Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

I am wondering if AAE Fastset Gel will work for feathers. I use it with vanes but have never tried it with feathers. If not what would everyone recommend. Thanks

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

I figure if it will hold vanes, it will hold feathers--when I used vanes I had more trouble getting them to stick than I ever had with feathers. That was quite a few years ago though.

Chad

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

I've stuck feathers on arrows with Fastset, and all kinds of other 'super glue' gels. It works fine. The old standby glues like Fletchtite and Duco do just fine too, but if the arrows are dipped or sealed, then you can have compatibility issues. I haven't used any of the newer glues that have come out for one reason.

A few years ago, I switched to Bohning fletch tape. It does great on all kinds of arrows, all kinds of finishes, it's not as messy and (after a little practice;)) I can fletch up a dozen arrows faster than I could fletch five arrows with super glue. The feathers stay stuck until I take decide it's time to them off - even in the extreme heat and humidity around the Dallas area - and then the arrows are so much easier to clean up and get ready to refletch. I don't reckon on ever again using glue to stick feathers on an arrow.

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Art, I have used the tape before and hard a tough time getting the residue off when re-fletching. Acetone somewhat worked. How do you get the residue off?

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Duco works great, and if you can order it a German glue called UHU is the best stuff I have ever used.

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Bob, it's a pain but, compared to scraping off dry fletching glue, getting off the stickum residue from tape is a breeze. If you really want to get it off easy, you can spray some WD40 on the glue and let it set for a few minutes. It'll wipe right off. Then you can clean the WD40 off with acetone or denatured alcohol and refletch. I wouldn't use WD40 on carbons though because it could get into the surface of the shaft and make it hard to get anything to stick.

I did forget to mention to put a drop of glue - like Duco or Fletchtite - at each end of the feather when using the tape. Very important!

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

I'll give that a try next time. I tried using straight acetone alone, but it seemed to create more of a mess.

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

If anyone wants UHU get in touch with me. Swop you for whatever.

Jakes

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Art, does fletch tape work on carbons? I'd heard somewhere that it doesn't, so I never tried it. I don't shoot carbons, but I wind up fletching arrows for friends that do.

Chad

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Works like just as well on carbons as it does on any other arrow, Chad. That's the best thing about it. No worries about finish capatablity. You stick it down and it stays stuck. Only thing about it is it seems to have a limited shelf life, especially if you leave it in your tackle box in a hot car on a summer day.

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Thanks Art! I've been doing carbons the hard way all this time.........

I've used the stuff since it hit the market, but never tried it on a carbon arrow. The reason, as I said, was because I'd heard it didn't work well on them, and all the carbons I've done since it came out were for other folks. I'll experiment on my stuff, but not on somone else's. I agree, it does seem to have a shelf life--a hot car won't help it any either! :eek:

Chad

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

How much weight does the tape add to the end of the arrow?

RE: Best Adhesive For Feathers?
 

Ya know, I've never weighed them to compare taped arrows to glued arrows, but I can't see how a strip of fletching tape could weigh any more than a bead of glue does.