Fletching Tape??

[wahoohunter]

I was just reading through another thread and saw where some people have began using fletching two sided tape rather than traditional glue. I'd never even heard of this until today and was wondering what are the benefits/drawbacks of using this tape, also is it just as strong as glue? It seems as though it would not be as permanent? Thanks for any advice!

[MOhunter46]

Im also interested in what some of you guys have to say. So far ive only used glue for my feathers and they've turned out great. I cant imagine how tape can be as strong as glue.

[BGfisher]

ORIGINAL: MOhunter46

Im also interested in what some of you guys have to say. So far ive only used glue for my feathers and they've turned out great. I cant imagine how tape can be as strong as glue.

Never heard of it, huh? I tried a roll about 10 years ago when it was first being marketed. It's designed for feathers and as such does pretty good. The advantage to it is pseed of fletching. It's instantaneous. It sticks immediately to the arrow shaft and the clamp can be removed right away.

The one draw back I saw to it was that it allowed the end to curl a bit following it's natural curvature. This is taken care of simply by spot-gluing both ends of the feather just like many of us normally do anyway.

Since those days I think Bohning has picked up the ball and is marketing it now. Whether the present day tape is any better I can't say, but might be worth trying again to find out.

[Arthur P]

It works great for feathers. Feathers ONLY. It does NOT work with vanes. IMO, that's it's only drawback.

I like several things about tape.

It's easy to apply and fast. Put the feather in your clamp, run a strip of tape down the base (I just unreel if off the roll while applying it to the base and cut to length when I get to the end of the feather), peel off the backing and stick it in the jig. It sticks to the shaft immediately. Then go right to the next one. When you pull the arrow out of the jig, run your fingernail down each side of each feather to make sure it's completely stuck down. All you have to do then is add a drop of glue to each end of each feather and you're done. I can fletch a dozen arrows in the time it takes to do one arrow with regular fletchtite.

It holds. I've lost arrows and found then a year later. They go through 100+ degree heat, rain, temps in the teens with ice and when I've found them, the barbs have rotted off but the bases are still stuck firmly. If shot through bag targets, the feathers might be damaged but they're still stuck. You can steam the feathers to rejuvenate them and the tape will still hold.

Even though the tape holds feathers on as well as glue does, it's easy to pull the feathers off and clean the tape residue off the shafts when you're ready to refletch. No scraping old glue off the shafts, no worries about damaging the shafts with a knife blade. Another time saving that can also save you money.

I haven't used glue on feathers ever since I discovered the tape, about 5 years now.

[Bailsuk]

Fantastic stuff !! , i use it on my feathers . As its been said previous , it only works on feathers . It makes fletching so easy and sticks as strong as any glue , i'd definately reccommend it to anybody . Fletching tape is the way to go . Watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZDsRuYAMkk&eurl=http://89.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/youtube_igoogle/v2/youtube.xml&nocache=0&up_tit

[MeanV2]

It works Great for Feathers! Spot Glue the ends and you are good to go! I've used it for yearsWhat I carry is Bohning and is called: Premium Feather Fletching Tape.

Dan

[bigcountry]

i love the stuff. Only drawback for even feathers is, I can probably fletch much faster with glue. But it does a much cleaner job and I have yet for a feather to come off after years of using it.