Aluminum arrow—what fletching glue?

[Holm-Made]

For those of you who still like aluminum arrows, like me.  What glue do you fletch with?  I used to use Saunders NPV but the last tube I got didn’t adhere well.  Lately I have been buying Loctite super glue and it works well but very expensive to do a dozen arrows.

I sand the shafts lightly and wipe with denatured alcohol so I know all about prepping the surfaces to be mated.
Chad

[YoungMarine]

I've had good luck with fletching tape on aluminum and carbon. I put a dot of gel type super glue at both ends of feather just to seal small gap and keep it from catching on anything.

[Possum Head]

Back when I used aluminum Fletchtite was good enough you had to work to remove old feathers.

[Alexander Traditional]

I switched from fletch tite to NPV and did two dozen. I'm happy with it.

[bigbadjon]

For feathers I like Firenock Aerogel. If you are trying to save money though, it is the least cost effective option.

[matt steed]

Chad, the loctite gel works great. You can remove the plastic housing from the tube and get a good bit more glue out of the tube. I have also had good luck with Gorilla Glue ultra gel.

[bucknut]

I used fletchtite for probably 25 years and then switched to NPV or super glue gel when they switched to platinum and had all kinds of issues. I’ve never had bad results with NPV though. I think they have fixed all the issues with the platinum now too. I have recently used it also with good results.

[Jon Stewart]

Dollar Tree super glue gel. Cheap, $1.00 and works good.

[stagetek]

I've used Fletch-tite and NPV. Both have worked well. If you're gluing to bare aluminum, make sure those shafts are "squeaky" clean.

[M60gunner]

I don’t fletch over bare shaft anymore. When I did I prepared the shaft bu scrubbing it with comet cleanser and hot water. Dried off with paper towels. No touching the cleaned area. Then just before I put shaft in fletcher I wiped it down with fletch Laq thinner. Then used Fletch Tite to fletch either feathers or vanes.
 99% of the time I use wraps these days, except woodies,. Makes my life easier. I did switched to NPV glue when the fletch Tite had issues. But with wraps I haven’t had any issues with FT. I also have tried tape agian. So far so good. Another thing I have used is the Gorilla SG in bottle with blue cap. It works well but I don’t like cleaning it off shaft when refletching. Another SG is Dap “rapid fuzz” it works well also.

[SlowTurtle]

Fletching tape for me. Love it!

[ksbowman]

I do the same as youngmarine and it's worked fine for me.

[Holm-Made]

Thanks for the tips guys.  The NASP arrows we use at the school come from Easton.  The glue they use on the vanes are unbelievably good.  I have to use a knife to scrap off the glue.  That’s the kind of bond I’m looking for on my arrows.  I don’t want to be able to grasp the feather and pull it off.  The feather should rip before the glue lets loose.  I may have to give Easton a call.
 

[Charlie Lamb]

This is the best I've found for aluminum since Fletchtite went to hell.

3Rivers

[M60gunner]

I would bet it’s some kind of super glue and I bet that Easton sells it. Look at it this way, they are making or have someone making a big bunch of arrows, maybe on a daily basis. I am sure they don’t want to wait around for glue to dry.

[ron w]

Fletch tape and a drop of glue on each end, never had one come off yet !!

[alaninoz]

Loctite 401 for feathers, 406 for vanes. Dab of MEK glue (Fletchtite, NPV, whatever) at each end.

[McDave]

I used fletchtite for probably 25 years and then switched to NPV or super glue gel when they switched to platinum and had all kinds of issues. I’ve never had bad results with NPV though. I think they have fixed all the issues with the platinum now too. I have recently used it also with good results.

I hope so, but once a product gets a bad reputation, it tends to stick around longer than the glue (bad pun).  I continued to use fletchtite on carbon arrows after it failed on aluminum, and never had any problem with it on carbon. 

I don’t fletch many aluminum arrows these days, but recently fletched up a bunch for a tournament that required them, using NPV.  The NPV held up fine during the tournament and practice sessions: not one failure.  I noticed that the tube of NPV was getting old, and was afraid it might go bad before I used the rest of it, so have been using it on carbon arrows, with the same good results, making me wonder why I still continue to use fletchtite for anything.

[Ted Fry]

I still use Fletchtite with aluminum and dont have any problems but then I always dip in clear the back 10" so the glue has something to bond to, also clean the shaft with thinner before dipping , clean is the key , dont run your oily hands down the shaft.

[Holm-Made]

Well thanks again guys.  I ordered some of the Flex Bond that Charlie recommends as I know he’s done a few Aluminums in his day.   

Ted, do you use bohning lacquer to dip the back of shaft?  Just one coat?  Thanks,   

Chad

P.S.  I sure like aluminum arrows.  Can’t find much I don’t like about them..