In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

The guy that fletched my ACCs last fall apparently did a crappy job. More than one arrow has sections of feathers coming loose. I don' t have access to an archery supply shop, and am wondering if I can just use plain ole super glue to re-adhere them? If not, then what can I use that I can get locally? I plan to use 24 hour epoxy to re-insert my inserts, can I use some of that?

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Any of the various brands of super glue-type gels will work. I' ve always got a bottle of the stuff stashed away in the pocket of my quiver for emergency use.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Super Glue will work fine for both feathers and inserts on carbon arrows. Do not use epoxy, pain in the bobo. Fletch-Tite makes a super glue type adhesive that you should be able to find in most sporting goods stores that sell archery equipment. The regular fletch-tite adhesive is for aluminum and wood arrows only, it won' t hold good on carbon. I figure that' s what they used to initially put them on. Also, dab a bead of glue at each end of the feather or vane. This will keep them from peeling up.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

About all I use for all my fletching both feathers and vanes is Bondini gel ($1.57 at Wal-Mart) The Bondini II will work also but it is thinner cinsistency. It is fast but the only problem is that it is a pain to get off to refletch.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

So, superglue will work well for adhering aluminum inserts into the aluminum part of ACCs as well as feathers to the carbon outerwrap?

That may just be the way to go, especially since I already have some :)

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Hate to be a stick in the mud :D

In a pinch, or for emergencies, yes, super glue will work.

However, IME it' s a very poor choice for normal fletching of feathers regardless of shaft material. It' s extremely brittle, and it doen' t take much to crack the base of the feather. You will spend more time refletching them if you are shooting good groups. Did the superglue feather thing for awhile, quickly changed my mind.

I use Saunders NPV, standard Fletch-Tite or Flex Fletch brand glues for feathers. All of these have longer set-times (I let them sit 12 to 15 minutes per feather), but your feathers will stay on better and much, much longer as it does not make the feather base brittle.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Bohning fletch tape works great for feathers.I would not use super glue for inserts.I like to use hotmelt or slow setting epoxy.That way you can spin test the arrows before the glue sets up.With super glue you don' t have enough time.

CB

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Fletching tape for actually fletching with feathers. I thought that was a given! ;)

Super glue only for emergencies. I' ve used super glue for fletching and completely agree with Jeff' s analysis.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Ya' ll ain' t a holdin' your mouth right. :D I' ve used Super Glue exclusively for feathers on carbon shafts and have not had a problem at all. I' ve never had one come loose, even after going completely through a rag target.

I wonder if maybe the gel doesn' t hold quite as well. I use the regular stuff. I like the way it strips off easily when I' m ready to refletch also.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

I think the feathers have been pretty well talked over. I think sooner or later, you could regret permanently glueing those inserts in. I just had a few shafts I found in the back of the closet that had the tips siezed into the inserts. Not sure what caused it, but they were buried in there for a long time. If the inserts would not have been installed with hot melt, I' d be out 4 shafts right now. Besides that senario, I like to aline all my broadhead blades the same way. They don' t have to match the feathers or vanes, they just have to all look the same. I prefer to have one blade straight up at full draw. I know I' m just being picky, but I couldn' t do that without hot melt.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Boy, things must have changed a bunch in the last 3-4 years when I was doing all mine. You NEVER used any heat with carbon arrows. Even ACC' s. At least back then you didn' t. And I thought it was a given, you coat the threads of your points with string wax to prevent them from seizing up, and from backing out.

RE: In a pinch, what adhesive to use for feathers
 

Picked up some liquid (non gel) brush on super glue. Looks eaier to control than the squeeze and drip option :)

Good thought on the string wax. I woulda never thunk that...