TAC Vane Adhesion

Moneyball

WKR
Joined
Mar 17, 2018
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320
Anyone having issues with TAC vanes adhering?

My process for putting them on has been to clean the shaft and use an AAE pen on the fletching before I apply AAE max bond vane glue (VERY thin coat on the vane). Using a bitz jig to a Gold Tip Pierce Platinum. Had very few if any issues with Blazer, AAE, or Q2i.

Thinking of going back to one of those brands as these have just been too hit or miss on adhesion.

Anyone else having these issues?
 
Joined
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Wash them in dawn dish soap.


The rep says to use their primer pen, their glue. Also to not seat the vane completely in your clamp, let the resistance of your clamp put pressure on the vane for arrow contact. Then hold for 5 seconds with 5-6# of pressure.


Then he said, these things hold, Levi wouldn't shoot drop away vanes, as he pulled on a vane and it came off the shaft.



I know plenty of guys who get them to stick fine. I just don't like going through a bunch of hoops for what should be a simple process. Clean your shaft, glue your vane on. I'm not buying another $25 in product from a company.
 

Kularrow

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Feb 26, 2021
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I bought the AAE wipes, primer pen and adhesive. I wouldn’t buy it again, overpriced underperformed.
 
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M

Moneyball

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Mar 17, 2018
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320
Wash them in dawn dish soap.


The rep says to use their primer pen, their glue. Also to not seat the vane completely in your clamp, let the resistance of your clamp put pressure on the vane for arrow contact. Then hold for 5 seconds with 5-6# of pressure.


Then he said, these things hold, Levi wouldn't shoot drop away vanes, as he pulled on a vane and it came off the shaft.



I know plenty of guys who get them to stick fine. I just don't like going through a bunch of hoops for what should be a simple process. Clean your shaft, glue your vane on. I'm not buying another $25 in product from a company.

Totally agree. I wouldn't imagine that TAC has a proprietary formula in their pen and glue, but maybe they do...First time trying these and for the amount of extra effort involved in making them stick, I haven't seen a performance value there that has made it worthwhile.

Also, they claim to be quieter. A few buddies and myself got together and shot our bows at a home range. There is a big sand berm on this property and we placed a few targets off the side of the berm. We could stand behind the berm and listen to the arrows fly by without any danger.

Listened to about 5 different brands of vanes (including TAC) fly by and did not notice any difference in one being more or less quiet than the others.
 
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I really think it's just a release agent that doesn't get cleaned off of some vanes. They pass that step onto the consumer and try to charge you for a product to do it.



I will say the AAE vanes and their system sticks. I have ruined a few arrows trying to replace fletching on those. Again, more difficult than it needs to be, but if you never bust up vanes I guess it isn't a concern.
 
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Trial153

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Seems to be a lot of issues with theM, enough that most of us should stay clear of them.

I stay with AAE at this point, primer pen, Max bond…that’s al I do and haven’t had any issue with adhesion
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2017
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Anyone having issues with TAC vanes adhering?

My process for putting them on has been to clean the shaft and use an AAE pen on the fletching before I apply AAE max bond vane glue (VERY thin coat on the vane). Using a bitz jig to a Gold Tip Pierce Platinum. Had very few if any issues with Blazer, AAE, or Q2i.

Thinking of going back to one of those brands as these have just been too hit or miss on adhesion.

Anyone else having these issues?
Have you tried not using the primer pen? Some AAE vanes recommend not using the pen. This could be the same with TAC?
 

Zdub02

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Joined
Jul 14, 2020
Messages
382
My 2 cents: Haven't had any issues with adhesion BUT I did grab the TAC primer pen and TAC brand glue. Clean the shafts first, then primer, then glue 'em. I may have had 1 vane that needed redone but I attribute that to operator error. Maybe it's luck, maybe brand specific formulas but they work for me.
 
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Moneyball

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Mar 17, 2018
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Yes, I have tried that as well. I also have tried different brands of glue. When not using AAE I have had really good luck with blue top gorilla glue.
 
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Jul 23, 2020
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I agree with ol Billy. Shouldn't need tp buy $18 primer pens and $11 glue to use their vanes. Lick n Stick or die.
 

wapitibob

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Feb 24, 2012
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Bend Oregon
The TAC primer is proprietary actually; formulated to open the cells on the extruded vanes. The primer needs to be used within about a minute of adhesive application.

I went thru almost 200 trying to get them to stick. Emails, video, and phone calls.

My last attempt with 3 vanes, no difference between any of them:
1st vane fell off with the clamp
2nd vane stuck at the heel and toe, center had semi gelled adhesive
3rd vane couldn't be pulled off with pliers

I then bet a friend he couldn't get them to stick, and lost the bet. The only difference is that he doesn't refrigerate his glue. Couldn't twist them off with pliers.

There was a slight bit of difference depending on the shafts I used. Victory V-TAC never stuck. The NVX stuck better but not good enough. I went back to flex fletch.

Randy was very helpful and one thing he stressed many times was to leave the vane about 1/8" out of the clamp.
 

Zac

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Dec 1, 2018
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I've had incredible adhesion with them. I am jealous of all of you that are able to get Blazers to work, because Tac and Stealths are only thing that work for me. That being said my adhesion really got better with used shafts when I started adding a wrap. You can afford the weight as well due to how light the vanes are. A wrap and four 2 inch profile TACs is still less weight than 3 Stealths.
 

llatpoh

FNG
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Messages
5
Anyone having issues with TAC vanes adhering?

My process for putting them on has been to clean the shaft and use an AAE pen on the fletching before I apply AAE max bond vane glue (VERY thin coat on the vane). Using a bitz jig to a Gold Tip Pierce Platinum. Had very few if any issues with Blazer, AAE, or Q2i.

Thinking of going back to one of those brands as these have just been too hit or miss on adhesion.

Anyone else having these issues?
I started using TAC 2.25 Matrix vanes, 4 fletch on top of their wrap. I have had no problem, BUT I am using their primer pen and their glue. The weight of their fletch and the stiffness helps me with FOC and steering a fixed broadhead. A lot of investment of time to get the outcome I want, but .....
 

Brizzle

FNG
Joined
Sep 24, 2020
Messages
62
Archery glue goes bad pretty quickly, refrigerate like someone said in here or make sure you have a fairly fresh bottle. TAC vanes are known for not sticking the best, wraps can help too. I’ve had the best luck with Q2i, they fly and stick well. If you look closely most manufacturers are actually shipping arrows with their Rapt-X vanes now over blazers.
 
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Yuhboyrob

FNG
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Apr 17, 2021
Messages
45
I had the same problem. I moved to TAC over Max stealths cause they bumped up my my FOC about 1%, I used the primer and everything. Like others said go with Q2i, they’re just as good and weight about the same and you don’t have to deal with the not sticking problem.
 
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