ARROW BUILDING 101 : Does your fletching fly off when you take a shot?

Your on the line in a tournament, drawn back, locking down on the target, taking the shot only to watch  your vanes disconnect from your arrow and scatter all over the place. Or even worse, having the perfect kill shot in the field and having this happen to you. Most archers blame the vanes and the glues and sometimes that may your issue. But generally I have learned that a dirty arrow is most likely the culprit.

Today I would like to explain the importance of proper shaft cleaning for vane adhesion.

A lot of archers don’t understand that cleaning the arrow shaft prior to fletching is the most important step in arrow building.  It’s like washing your hands before eating dinner. You should always clean the arrow shaft before fletching your vanes.

First, start by scraping off the old fletching and glue residue from the shaft.

            - scrub the arrow shaft to take off all of the stubborn glue.

You can simply use ajax and a scotchbrite pad. Being sure to rinse the residue clean.

AAE manufactures a products called ‘Max Clean’ which is an eco-friendly arrow rinsing solution, it removes dirt, oils and grease from the arrow. You will still need to scrub it with a scotch brite pad when using Max Clean.

Let the arrow AIR DRY.

*some paper towels are chemically treated to make them softer and a regular towel may have laundry soap or fabric softener residues in it. Which will put oils right back onto the shaft you just cleaned. It’s a vicious circle.

Also, most vanes come “activated” from the manufacturer and do not require any type of other cleaning or additives (except putting the glue on)

I strongly discourage using alcohol or acetone! These chemicals immediately strip off any activator the manufacturer puts on the vanes.

Be sure your glue and vane material work together. You can’t just use any old super glue to make the vanes stick to your arrow.

For example: AAE Plastifletch vanes and Max Bond Glue are specially formulated to work together. The high viscosity liquid is easy to work with and penetrates into the Elastimax material. It’s best to find glue that is formulated for the specific plastic material of the vanes you are using. Each adhesive on the archery market today is completely different from the next. There are literally hundreds of different Cyanoacrylate adhesives available.

You may have to experiment or simply follow the manufacturer recommendations on which adhesive works best with each vane. After fletching you should be able to tug on the vanes and they will not ‘break off’ or disconnect. This is how I personally check my arrows before I shoot. Starting with a clean arrow shaft makes for better vanes adhesion and gives me more confidence when taking a shot.  

-A. Hudson

http://www.arizonaarchery.com/