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No more feathers for now, what elevated rest do you recommend?

HuumanCreed

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Joined
Aug 21, 2020
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Location
Westminster Maryland
I tried to like them, I really have. But I'm tire of feathers maintenance even if I like how they look. Maybe I'm hard on them or because I'm using feathers from my mentor that are 50+ year olds. But they barely last a few days of shooting and I'm tire of fletching them all the time. I have try the AAE Trad Vanes. At first I loved them, except they were hard to fletch. But TO ME, they dont hold up either, really delicates.

So I'm giving up on off the shelf shooting for now so I can move to plastic vanes. I am going to start using arrows with soft vanes like AAE Plastifletch.

Anyway, what elevated rests are you all using? I'm leaning toward a Bear Weatherest. Should I know anything before/after installing it on my bows? These are traditional wood risers without holes. And no I'm not going to drill holes for a plungers, nothing wrong with that but I dont trust my skills!
 
I tried to like them, I really have. But I'm tire of feathers maintenance even if I like how they look. Maybe I'm hard on them or because I'm using feathers from my mentor that are 50+ year olds. But they barely last a few days of shooting and I'm tire of fletching them all the time. I have try the AAE Trad Vanes. At first I loved them, except they were hard to fletch. But TO ME, they dont hold up either, really delicates.

So I'm giving up on off the shelf shooting for now so I can move to plastic vanes. I am going to start using arrows with soft vanes like AAE Plastifletch.

Anyway, what elevated rests are you all using? I'm leaning toward a Bear Weatherest. Should I know anything before/after installing it on my bows? These are traditional wood risers without holes. And no I'm not going to drill holes for a plungers, nothing wrong with that but I dont trust my skills!
I shoot a bear weather rest, or that style of rest out of preference. The bear one hasn’t held up as good as another brand that I used before but it’s still going strong. I have had these arrows fletched for a year and haven’t had any come off, shoot the same 3 thousands of shots. Maybe check the glue or feathers you are using. I’m also not convinced that the bear weather rest will allow you to shoot vanes like you are hoping unless your riser is past center and you use the foam pad that’s included to get it off the riser more. The rest is going to push you off the shelf maybe more than you expect, and you will have to account for it in the spine or weight of your arrows. I guess what I’m saying is don’t be surprised if it isn’t the automatic fix youre hoping for.

I use gel glue (gorilla glue) and gateway feathers. I fletch them with a cheapo bohning fletching jig.

Maybe share your bow as well as a picture of the shelf close up so others can help?
 
wow, we actually have the exact same fletching setup. Maybe you're right. that I'm trying to fix the wrong problem. As of this moment, I'm blaming the feathers because they are 50+ years old, but someone mentioned that if the AAE Trad Vanes have the same issues, it could be me, or that my arrows are not tuned well, so they are hitting the shelf even if they are correcting themselves once in flight.
 
wow, we actually have the exact same fletching setup. Maybe you're right. that I'm trying to fix the wrong problem. As of this moment, I'm blaming the feathers because they are 50+ years old, but someone mentioned that if the AAE Trad Vanes have the same issues, it could be me, or that my arrows are not tuned well, so they are hitting the shelf even if they are correcting themselves once in flight.
What kind of surface prep do you do to your shafts?
What type of shafts?
How long do you apply pressure?
What type of glue application do you use (thin line, thick line, spread out thin, spread out thick?)
Where is you cock feather pointing? Will need to know RH or LH as well.
 
Shelf shooting did appear to tear up feathers quicker to me. The bear weather rest may help with that, it may be a reason I switched, but I can’t speak to being able to shoot vanes.
 
