gman1969

Is there such a thing as too much helical for arrow fletching? How do you determine the optimal amount of helical for fletching your own arrows? (Assuming fletching clearance isn't an issue)

goldtip46

well the most amount of helical that is allowed is assuming the base of your vane or feather sits secure on the shaft.i assume you are talking about a jig of some sort.

Arthur P

The more helical you put on your fletching, the more stable your arrow will fly. On the other hand, you can put enough helical on fletching that they will slow down your arrows and create more noise than necessary. How much is necessary? Depends on many things.

Fletching size is one thing to look at. The more fletching you use - like doing a 4 fletch with 5" feathers - the less helical you need. The less fletching you use - like a 3 fletch with 3" feathers - the more helical you'd need to do the same job.

Fletching material is another part of it. A 3" feather will provide the same amount of stability as a 4" vane, so a same-size feather will need less helical to stabilize an arrow than the vane would.

IMO, arrow diameter, weight and speed is a big part in determining how much helical to use. A light, skinny carbon arrow is easier to spin than a fat aluminum (say a 2315 for example), so it needs less fletch and less helical than you'd need on the 2315. Since it's going to fly much faster than the heavier 2315 - and since air resistance increases by the cube of velocity for subsonic projectiles (speed X speed x speed) - you don't need as much fletch or as much helical to do the same job of stabilizing the skinny carbon as you'd need on the 2315. Or on a skinny carbon going 300 fps vs one loping along at a mere 200 fps.

That's what makes these goofy Turbo nocks work.

Rangeball

Arthur, I've been meaning to ask you, have you seen the turbo-nock NOCK only, no vanes? It's being created so one can realize the instant spin benefits of the turbo-nock concept while using traditional vanes, allowing one to use much smaller fletch while maintaining control or the same size fletch and maximizing control.

Wonder how they'd work for shooting sticks? I may just have to find out...

Arthur P

Nope, I hadn't heard they were making the nock part only, without the fins. I don't see why they wouldn't work on a stickbow, as long as you used the correct twist on your helical. You don't want your fletching to be trying to spin the arrow the opposite direction it's twisting when it comes off the string.[:-]

Rangeball

I believe they require right offset/helical...

I was worried they'd spin too much and cause fletch contact with the bow. Nick posted they'll spin an arrow twice in th first 5 feet. Should be great for stability, and I assume one could fine tune the nock to account for the spin so the fletch is lined up right as it passes the bow...

They aren't in production yet, having issues with the moulds last I heard a few weeks ago.

Arthur P

With your recurve, shooting off the shelf and using a hefty arrow like those Terminators we've been discussing, whatever fletch contact you do get won't matter one whit, as long as you use feathers.

Rangeball

That's good to know.

gman1969

Yes, this is why I was asking. I remember reading somewhere that excessive helical will create excessive drag which in turn will reduce arrow speed. What I was curious about is finding the right balance for a given arrow for good stability without losing more speed than necessary.

So then for a carbon arrow, being lighter and easier to spin compared to aluminums, will a 3 feather fletcing (4 inch feathers) done with an offset rather than an extreme helical achieve that balance, even using broadheads?

Arthur P

Probably. Much depends on the size and quality of the broadhead, not to mention how well arrow and the bow are tuned, how good your form is, etc. Only way to know for sure what is the least helical/offset or size you can use and get reliable results is by trial and error.