Fletching jig that works (consistently?) And fletching 101 for me, apparently.

[Bluto]

I second this.

As said before, bitz

Small breakthrough. My helical clamp is still a little jacked, but going back with the no pen vanes, no prep, and a quick review of one of Dudley’s vids and I got what I wanted this afternoon. (Oddly enough - not his how-to vid but a different one that I paused a few times to really see how the alignment was set up.)

Oh, and I ditched the specialty glue and just used some loctite superglue gel. All worked like a champ.

No wonder you are having problems - trying to out-engineer the engineers who designed the product. Get rid of the tape and use it as it is intended to be used.

It is very easy to get the vanes in the slots and get/keep them where they need to be if you put one drop of glue on the front edge of the vane and one in the middle and use the tip of the bottle to spread the glue from the front to the back. I can only imagine that if you are getting inconsistent results in terms of vane placement you are spreading the glue back to front or willy nilly.

I did try that, promise! I couldn’t get AAE nor TAC vanes to sit in the slots. At least one of the three would fall out or at best misalign when closing the jig. Dunno. Could have been a lemon. But it was grossly inconsistent.

 

[mod-it]

Another thing I do that I forgot to mention. After the fletchings are glued onto the arrows, I then put a small drop of glue at the front and back of the fletchings.

 

[fords4life]

I'm with you on the frustrations with the AZ jig. One thing I noticed in that video is the jig actually opening all the way up so the vane holders lay open. Mine won't lay open like that and I have to fight it. I did figure out a method to get it to work most of the of the time, but about 1 in 4 or 5, I have an issue. Not a big deal since I don't have a ton of arrows, but frustrating. Going to take a second look at my jig tonight after rewatching that video. See if I can figure out why it isn't opening all the way up.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I have a Bitz and Arizona EZ fletch. Both are easy to use, but the Arizona EZ fletch is idiot proof and will sure put a helical to a vane.

I only use the Arizona EZ fletch now, though.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

I bought an Aerovane jig. I use primer pins on vane base. Then add bead of glue.

 

[Bluto]

I have a Bitz and Arizona EZ fletch. Both are easy to use, but the Arizona EZ fletch is idiot proof and will sure put a helical to a vane.

I only use the Arizona EZ fletch now, though.

Glad you got a good one. The concept seems awesome, it sold me.

Mine wouldn’t hold a vane, and if it did on occasion then one was misaligned 3/4 of the time. It’s in the trash.

 

[Bluto]

I bought an Aerovane jig. I use primer pins on vane base. Then add bead of glue.

Haven’t tried that one. If I can’t get the Bitz dialed in with a new clamp all bets are off.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Glad you got a good one. The concept seems awesome, it sold me.

Mine wouldn’t hold a vane, and if it did on occasion then one was misaligned 3/4 of the time. It’s in the trash.

I’ve never had any issues with vanes coming out of the holders or misalignment. Hate you had issues with yours. It’s a good tool.

 

[MattB]

I am intrigued on how the EZ fletch arms wouldn’t hold a vane. When the arms are open the vanes are held in place by gravity and when you start to close the jig the arms do not move very far before the vanes touch the shaft and cannot move out of the slot.

This is increasingly seeming like it is not the arrow but the indian.

 

[BucksNBulls]

You just need better glue. AAE Max Bond or Gold tip Always works for me. Any vane any arrow.

 

[TheBootBowhunting]

I have 4 bitzs, 3 of them have the zenith and the other has the AAE bitz knob. The aae knob has tighter tolerances than the stock knob, and can rotate to replace a single vane. You have less issued with uneven spacing as the nock doesnt move inside the receiver like the stock knob. I will use the AAE so I dont have to pull the nocks if Im just messing with 1 arrow. Otherwise, the zenith is to me a far more accurate, and the spacing is dead on every arrow. I have 2 of zenith's set up for 204s, and I glue the x nock sleeve on with the same 2 part epoxy that the hit inserts use. Ive had them for years now, and have never had to replace the sleeve.

For AAE, I use the aae glue and primer pen.

For everything else, I use 91% alcohol (i think this is a very important part) to wipe the shaft/wrap and my favorite glue to work with is Loctite Professional. Its strong as hell and impact resistant. Its also cheap, and you can find it just about anywhere. I think Ive used it for 5 years, and have never had an adhesion issue with any vane Ive tested. I tip and tail the vanes with fletchtite platinum.

Old super glue is a surefire way to have adhesion issues. This may be a bit ocd, but when I buy a few bottles of the loctite, I tape where the plastic meets the cardboard on the packaging, and put them in the fridge. After I open a bottle and use it, I put it in a ziplock bag, and it goes back in the fridge.