I wrap the arrow in Oracal 631 white matte material.
gently wipe them with fiber clothes
I run a thin line,
leave it on jig for 30 seconds, left helical jig
then do a dot of glue front and back

Shooting left hand, cock feather to nose. LW feathers

1659724962122.png
 
I wrap the arrow in Oracal 631 white matte material.
gently wipe them with fiber clothes
I run a thin line,
leave it on jig for 30 seconds, left helical jig
then do a dot of glue front and back

Shooting left hand, cock feather to nose. LW feathers

View attachment 68721
Sounds like the vinyl adhesive wrap stuff might be giving you problems, but surface prep is very important too. I would try fletching one without that stuff. For surface prep I would recommend wiping with the highest % alcohol you can find at the store. This is going to help clear the surface of stuff that might inhibit good adhesion of the glue. I also recommend a minimum of 1 minute of pressure on the fletching but I usually do around two.

Also if you are re fletching you need to get the old glue off either by stripping or high grit sand paper lightly sanding. Then of course wipe with alcohol.

What I meant was, which way are your fletchings oriented. Folks usually say my cock feather points to 9 o clock (RH) or 3 o’clock (LH) for example. There are various orientations and they will have different effects on arrow flight, fletching wear etc. I’m also left handed so my feather points 3 clock. With the bear rest I’m not hitting that bottom feather everytime on shelf. Instead, it only hits the small plastic piece that holding the arrow. Maybe that’s enough to stop your feathers from getting torn up or torn off.
 
I wrap the arrow in Oracal 631 white matte material.
gently wipe them with fiber clothes
I run a thin line,
leave it on jig for 30 seconds, left helical jig
then do a dot of glue front and back

Shooting left hand, cock feather to nose. LW feathers

View attachment 68721

Also looking at the front to back or back to front of the shelf would be more helpful picture perspective. Just quickly looking, it appears to be center cut, not past center cut.
 
I think it’s a surface prep issue. I’ve had batches I crested shed fletchings like crazy. Stripped the crest just enough to glue to bare arrow shaft and it fixed the issue.
 
Sounds like something is wrong with setup or with adhesive. As an experiment nock your arrow with cock feather facing the shelf. Shoot for a few days and see if you are still destroying feathers.
 
After some reflecting and taking in the feedbacks. I'm going to try feathers again for my next arrow built. The more I talk about it, the more evidence that it might be me that is the problem. Some common mistakes are:

Bad cock feather alignment during nocking. Since I fletch a single color feather, I might not be repeating same 'cock feather out' as I should.

Spine is too stiff, not tuned arrows on my part so more riser contacts.

Too many time missing target and driving them into the dirt. Not feather's fault.

Improper storage and handling. I'm used to abusing vanes, but some care in handling feathers is not a bad thing.

But I do know that its most likely not the adhesive fault. Its not like the feathers are flying off the arrows or the glue is not holding. Its they get damage. Unless there is some logic that I am not aware of.

So going to try again with feathers. Curious, anyone shoot 4 feathers fletching from off the shelf?
 
After some reflecting and taking in the feedbacks. I'm going to try feathers again for my next arrow built. The more I talk about it, the more evidence that it might be me that is the problem. Some common mistakes are:

Bad cock feather alignment during nocking. Since I fletch a single color feather, I might not be repeating same 'cock feather out' as I should.

Spine is too stiff, not tuned arrows on my part so more riser contacts.

Too many time missing target and driving them into the dirt. Not feather's fault.

Improper storage and handling. I'm used to abusing vanes, but some care in handling feathers is not a bad thing.

But I do know that its most likely not the adhesive fault. Its not like the feathers are flying off the arrows or the glue is not holding. Its they get damage. Unless there is some logic that I am not aware of.

So going to try again with feathers. Curious, anyone shoot 4 feathers fletching from off the shelf?
Yes to all except you skipped the adhesive prep and vinyl wrap thing again. Don’t overlook surface prep. You could do everything you said to them and the feather could be worn to bits but still be attached. It makes a big difference.
 
I shoot four feathers off the shelf, never had a problem. Your nock has a mark on it for indexing. It’s a big adjustment to tune a trad bow vs a compound. Don’t get to wound up about it, easier said than done.
 
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