Ok,so I had posted last night about my feathers having gaps after sitting in the jojan for 20 mins drying. I went from Easton Aluminum 1916 Blues arrows to Easton 1916 Legacy arrows. Some people here assumed I switched to a different diameter arrow. I don`t see how that can be,,aren`t all the aluminum 1916`s the same ? I can see daylight in between the feather and the shaft ! This is making me nuts!
Make sure both ends of the clamp are centered on the shaft, when placing the feather in the clamp, leave bout an eigth inch gap between top of the quill and the bottem of the clamp. If you need to use a toothpick and run along the top of the quill to help press it onto the shaft after placing. Another idea...check your feathers, I have gotten some batches that were not ground well and no matter what you do they will not set right....Make sure your clamp is clean, no burrs, glue clumps etc..
I do about the same as 4dogs.I have a needle tool that I run down the top of the quill to make sure there is full contact on each fletch.I have also used the back of my pocket kife point or the back of an Xacto blade point.If you see daylight,just push the quill down.With any tool like that,it takes a second to run it down the quill.
How can you run anything down the quill when its flush against a clamp?
I use a different jig, but I don't let my feathers dry in the jig, I only give it about 2 minutes and then take the jig off the check for gaps. If there are gaps the glue needs to be wet still so you can press them down so there is complete contact with the arrow. I've always done mine this way and never had issues with the fletching not drying correctly or coming loose later.
I don`t understand why this is happening cause I have done a few dozen arrows,and never had this happen before. Anytime I tried taking the clamp off early,, the feather shifts and it`s a mess.
Richard,
That may be the problem. Do not butt the quill hard up against the clamp-have the quill sitting about 1/8" or a little less from the clamp. When you seat the quill on the shaft, don't push the clamp down hard against the shaft, just so the quill is barely touching. Then run a needle, knifeblade, tooth pick, etc along the length of the quill to seat it better and squeeze the glue more evenly between the shaft and quill.
Something sounds bad then, perhaps a bad batch of feathers....maybe the helical got mixed up? Did any feathers in the batch go on OK or are you having issues with them all?
oh and to answer your previous question regarding the diameters....yes, they will be the same, the diameter is the dirst 2 numbers of the arrows over 64, So 19xx would be 19/64th's.
I had thought the base of the feather was supposed to be butted up against the clamp.this is not the way its done?
QuoteOriginally posted by BigBucksnTrucks:
Something sounds bad then, perhaps a bad batch of feathers....maybe the helical got mixed up? Did any feathers in the batch go on OK or are you having issues with them all?
No,,same batch,never had this issue before..all right wing,,only have one rightwing helical clamp so there is no mixup possible.
hmmm, I'd give what the others said a try, leave a little space between the feather and clamp when you glue it down so you can run something along it to press it down. I'd give it 30-60 sec to let the glue get tacky and then do it.
How old is the clamp? Could the spring for the clamp be weak?
QuoteOriginally posted by Weasel:
How old is the clamp? Could the spring for the clamp be weak?
Bought it a couple of months back,,but I don`t see how that could be it.
The whole thing doesn`t make a lick of sense. Never had to do anything anyone is suggesting here. I am using the same clamp,same glue,same feathers,same diameter arrow,same jig..I butted the feather against the clamp,slapped it in the jig,20 mins later and I was golden.but now..theres a gap between the shaft and the base of the feather,, I give up.
I was taught to leave the base of the feather sticking out from the clamp a bit also, but frequently ran into the gap problem you mentioned. I was seating the fletch all the way against the clamp and then lightly pulling it back out by running a fingernails between it and the clamp jaws, while squeezing just enough to let it slip out without damage. I don't think I was very good a doing this precisely, causing high/low places. It's easy to do with a lot of helical. I've also seen feathers with irregularity in the width and thicknesss in the bases that probably should have been culled. I now slide the feather into the end of the barely opened slot with the index finger and thumb fore and aft and seat the base right up against the clamp and have had less trouble this way.
Got a few o' dem blues myself.
I do all of the tricks above, sometimes it works and sometimes not.
Killdeer
Is there any chance the jig itself was bent?
QuoteOriginally posted by KOOK68:
Is there any chance the jig itself was bent?
negative
If nothing has changed and all 6 positions do the same thing, maybe the jig adjustment got moved just enough to be causing the problem?
