Is it just the nature of the beast or are feather fletchings just not very durable? I have been having problems with feathers coming apart after only 10-15 times through the bow. I'm shooting longbows off the shelf.
Do I need to change something with my tuning or is it just time to keep a supply of replacement feathers on hand??
No problems here,off the shelf with my curves and my Widow long bow,cock feather in,what feather or feathers you having the problem with?
Do you have velcro on your shelf or side plate? It may be ripping your feathers apart.
Feathers are more durable and reliable than vanes. You should get many many many many shots off before having a problem like that.
It sounds like a tuning/set up issue. I shot cock feather out for years and lately have been shooting cock feather in - that doesnt matter.
As I understand it the feather shouldnt touch the bow on a clean shot thanks to parallax.
These are the fletchings I'm using. I say feathers, but I don't know for sure if they are actual dyed feathers or what -
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j96/AKmud/archery/March292009036.jpg)
I have the soft side of the velcro on a couple of bows, but today I was getting damage just shooting off the wood shelf. I have the shelf curved so it should feed the fletchings easily.......
I'm not sure what the cause is.
I have some feather fletches that just seem brittle, and they flop around a lot where the barbs join the quill. I don't know if it is because perhaps the dying process involves heat and a breaking down of the feathers in order to accept the colors, or if the birds just grew crummy feathers. I have not had such issues with undyed feathers.
Killdeer
The quality of feathers have dropped. This is due to the fast growing, steroid fed birds of today. Just this year Trueflight stopped selling premium full length feathers. They can not get them anymore. Not much we can do.
Free range fletchings is the buisness to start! lol
something is hitting somewhere .it could be ever so slight dose it appear that the edge of the feather is slightly burnt. I would try what dartwick said reposition your cock feather. That can help at times.good luck if that dont work come on back
Those look like the laegacys I shoot. I have just started using wild turkey feathers and have noticed they are a lot stiffer than the feathers that come on the legacys. I don't know if it is the feather or the process used to prepare them for coloring, or the rapid growth. Most damage I see see is from abuse they receive in thhe quiver of being hit by arrows when i shoot well.
They are Legacys (cheapest). I'm wondering if I'm not positioning the nock point high enough. Basically my tuning method has been using a basic wood workers square on the string to the shelf and squaring the bottom of the arrow. I then put the nock point above the nock and pinch it down. I have started shooting 3 under so do I need to raise the nock point to compensate?
I guess it is time to invest in a bow square....
If your saying your arrow is mostly square to the shelf then yes higher would be better start about 3/8 inch up to 5/8 and even more is possible.
I've never shot off the shelf with less than 3/8 inch.
Sounds like your bouncing off the shelf.
A regular bow square that snaps on the string is a good investment.
Ron
Ok, I moved the nock point up about 1/2" and things seem to be going better. Hopefully I won't be tearing up any more feathers for a while!
Thanks guys!
I builts a long bow a few years ago and had the same problem. I had to play with arrow spine and brace heigth. If brace heigth was too low the arrow would hit my bone shelf and damage the fletch.
I was wondering about brace height too. I know your brace height has to be enough to keep the fletching from hitting the bow, but is there a tuning guide for brace height? I remember hearing it is one of those things you want to keep as low as possible, but there are reasons you have to increase it also...
I agree with Macbow on the nock set. I don't know why but it seems people are reluctant to raise it up some. The old books and such are a starting point. Some bows just like a higher nock set. There's also a variable of how your fingers lay on the string when drawing the bow as to where one's nock should be placed. Even shooting with three under you may put more pressure on your top finger or bottom finger and than can effect how the arrow is leaving the string. It's pretty much of an individual thing and some bows are different also.
Play with it a 1/16" @ a time and good luck.
Brace height can make a HUGE difference in performance. If you don't know the recommended height for your bow, try 7" to start and twist/untwist the string to go up or down from there. Thats measured from the string to the deepest point of the grip.