brass inserts and I'm currently shooting a 100gr. point and broadhead. So effectively 190gr. up front and a little fine tuning with nocking point and brace height, they now come out of the bow like darts. With the exception of the occasional poor release, but since the shaft is "Tuned" for this set up even when I make a poor release they still recover quickly and hit where I want them to.

That's what your looking for, but there's more variables to it than just point weight, or just nocking point. Try a broadhead on one of your shafts, that will tell you everything you need to know. I imagine it will be all over the place.

[vth0kie12]

NYArrow i guess i am aliitle confused. why is my bow rated at 45 lbs and not 55lbs. i used the chart that easton has for recurve bows, should have know i should have asked here before i bought them.

also i cant seem to get the 190 grain tips i have to fly as good as the 125. i also tried shootin some full lenght arrows thinking that would weaking the spine but they dont seem to fly as well either.

my next question is when i lenghten my brace height wont that shorten my power stroke and hurt me has far as arrow spine???

i guess the best thing for me to do is order a test kit of point from 3rivers. what do u guys think im going to need up front to get these things spined correct.

again thanks for all the help, i would be lost without you guys.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

The calculator takes into account more than just the advertised weight of the bow. Things like arrow shelf cut to center or past center, arrow shelf plate material thickness, and string material, style, and strand thickness. All those things in combination work to either break down the amount of spine necessary for proper arrow flight or increase the amount needed.
The make and model of bow also makes a big difference. For example an old style Bear Grizzly with a B50 Flemish twist string won't need as much arrow spine as a new style Samick recurve with a fast flight string, even if they are exactly the same poundage.

Stu's calculator does all this calculating for you. Check it out for yourself and input the proper variables, then compare the 2 output numbers for Dynamic arrow spine, and Dynamic spine required on the bow number.

Be sure and download the new version and the instructions PDF, the instructions are very important to be able to understand how to use the calculator correctly.
It was spot on for my set up.
  http://www.heilakka.com/stumiller/