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Old 01-07-2002 | 07:28 AM
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wallypedal
Spike
 
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 29
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From: Centennial CO USA
Default RE: Dianna - does this arrow look better ? PIC

Stealthy,that's a good lookin' arrow! I've been having good luck peeling off old fletching from fletch tape and refletching. This is on top of gasket lacquer and water based polycylic. It took a while to refine the technique for the initial install of the tape though. I made a jig board up finally. On the left I've got the fletching tape held in a spool device made out of flat aluminum stock and a couple of large fender washers. In the middle, I took more of the flat stock and made an upside down fletching clamp holder. On the right is the fletching jig itself. I pull a chunk of the tape across the fletch base & press it down, then use a pointy ended hobby knife to slice the adhesive loose from the backing. Turn the blade over and use the back edge to separate the rest of the backing from the adhesive. Then cut the extra backing piece off from the tape spool. Got a wood block at the left end of the clamp holder to press the tape against for this cut. Put the fletching on the shaft, open the clamp immediately and rub the quill down onto the tape with my thumb. When all three are done, take the same knife and press the tape to shaft with the back blunt edge, then slice the front ends of the tape off 1/16" or so ahead of the fletch, at the same angle the base is ground. Depending on your fletching source, some of the bases are tapered and feathered off nicely and some have ugly square corners. The square corner ones are the only ones I've had peel without using a drop of cement. If the bases are curled and dry and your clamp is trying to straighten them out too much, sometimes the tape will pop loose when you yank the clamp off right away.
So much for fletching tape 101!!! The product is good, but the directions coulda come off a Band-Aid box.

YBIC Tom
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