4 Fletchers - which angles?

[rhobbs]

Those that use 4 fletch, which angle is the best 120/60, 75/105?

[Cherokee Scout]

Personally, I like the 90x90x90x90.

[La. bowhunter]

I have recently done some testing with 4 fletch and my fletcher makes the 75 / 105. This set up has been working good for me, I have not tried the 90 / 90 so I cant say about it. Also I cant tell a big difference between the 3 and 4 fletch with field points or broadheads.

[Terry Green]

I space them evenly.....and here's why.... a 4 blade boat prop is spaced evenly for a very important reason....if two blades are too close together, one will rob water from the other, and the prop will not grab water evenly and it will loose stability and cavitate....like prop wash in jets.

If you have feathers too close to one another, one will grab more air than the one behind it....defeating the purpose you are after....stabilization.  Not saying other arrangements wont work....just saying if you want the most stabilization, then even spacing is going to give you that.

Never had clearance problems with them space evenly either....I like the 'no look nocking' feature though.

[flatbowMB]

4 x 90 for me too.  The most important reason is that this looks waaaaay better, but I like Terry's explanation as well.  

[Chris Surtees]

4 x 90, 4" naners is what I have been using for the last couple of years. Did some experimenting with 4 x 60/120 and 4 x 75/105, both in 4" naner as well but did not notice any different in flight so just ended up sticking with 4 x 90. Your feathers are going to make contact with the shelf no matter what you do so shoot what you prefer.

What Terry says makes sense but I personally never noticed any difference in the 90, 60/120, 75/105 when I shot them.

Good luck

[robtattoo]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
I space them evenly.....and here's why.... a 4 blade boat prop is spaced evenly for a very important reason....if two blades are too close together, one will rob water from the other, and the prop will not grab water evenly and it will loose stability and cavitate....like prop wash in jets.

If you have feathers too close to one another, one will grab more air than the one behind it....defeating the purpose you are after....stabilization.  Not saying other arrangements wont work....just saying if you want the most stabilization, then even spacing is going to give you that.

Never had clearance problems with them space evenly either....I like the 'no look nocking' feature though.

That makes more sense than just about anything I've read regarding fletching!  

[OconeeDan]

What Terry said makes a lot of sense, but the 75/105 fly very straight for me.
Dan

[Rob DiStefano]

For decades I've always used 75x105 because of feather clearance, but these new low profile feathers have changed my thinking and I'm now fletching 90x90.

[Rob DiStefano]

[longbawl]

What Terry said. I talked to easton arrows years ago. He told me the most important thing was spacing them evenly.

[Naphtali]

There appear to be two possible benefits from four fletching rather than three:
1. Improved guidance by more fletching surface using feathers/vanes you would have used for three fletching, or smaller feathers/vanes to achieve identical guidance which should yield slightly improved arrow speed;

2. Quicker subsequent aimed shots because feather/vane location can be no longer cock-feather dependent. No one seems to count this benefit as worth much effort to achieve.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Naphtali:
There appear to be two possible benefits from four fletching rather than three:
1. Improved guidance by more fletching surface using feathers/vanes you would have used for three fletching, or smaller feathers/vanes to achieve identical guidance which should yield slightly improved arrow speed;

2. Quicker subsequent aimed shots because feather/vane location can be no longer cock-feather dependent. No one seems to count this benefit as worth much effort to achieve.

And if you chop/burn, ya need just two feathers per shaft instead of three.  

[swampbuck]

I shoot cock fletch in so when I switched to 4 fletch I fletched them cock in and the outside hen feather.The feathers are 4" so I can get 2 out of a full length feather most times anyway.

That configuration is also used by Roger R. and is described in Masters of the Barebow 1

[swampbuck]

I'd bet ease of manufacturing has much more to do with blade placement on a prop than even distribution and your also talking about thrust vs stabalization.Unless you've got so much helical that the back half is behind the front section of the feather next to it all feathers will recieve the same resistance as it travels down range

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

I've been using 4-fletch at 90 degrees for a long time now. No clearance problems at all.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Terry, your idea is good but your analogy is flawed. A boat prop has to maintain balance, uneven spacing wouldn't allow this. A prop is moving water for foward motion. Fletching is moving air to cause the arrow to spin.

[swampbuck]

Biggie,it would still be balanced LOL and it would still have the same surface area coming in contact with water/air

As for clearance it really shouldn,t matter at all no matter where it is unless ofcourse your not spined right in the first place.

I've shot 4" vanes off the shelf of my LB cock in with a BH up front and if I don't goof the release it clears no problem

[Biggie Hoffman]

no way...put a 60-120 set up on a propeller and see how long your lower unit lasts.....

plus...the specific gravity of air won't permit the amount of cavitation that the specific gravity of water will.

[Steve O]

Holy moly; them's big words!

I do it like Biggie and I do that because Roger R. said so!  I wish I had time to test  everything so sometimes I just have faith and trust those that have.  60x120 works good here.

I am going to see Roger hopefully next w/e and will ask for some particulars about the various 4 fletches and report back...