Refletch Woodies

[Pine]

How can you refletch woodies ? How do you strip the feathers and glue ?

[Bjorn]

I use a regular knife and sometimes sand and dip the shaft again, other times just re-glue. Depends. 3Rivers sells a widgit for removing fletch; but I have not tried it-my method has worked for decades.

[Orion]

I use a knife blade under the quill to strip the feathers, then sandpaper wrapped around a stick and used like a file to take off most of the excess hardened glue.  Then refletch.  May be noticeable in places, but the functionally the arrows will be fine.

[Pine]

Thanks I will try that . I just didn't know if it is worth it , or just make new .

[groyce]

Whats up Bjorn? You gonna make Utah this year?

[slowbowjoe]

Pretty much the same as Bjorn and Orion, here.
Carefully slice under the fletch and lift the feather as the blade moves along. Sand/trim the old glue where necessary.
Touch up the shaft if necessary, wiping on sealer.

[Fletcher]

A little lacquer thinner run along the quill helps to loosen up the glue, then proceed as above.

[Dave Worden]

If you're a wood carver or just happen to have one, a 1/4" number 6 sweep gouge works well to remove the old fletching without damaging the shaft.  The only real issue is to be really careful when removing the old fletching.

[jackdaw]

yup.....a razor saftey knife then sand and glue, or re-dip..(my favorite) .....never know they were re-done...

[Wheels2]

Have you tried the fletching tape by Bohning?  Does a nice job and easy to remove if needed.  Only issue is that you have to make sure that the quill is pressed securely against the shaft.

[The Whittler]

I use a X-Acto (spelling) knife with a scalpel blade that is very sharp. Just go slow and I scrape and sand paper what little is left.

[Jon Stewart]

Dale, I  clean up and re-use old wood arrows all the time.  I use a not so sharp knife to carefully peel the feathers off.  I find that a sharp knife or razor knife wants to grab the wood as I peel the feather off.  If you violate the wood then the arrow is no good.

I then clean the arrow up with Minwax refinisher which does not harm the wood but removes the old paint or finish.  When using the Minwax refinisher I soak 0000 steel wool with the refinisher and rub the arrow down good removing or loosening up the finish.  Then I use paper towels to remove the rest of the finish.

I have cleaned up  many old Bear wood arrows using this method and found some very nice cedar hidden under all the paint.

I also use the finisher to clean up old painted bows.

[britt]

I use wraps on all my shafts. When I need to redue feathers, I use a blow dryer to take off wrap and old feathers. Replace with new wrap and feathers.

[AkDan]

is it worth it?  Without a doubt with the price of shafting approaching the price of carbon!

[maxwell]

Yup easy to do and well worth it.  Gently scrap off old, sand and put on  new fletch.

[Green]

Originally posted by Jon Stewart:
Dale, I  clean up and re-use old wood arrows all the time.  I use a not so sharp knife to carefully peel the feathers off.  I find that a sharp knife or razor knife wants to grab the wood as I peel the feather off.  If you violate the wood then the arrow is no good.

I then clean the arrow up with Minwax refinisher which does not harm the wood but removes the old paint or finish.  When using the Minwax refinisher I soak 0000 steel wool with the refinisher and rub the arrow down good removing or loosening up the finish.  Then I use paper towels to remove the rest of the finish.

I have cleaned up  many old Bear wood arrows using this method and found some very nice cedar hidden under all the paint.

I also use the finisher to clean up old painted bows.

Great idea on using the Minwax refinisher.  Thanks for the tip.