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FLETCHING HELP
Fletching
We highly recommend you use a cyanoacrylate (CA) adhesive. Superglue
is a cyanoacrylate. CA adhesives glue very quickly (within seconds) and require
very little in order to establish a great bond. Most CA's have a finite shelf-life
and when they've reached the end of their life they won't glue anything. The adhesive
loses bondability as it ages and thickens, which you can see if your adhesive comes
in an semi-opaque bottle.
Unless you are fletching dozens and dozens and dozens of arrows, we highly recommend
purchasing adhesive in smaller quantities. Recent testing confirms our belief that
less adhesive used on a vane is better; we fletched seven dozen arrows with one
3 gram tube of adhesive.
As a fletcher, your job is to cover the base of the vane with enough adhesive to
create a good bond, but not so much that it oozes out when pressed onto the shaft.
If adhesive oozes out from under the vane, then too much has been applied and it
will take 10-20 minutes to dry. CA adhesives are anaerobic, which means when exposed
to air they will take longer to dry. CA's create a surface-to-surface bond, not
a filled bond.
A clean shaft is the first step. A simple swish for a few moments in a soapy solution
should remove manufacturing residue. Use a household cleaner like Spic-n-Span or
Formula 409 and then rinse with clean water and let air dry.
If you can't take time for the air dry, you might try an acetone or alcohol wipe.
Just be sure to use a lint-free rag so you don't leave any debris behind.
The last resort would be to scuff or lightly sand with a scour pad or very fine
sandpaper. This creates dust, however, so your shafts will need a light cleaning.
Dust or debris or lint may interfere with a good bond.
All our vanes are ready to be fletched right out of the package. Cleaning or accelerating
your vanes is more work and unnecessary.
After your shaft is ready to be fletched, put your vane of choice in the clamp,
run a thin continuous bead of adhesive down the center of the base. Some folks like
to put a couple drops of adhesive and then smear it the length of the vane with
the tip of the glue bottle. Others use a finger, Q-tip or credit card edge to accomplish
that 'smear' while at the same time removing any excess.
Press the clamp which is now loaded with a glued vane firmly onto the arrow shaft.
Remember to press out all the air from under the vane, pretending that the vane
is a suction cup. Between that little bit of pressure and the tiny amount of adhesive
that you've applied the vane will literally stick like glue.
Following these basic rules will give you a fletched arrow that will be shootable
within minutes. The adhesive will continue to cure over the next 24 hours, and you'll
be surprised at how well the vanes will stay. Our next recommendation would be for
a ZipStrip® tool when your vanes need to be replaced.
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