4_Fletch Question

[Scrub_buck]

I have anew Jo Jan momofletch and I fletched a 'practice' arrow last night.  I tried the 75 - 105 degree fletch configuration and everyhting went well until today when I tried to shoot it.

The machine fletched it OK, but the 'X' that you get with that degree configuration (looking down the shaft from the end) was shifted some allowing the top riser side feather to intersect the riser nearly at 90 degrees.  That feather causes my shaft to kick off the riser and the arrow doesn't fly good.  

When nocked and looking at it from the string side down the shaft, the top left and the bottom right feathers are nearly lined up perfectly with the string ... allowing the bottom left feather to appear almost as a cock feather(out) on a 3-fletch 120 degree, and the top right feather is crowding the riser as I mentioned above.  

Is this normal,... I figured the 'X' that the two top feathers make would center the string and therefore not crowd the riser with any of the feathers?

[ishiwannabe]

Im assuming you are using glue on nocks? I LOVE four fletch, dont think I will ever go back to three.
Few ideas....one glue the nocks on after you fletch. I know when I make woodies, I usually glue them on first, but if you make sure the fit is tight, it should be ok.
Experiment with the four fletch angles(I can think of 3 configurations) until you find your favorite, or the one that offers the most clearance between the fletches and shelf.

Of course, some say that with a properly tuned arrows, feather clearance shouldnt be an issue.

Disclaimer: I know virtually nothing about arrows, just love making em.
Good luck.

[trapperDave]

you cant put nocks on woodies just any old way. The string groove must be perpindicular to the grain of the arrow.

[Stone Knife]

I just do my four Fletch at 90 degrees they fly good and I never have trouble.

[Fritz]

I tried several different 4-fletch configurations and finally settled on the 4 on 90 degrees.  It gave me the best clearance and flight.

[ishiwannabe]

Knew I would forget something....  

[Scrub_buck]

Trapper dave ... and the others ....

I experimented today with melting the original nock off and glueing on another to make the string fall dead center of the most acute angle that the 75 - 105 degree config. yields.  The arrow shot like a bullet from my Hill bow!  

I know about the grain issue ... With the feathers corrected the grain runout on the top of the arrow was maybe 11 O'clock. The grain wasn't off much and I felt good enough to shoot it anyway.  I'd like to make sure that everythhng lines up properly for the real deal I will be fletching in a couple of weeks.  With it being so close, I was hoping that their was a minor adjustment I could make to the fletcher get the thing perfect.

How do you glue the nock on after you fletch ... if you have to slide the nock into the slotted receptor to ensure a good fit for the shaft and clamp?  Can you just put a small (part of a drop) amount of glue to hold it just enough to fletch then easily break it loose from the shaft and then apply enough glue to hold the nock on for good after all the feathers are on?

If so, I can 'cheat' and line up everything beforehand so that the final nock placement makes the grain and the fletching line up perfectly... just like I want it.

[ishiwannabe]

Im not familiar with the jo-jan, but on my grayling jig, there is an adjustment for the nock index.

Sounds like you are on your way to figuring it out...good luck.

[Fletcher]

I've noticed the same thing with JoJan jigs, never liked the way a JoJan helical clocks the fletching.  They work fine with straight, but helical is always clocked too far off to one side.  You can tack the nock on offset and reposition it after fletching.  I just went with Bitz jigs.

[Benoli]

I switched to 4-4" and I'll never go back. I only use 60/120 so I don't have to worry about nocking an arrow correctly. It really helps when I take our Boy Scouts shooting because they don't have pay any attention when nocking an arrow. The below link is what I've been using since I switched. I do all my fletching on Blitz.
 http://www.arrowsbykelly.com/Other_Tips.html

[Scrub_buck]

Benoli:

Thanks for the post.  

I read through the link and caught a fairly neat piece of info that I hadn't thought about.  I didn't catch it till I was laying in bed afterwards thinking about it... but you can definately 4-fletch 60-120 out of a 3 fletch 120 nock receiver pretty easily.  Just attatch the two hen feathers and just rotate the arrow 180 degrees and then fletch two more hen feathers.

That will give you a 60-120 fletch config. and the feathers will be oriented the way I want them ... an 'X' with the string runing perfectly vertical through the smaller angles between the top two and the bottom two feathers.

Thanks for the info!

[Tree man]

I think most of us start out thinking about clearance in terms of the side of the riser and most never think about it in any other terms.....and that is backward. Due to the tracking of the shaft through the archer's paradox shelf clearance is far more significant than the arrow pass (side of the riser/window). Thus, 3 fletch cock feather in provides better clearance and less feather wear than Cock feather out. With real feathers I have never found an feather orientation that wouldn't tune and shoot but 60x120 4 fletch with the "X" laid on its side is  actually the best configuration IMO. To achieve that you fletch cock and top hen reverse in the jig and again fletch the top hen and the cock using a standard 120* 3 fletch indexer.

I have shot lots of Jo-jan fletched 75x 105 without major problems but it it is about the worst since it tracks a feather hard into the juncture of shelf and arrow pass with the feather wrapping almost vertical under the shaft-(In other words it hits the shelf just about as much as is possible) 60x120 with the X sitting vertical on the shelf is almost as bad.(They shoot good but you need a higher nocking point and wear feathers out faster  that the counterintuitive orientation I am endorsing.)

[ishiwannabe]

Hey scrub, just FYI I used a arizona easy fletch to get the four fletch thing down. Do two, spin shaft 180 degrees, do the next two....worked rather well for a "cheap" fletcher..

[nontypical]

Tree
Made a batch of carbons last wk with the same four fletch to the side and tried 3" fletch and have great flight!!

[Autumnarcher]

4 fletch is the only way I do my arrows. With that, I can get 2 fletches out of a full length feather. I do mine at 4-90 degrees, but I never thought of 60-120, I think I'll try that.

Feather contact of the shelf shouldnt cause any flight problems, as the feather flattens out on contact anyway. With vanes, different story.

With 4 4" feathers, you  get an extra inch of surface area stabilzing your arrow over a 3 5" setup.

[john fletch]

I have done both 4 x 90 and 75 x 105.  I have had some trouble with the 75 x 105 on certain styles of arrow rests.

Both fly great off a good rest.

4 fletch is great for the individual to flecth if you have a good jig.  The custom shop 4 fletch tend to run pretty speny.

What I like is that you can have the same stabilizing surface in shorter length and height of fletch and hey are MUCH quieter in my opinion.

I only burn in sheild shape - stuck in my old ways, and that is a good quiet way to shoot that shape.  Also, I find that you don't need a helical for stability - straight is fine.

[john fletch]

Did I mention that you don't need to look at the nock when placing on the bow.  And you can use nocks that don't have an index mark on them!