fletching own arrows?

[yooper11]

I plan to start fletching my own arrows. What is the best adhesive to use for gluing on the vanes and feathers? What about stripping off old feathers and glue? Can this be done easily with a dull knife or are the fletching stripper tools like those sold in Cabelas worth the money?

Does anyone have any opinions on the best feathers and vanes to use? Gateway Feathers? Bohning or AAE Vanes? etc.?

[BuckAlley]

I' ve been fletching my own for yrs. I started with a Arizona ez fletch. Got sick of that one, and now use a Cabelas jig. I had terrible sticking problems with fletchtite glue, and now use Fastset gel. Have yet to get one to come unglued. I like Duravanes the best myself, Edersbow has them available. I use a knife to cut away the vanes, and scrape away excess glue. I also use a arrow prep solution on my shafts before vaning new shafts.

[Buckbuster4ou]

I use a dull knife to remove old fletching. If needed, I then use acetone to remove any remaining glue. I then clean shafts with 90% Isopropal alcohol.

I bought a tube of Fletch Tite Instant Gel Adhesive, just to try it out. So far, it seems to do a good job.

Bohning vanes and Duravanes.

[mez]

I have the little fletch removing tool, saunders I believe, I use a dull knife to strip my fletching. Save your money on that one. I like flex fletch vanes and Saunders NPV to put them on. They are expensive but worth it IMO. If you go this route you need to clean the shaft AND the bottom of the vane before you glue them on. Some of the vanes have an activator on them and don' t need cleaned, the flex fletch won' t stick if you don' t wipe them with alcohol or another solvent first.

[coyote170]

You might visit Tru Flights home page interesting
and informative!!!!!!!!Feathers are cool!

[Bmott]

I' ve been fletching my own arrows for over 25 years. I like the sanders arrow stripper but a dull knife works fine. I still soak my stripped shafts down in acetone to remove ALL the glue on the shaft. Then I rub them smooth with a cloth (diaper type material is great) soaked in the acetone to finish cleaning. I then let the shafts dry and dip them again, this time in Bohning shaft prep solution before i re-fletch them. I have always used fletch tite cement without any problems. I think preping the shafts are the key.
As far as which type of arrow guidance to use, vanes are easier to set. Just make sure you wipe the bottoms with the cloth dipped in acetone. You will actually see a little of the vanes color come off on the cloth, don' t worry it then sets great.
I have shot both vanes and feathers over the years and prefer Gateway Feathers, but thats just my choice.
I have always used Blitzenbergers, they are expensive but they last.
Good luck.
bMott