 

[packer58]

I'm also a big fan of the EZ Fletch. Prep shaft with scotch brite and alcohol, wipe / clean glue channel on the vane. my glue of choice is Gorilla Super Glue Gel, very durable.

I'm also interested in why you couldn't get the vanes to stay in the arms, once you push up and lock the base the arms will fold down for loading the vane, it's a simple procedure. I always apply the glue to the vane before inserting it into the jig to try to keep glue off the jig.

 

[Bluto]

I am intrigued on how the EZ fletch arms wouldn’t hold a vane. When the arms are open the vanes are held in place by gravity and when you start to close the jig the arms do not move very far before the vanes touch the shaft and cannot move out of the slot.

This is increasingly seeming like it is not the arrow but the indian.

They move about 70 degrees from full open. Dunno, man, they can move quite a bit in mine. I could fit 3-4 vanes in each slot. They aren’t exactly snug.

Cool. I don’t know what to tell ya. For many they work well. For many others, they don’t. Mine looked like the vane slots were cut by a drunk 5 year old. Bad lot? Probably. They sell a lot of them so they can’t all be bad. I just can’t get anything close to consistent use out of them. Which makes them useless to me.

You just need better glue. AAE Max Bond or Gold tip Always works for me. Any vane any arrow.

I think it’s this is a big part, although “fresh” might be more important.

I’ve now had as good or better luck with random generic super glues than archery brands. Common theme? Age. If it was new, worked like a champ. If not, $10 bottle failed just as quickly as a $1 bottle.

Of note, one thing that I’ve found that is definitely me - too much glue. If I use so little I think there’s no way this can stick, it ends up being about right.

 

[Starfighter]

I had the same problem when I first started flething after a 20 year hiatus from archery. I tried to put vanes on my Gold Tip arrows using my old Bitzenburger. It's still the best jig on the mrket and I have 6 jigs. Some are over 60 years old and only do 3 fletch while I have 3 new ones set up for Right Helical, Left Helical and Straight.

First time I tried CA glue everything looked right. Vanes were staying on but on my second trip to the range I could pull the vanes off with little effort. I tried different glue and found Gorilla Glue with the Blue tip to work best.

I wanted to fletch in 10 seconds from when I layed the clamp downs. This was my problem. I wasn't giving the glue a chance to dry. I then tried 30 seconds while keeping pressure on the clamp. This worked very well with all vanes I tried.

A friend at the range suggested I try Onestringer Wraps next time. Using the warps my consistency improved. Arrow prep was non existent and vanes as well as feathers stay on the shafts until I scrape them off. ( Use a Potato Pealer to scrape the vanes off and you cannot damage a carbon shaft).

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Bitz,scotch brute,90%alcohol,loctite or gorilla super glue gel and q tips.
1.Spend time to find the degree/offset etc,do a test arrow,redo untill you like setup,mark bitz jig with pencil so it’s the same every time.
2.I like to rough end of shaft slightly.
3.wipe with alcohol
4.insert vane to clamp and glue to vane,enough to fill in bottom completely but not to much.
5.make sure arrow is seated in clamp and clamp vane to arrow.Look at vane as its clamped to see how base of vane looks on arrow and adjust light pressure accordingly.Hold for 20 seconds and lightly lift hand.Lightly swip excess glue with tip.Don’t touch for 15 min,go do something else.
6.Unclamp and put a small drop in front and back of Vane.Dress with qtip.
7.Dont shoot untill the next day.
8.Dont use vanes that need all the extra pens and pads to install.

 

[Wrench]

I have had batches of vanes that must have been extra heavy in release agent...because they wouldn't stick. I know that it was batch specific because I was doing 2 tone 4 fletch and one color was solid and the other fell off.

 

[Thinkingman]

What glue are you using and was it a new tube?

I don’t know what to say, almost every one of those methods should work just fine. You are doing something or not doing something that is making a very simple process much harder than it is.

When I fletch I use 2 Arizona EZ Fletch minis and can bang out a dozen arrows in about 20 minutes. Fantastic tool and I can’t imagine a simpler or faster way to fletch arrows.

Arizona EZ Fletch, acetone, and Bohning Platinum adhesive is dead simple.
Maybe post a photo of the jig you're having so much trouble with.

 

[Aviator]

I’ve been fletching for many years with a Vador Bitzenburger clone with right helical clamp. 91% alcohol and gorilla super glue. I also like flex fletch cement when I can find it.