possible to remove and reuse fletching?

[high desert rambler]

few things i hate more than busting a newly-fletched arrow... is there any way to get the feathers off in reusable condition?  i use a "crazy glue" type of adhesive...

heat gun maybe?

trying to shave 'em off clean with a blade doesn't work... too hard to get 'em off clean and they curl severely...

[BeNoIt]

Assuming you are using carbon arrow shafts? My son will scrape using a razor knife down each side of the spine, carefully working his way to the middle and has saved some that way. Not great but still usable in most cases. You have to be careful not to dig into the carbon so slow and steady is best.

If you are using wood then you have to be even more careful so as not to lift the wood off with the glue.

Hopefully others have had better success or have other suggestions.

[high desert rambler]

yep, carbons.

[xtrema312]

I do all the time if I damage a shaft.  I take them off carful with a razor blade and then sand them a little and use lots of glue.  I usually use them on stumping arrows or to replace a feather on arrows with well used feathers on them already to keep them going.

[statedriller]

I just figure that my time isn't worth saving a 40 cent feather...  But that's just me.

[LEWIS VADEN]

Use fletching tape and they are easy to remove.

[The Whittler]

I have never reused feathers in over 30yr of doing my own fletching. To each their own.

[RecurveRookie]

I ran into that when I switched to that "super glue" stuff.  So I went back to the Bohning Fletch Tite glue.  It reminds me of model airplane glue, but you can get the feathers off easier to replace them (my lower hen feather gets worn out first on the shelf).  This glue holds fine most of the time.  I hate chiseling away at that super glue on my carbon arrows. Good luck

[bicster]

I reuse almost all of my fletching. I use fletch tape so using heat makes it easy to take them back off. Heat will also take off feathers that were glued on with fletch tite. You can always buy new feathers but the re-used feathers are great for repairing arrows.

[high desert rambler]

thanks fellers... gonna' give some suggestions a try...

but it's tough to give up my super glue - so simple, so fast, so convenient and i've never had a fletching lift off... trade-offs, i guess...

[Blackstick]

You don't need to give up your glue. Use fletch tape and a drop of glue at each end of the feather.

[Mike in Reedley]

I've been saving the nicer ones for the past ten years.  I have a drawer in my wall mount plastic archery cabinet full of recycled feathers.  I have yet to use one though.  I might be a hoarder.

[BOWMARKS]

Sounds like a lot of work to try and save something that will be hard to reuse the next time.        

Do not think it is worth the trouble.  

[Knawbone]

Being a man of limited resources, I reuse many of my fletchings with good results. I use cedar shafting and use a debonding agent sold by 3 Rivers archery. Or I use heat from a heat gun when I use tape.

[GrayRhino]

Feathers are hard to come by in Fiji.  I've reused them many times on my shafts, and on my sons' also.  We shoot aluminums, so slicing fletchings off a busted shaft with a sharp knife is pretty easy.  I then put the feather in a fletching jig and lightly sand the quill smooth again with a piece of sandpaper, removing any old glue or uneven spots, then it's ready to be glued back on again.

[Robert Cunfer]

I use mostly natural turkey feathers which I process myself and find it hard to throw away good feathers even though I have hundreds of them. I slice them carefully from both sides but would add I like to put them in my fletching clamp and sand the base flat with 80 grit sandpaper glued to a piece of cardboard....Bobby

[cyred4d]

I use fletching tape. A lot of times if you carefully remove the feather you can reuse it. I am just not careful about it.