Do fletchings stiffin or weaken arrow spine?

[stickandstring]

Thought I knew the answer but maybe I dont.

[ishoot4thrills]

The more weight you put at the BACK of the arrow, the stiffer it becomes.

[Jim Wright]

There is 10 or so grains in three 5" fletchings but it does very slightly stiffen spine. When bare-shafting carbons it works well to get to the point of being SLIGHTLY spine weak and then fletch and paper tune. You will have very minor adjustment if any.

[Bill Carlsen]

For most of us it stiffens up the arrow's dynamic spine.

[Cato]

You can put duct tape on the end of the bare shaft to mimic the weight of the fletch.  Personally I don't think its that critical but that is what I am told some people do.

[Medley]

Stiffen it does. As does the wrap, if used. Plus, I think some may be surprised in the weight, never assume.

I have seen a 10 grain difference between 2 wraps.

When bareshafting I would recommend doing it with the wrap on. Some also put the feathers on, and cut them off leaving the glue and quills on

Howfar do you want to go

[Bjorn]

It is not so much the weight of the feathers it is the breaking action of the feather against the air.

[JamesKerr]

The feathers do add a little weight but not much so in theory it stiffens your arrow. A cap wrap weighs anywhere between 8-14 grains and can change the stiffness of your arrow as well. I don't bother with it though when I bareshaft tune I do just that nothing but the bareshaft shooting it with fletched shafts.

[Larry m]

What Bjorn Says!!!!!!!!!!!
Longer fletch stiffens the arrow. Shorter fletch not as much. Heavier point weakens the shaft. Lighter point not so much. Shorter shaft adds spine. Longer shaft weakens. All this is taken into consideration when tuning for good flight.

[Rick Wiltshire]

My hat is off to those guys who can tell a difference in flight when there is 10 - 25 grain difference in point or nock weight at hunting distance.

[stickandstring]

Decades of shooting arrows too stiff. Thanks guys for your input. nick

[Terry Green]

If adding feathers to your arrows changes the way they shoot.....its NOT the feather's fault.....your are too borderline with your spine.

[ChuckC]

I agree with Terry 100 %. And. . I think we as a group tend to try to get way too technical with our arrows.

A question.  In my mind, as stated above, the weight of feathers would not count near as much as the deflection caused by air pushing against the arrow.  Since all of this is happening because of the paradox, and hence happens in the first three to five feet, what affect DOES a larger feather have ?  Does it actually weaken the spine, or stiffen it ?  Or does it do anything at all to the spine ?

The shaft has certain innate flexibility, no matter what. Does it move the flex point forward because the rear is not able to flex as much due to the parachute effect ?  Does it make the front of the arrow deflect even more because of this same effect ?

If you take a stick and whip it back and forth, it hardly flexes.  Put a weight on one end  (ie golf club) and it flexes a lot.   Put a weight on both ends and grab it in the middle and it flexes more.  

Can someone smart explain the whole thing to me cause a lot doesn't make much sense, especially when I seem to be able to put 5.5" feathers on nearly anything and shoot them just fine.
ChuckC

[gonefishing600]

In my opinion, it’s not so much the weight of the feathers that cause the shaft to stiffen, but more in the area of the feathers acting as a gusset when fused to the wall of the shaft, which inevitably strengthens the flexibility of the shaft.

The arrows I’m shooting now, are GT trads 3555. I bare shafted them with 125 grain tips, and after fletching them up with three 4” parabolic feathers, I increased the tip weight to 145gr. and they shoot perfect. They still shoot fine with the 125gr. but, act just a little stiff.
With 5” shield cut, I can really tell a difference from bare shaft to fletched.
Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[Cherokee Scout]

No disrespect meant to others, but I think the weight of the feathers make no difference. The feathers being on the rear of the shaft have nearly no impact on weak/stiff spine.

[ChuckC]

Not sure how actual  in-field testing shows up, but in viewing high speed video of the arrow doing its thing, it starts flexing well before it ever leaves the string and continues to flex for a bit, until stabilized.  It does this, (recovers)apparently by the fletching and the natural stiffness stopping its flexion. The shaft spinning from fletching causes it to not flex in any one directin too far.  Shooting bare shafts into a backstop often results in a broken (wooden) shaft cause the arrow hits nearly sideways.  Put feathers on it to parachute the back end and cause spinning and it won't do that.

Since the arrow is still affixed to the string at that point, how much can anything that is at the rear affect the flexing of the shaft  UNTIL  it is off the string.  At that time the whole shaft is flexing back and forth and the feathers / vanes look like they are flying, much flapping as they are doing.  

The arrows don't. .  can't. .  start spinning until it is off the string, and it sure appears that it doesn't start until at least after it clears the bow riser, maybe by feet.  So much for setting your arrow up to clear a rest.  

There is no more bending around the riser at that point, its already past that, simply recovery.  Larger feathers appear to help.

A riser that is cut past center far enough that it allows the arrow to pass straight thru (if it didn't bend from the pressure of release) likely allows for a stiffer spine, since it is not required to bend around a riser) and that allows it to recover faster.  That also makes the bow less critical of arrow spine.

That is just a very slightly educated guess, however.
ChuckC

[stujay]

Fletching stiffens the arrow.

[stickandstring]

In building arrows nowdays, there are so many weights and points etc available to tune and hopefully achieve a perfect flying arrow. I have always bare shaft tuned to the point of being a tad stiff then fletched them up. Then I got to wondering why, if I did miss, I usually missed left and not right. Thanks for all your feedback and comments. This is what makes bows and arrows so much fun.

[Tajue17]

I've always bare shafted a bare shaft,, I guess I was taught that you want a slightly stiff shaft for broadheads and I don't know why but don't care to know why cause it gets too deep for me.  

so if I tune to a perfect flying bareshaft and then fletch afterwards which you guys say stiffens the arrow then I think it ALL works out,, never a problem just fletching after its tuned.