Fletching question?

[Long Draw]

Can you guys give me some info on fletching before I order a fletching jig and feathers? I'm a right hand shooter, so should I use a left helical with shield cut feathers and shooting off of the arrow shelf? Thanks.

[Scott J. Williams]

Regarding which wing(left or right)it will not matter, as long as you don't put both on the same arrow...lol

This is an old wives tale, from the old days.  Some archer believed that having a arrow spinning away from the self or rest gave better flight.

Fact of the matter is that the flex, pardox, of the arrow actually has the arrow up and off the shelf by that time.  Therefore it makes no difference.  When I was in the service of our country, stationed in Florida.  Most of the available feathers were right-wing.  I move to Texas, and darn if it isn't left-wing.  

So, I just purchased clamps for both left and right, for my bitz, multi, and grayling jigs.  I have even had both types in the bow quiver.  That brings up an interesting fact, at least for me, when I have both in my bow quiver, it allows me to  have better spacing between feathers, thus reducing noise.  Having said that, I am too lazy to work at that on purpose.  

I hope this helps, you will find a number of threads on the site saying pretty much the same thing.  Go with whatever you have, you just might want to purchase clamps of both flavors though.

Scott

[Long Draw]

Thanks, Scott. That is helpful information.

[Woodduck]

get right...why do you want shield?

[Long Draw]

Woodduck, I'm new at traditional and the shield cut was recommended. Other than that, I didn't really have any personal preference. What's your opinion?

[ka]

its my finding that 3 fletch parobolic 5 1/2" are probably quickest straightning and best flying. only problem is the noise of their flight(even noisier with 5 1/2 shield). i also tried 4 fletch 5"parabolic and shield cuts and find that i have settled on the 4 fletch 5" shield as be the best of both worlds. quieter than the 5 1/2 cuts (better for hunting) and stabilizes great also. plus with the 4 fletch you get the added convience of never putting the arrow on string wrong.

[Long Draw]

ka, that makes sense. Thanks for the input.

[Orion]

As others have said, really makes no difference whether you shoot right wing or left from an arrow dynamics perspective.  I shoot right handed and left wing feathers.  My hunting partner is also right handed and shoots right wing feathers.  We've been doing this for more than 40 years.  No fighting over turkey wings that way.  

There are some other factors that might influence your decision.  If you plan to shoot single bevel broadheads and get the best performance out of them, you may want to consider right wing because right now, the best single bevel head is a right bevel.  (For best performance, need to use a fletch that spins the arrow in the same direction of the point bevel.  For a right wing broadhead bevel, that's right wing fletching, which spins the arrow clockwise.)  However, there will be some very good left wing single bevel broadheads on the market soon.

If you shoot screw in points, a left wing feather, which rotates the arrow counterclockwise, will have a tendency to unscrew your points.  However, there are washers and other ways to stop this from happening.  

For those who shoot off their hand, apparently one wing is more likely than the other to catch on/cut the bow hand knuckle, but I don't remember which it is.

Fletch size and shape is pretty much a personal preference type of thing.  Regarding three-fletch vs four fletch, potentially misnocking really isn't an issue.  Three fletch will shoot equally well cock feather in or out.  In fact, many choose to shoot cock feather in.

The most common set up is probably three-fletch, five inch feathers, almost equally split between parabolic and shield shape.

Have fun.  Experiment a little.  Good luck.