I was rewatching the dean torges section of masters of the barebow vol. 1 and admiring the arrows he was shooting. It may have been the camera angle but the shape of the fletching looked like it arched at the front and cut back in at the back of the feathers. It doesn't look quite like anything available commercially and the closest thing I could think of was a banana cut feather with the back stem of the quill cut forward a bit to give it a straight edge that angles forward. I hope my description makes sense! I was wondering if anyone has tried a shape like this? How'd it work for you?
I call it the "Scollick" cut fletching. Here is a set of some I made up...
(http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/ab28/miklvines/Tradgang/8.jpg) (http://s846.photobucket.com/user/miklvines/media/Tradgang/8.jpg.html)
Mike, those look good! Is it like i thought...bananas withe a little of the back stem removed or did you burn them that way? Any noise issues beyond the usual ones people think of with banana cut fletching?
Nice lookin' cut and colors there Mike.
Deno
I did the same years ago. I had gateway 5 1/2" bananas that I cut the back 1/2" off.
It's a nice look but it does add a bit of noise.
They look neat. I had done that to big bananas in the past. I think big bananas are noisey as heck any way you shoot em.
Doing this, more importantly ( to me) allows me to move the feather more forward in the clamp while fletching so it is not so tight to my fingers while the arrow is on the string.
I do that to mine, I think it's one of the better looking fletches out there. You,only need to cut a little off (1/2" or so)
I made the arrows you are referring to in the video. At one time, I made a large number of his arrows for him.
I had a wire bent to burn that profile, but you can accomplish the same thing by cutting the back 1/2" off the quill of a banana fletch. It will be very close to what Dean shot. I believe he modified a banana fletch originally, but I am not certain of that.
Brian p, those are beautiful arrows. That segment is one of my favorite in the whole video and I enjoy watching it for those arrows, the elegant curves and beautiful finishes of Mr. Torges' bows, and of course his knowledge and humor. I never met him but he was one of a kind in so many ways! Thank you for chiming in!
Most of the arrows I made for him were not that ornate. Flash just wasn't his style.
An arrow that could be seen in flight, and had at least one natural barred Feather, and he was happy.
I made the spliced fletched arrows in the video as a thank you for all the help he gave me on several projects. Thought he needed some to "show off"
Brian, do you mind my asking what dean liked on his " non-flashy" arrows to aid in visibility? Bright nocks? Capping? Also, as quiet as his bow is in that video, I doubt the noise, if any, from those modified bananas made a difference!
I made them with many different colors for him. Seems I used red, green, white, chartreuse etc the most. Probably chartreuse and natural barred the most I would say.
He prefered no cap dip on most arrows, but I always used the same crest pattern for him. I was just a hobby maker of arrows, and mainly just for friends. I always tried to come up with an individual crest for each person, and use it on all arrows I made for them.
Funny thing is, the only arrow I have of Dean's, is one I took from his quiver at a shoot. Figured I needed an arrow from someone famous lol. I should probably figure out what box I have that stored in.