Fletching

[recurvegort]

I shoot a recurve off a rug covered shelf. I feather fletched straight and my groups improved. I then read about using an off-set,so I re-fletched and my groups really improved. Now I see some recommend helical. Will that improve my shots even more?

[BT]

I let SMJ know about the thread and you already know my thoughts

[smj]

Hi all - I just got back in town after a couple weeks in Canada and have not been around.

I would say yes, you want the helical as well. Also, look at your rest, the rest should not be 100% flat.

I find that you can only get so much offset on a given jig, and then it is hard to get the ends of the fletch to sit flat on the shaft. I play a lot with offset and gauge it by how well the fletch sits on the shaft from tip to tail. It should sit nice and flat on the shaft, not up and off the shaft or hard on one side or the other. You can kind of see how the glue mashes out from under the fletch when you put it on and get an idea of if the fletching is well placed with respect to offset. The glue should mash out both sides of the fletch - most will probably find the glue typically comes out all on one side. (If you are using instant glue and working with very small beads of glue down the center of the fletch then this might not show up so well as there might not be enough to squirt out.) This has to do with how well the fletch is centered on the mounting axis. You can get the fletching to one side of the mounting axis pretty easy trying to get big offsets.

My feeling on helical is take all you can get... It will be fixed depending on which jig you use. Mine is a bitz, I have been very pleased with it. I find it helps flight, which never hurts your groups!

[azslim]

For what it is worth I use a Jo-Jan fletcher and right wing feathers and can get a really good helical on my cedar shafts, the max the jig will make.

[smj]

By the way, are you using 3 fletch or 4? Just curious... I find 4 fletch helps smooth out the flight sooner over the long shot - but 3 fletch shoot smoother to begin with off of my longbow. I think what is going on is that 3 fletch has less engagement with the rest and bow than 4 fletch, hence, it comes off the rest with less bump. Don't get me wrong, the 4 fletch fly great and shoot just fine, but the release is more critical.

[BT]

Have you ever fletched up a 4 Fletch on a 109degree jig smj?
I don't have that jig but had given some thought to getting another one.
Years ago I shot that design and it worked really well.

[smj]

admin said:

Have you ever fletched up a 4 Fletch on a 109degree jig smj? ...

I have not... My Bitz allows for 120 degree, 90 degree, and 75x105 degree. I have two Bitz's, both have the same clamp but one is set up for the compound and the other for traditional - I have not played much with the 75x105. (I have more off-set on the traditional jig, but not enough to miss proper engagement of the fletch to shaft.) These are the only two jigs I have... where does one find a 109 degree jig - and what would it do performance wise?

[BT]

It's basically the 105X75 with a bit more clearance.
I only saw them listed once and bought one but it's long gone.
Cant remember where I got it from.