I have that happen sometimes even though the clamp hasn't moved etc... I solve it by doing what the guys here have mentioned. Slip a screwdriver between the clap/quill and push it down flush to the shaft. Just one of those things "Murphy" sends your way to deal with I guess. Good luck.
QuoteOriginally posted by SELFBOW19953:
If nothing has changed and all 6 positions do the same thing, maybe the jig adjustment got moved just enough to be causing the problem?
I tried adjusting it everyway possible,,no dice. I put the clamp on the arrow with no feather,and there is a lot of gap between the arrow and clamp.. So I am even more mystified that I never had issues before this.
QuoteOriginally posted by Zenzele:
I have that happen sometimes even though the clamp hasn't moved etc... I solve it by doing what the guys here have mentioned. Slip a screwdriver between the clap/quill and push it down flush to the shaft. Just one of those things "Murphy" sends your way to deal with I guess. Good luck.
That doesn`t work,,maybe I need to use a fast drying glue now.
Rich, when you place the feather in the clamp, the top of the quill should be slightly below the bottom edge of the clamp. Then when you place the clamp and feather down onto the shaft, the top of the quill should be sticking out below the clamp. Then you can just run your finger nail, tooth pick, knife edge or whatever along the top of the quill to seat the feather down more until it makes contact with the shaft.
Are you using fletch tape?
I skimmed thru the posts but maybe I missed the adhesive you're using.
Missed it.
"same feather, same clamp, same glue...."
Maybe switch to fletch tape and use the edge of a credit card along the quill while clamped to press to the shaft, then, if happy with the connection, run a slim bead of your glue along the quill for reassurance.
When I place the feather in the clamp I always grip the quill and lightly open the clamp a hair just to make sure I havnt pinched the feather any. And I have used a large pin to hold down the tip of the feather on occasion.
And one time I had a set of shafts that were smaller in diameter than my usual ones, I just added masking tape to the arrow groove on the clamp and it raised them a bit and the fletching worked without any clamp adjustment.
And most important make sure you do not have any dried glue(over smear) on the clamp edges. it will make the the fletching adhere bumpy on the shaft.
Somewhat confused is it a six arrow Johan or a,single Johan?
If a single I 'd guess you've looked for any glue build up on the clamp.
I use a 6 Johan clamp. I have on occasion had some gaps when I was careless.
It is necessary to look to see that the fletching has made contact, and if not some of the above solutions will,work but for the most part I just slap them in there and look it over.
So something has changed. An empty clamp in the slot with a,shaft should answer what is,going on it should be even.
Adjust as necessary. Is the nock fitting into the nock receiver correctly?
I also like to leave my quill just shy off seating all the way in the clamp.
Wipe your shafts down with denatured alcohol before you fletch. Don't touch the area with your fingers. Some batches of feathers also seem to have oil on them, so I wipe them down too.
The best way I have found to eliminate the problem is to use fletch tape instead of glue. I still wipe down the shafts. I've never had a problem with the tape.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bud B.:
Are you using fletch tape?
I skimmed thru the posts but maybe I missed the adhesive you're using.
no I am not
QuoteOriginally posted by lpcjon2:
When I place the feather in the clamp I always grip the quill and lightly open the clamp a hair just to make sure I havnt pinched the feather any. And I have used a large pin to hold down the tip of the feather on occasion.
And one time I had a set of shafts that were smaller in diameter than my usual ones, I just added masking tape to the arrow groove on the clamp and it raised them a bit and the fletching worked without any clamp adjustment.
And most important make sure you do not have any dried glue(over smear) on the clamp edges. it will make the the fletching adhere bumpy on the shaft.
When I lay the clamp on the arrow without a feather,,only the ends of the clamp lay flush,,the whole middle section has a gap.
QuoteOriginally posted by 30coupe:
Wipe your shafts down with denatured alcohol before you fletch. Don't touch the area with your fingers. Some batches of feathers also seem to have oil on them, so I wipe them down too.
The best way I have found to eliminate the problem is to use fletch tape instead of glue. I still wipe down the shafts. I've never had a problem with the tape.
I am seriously considering the tape.
First,I don't know why it worked before and now it doesn't and I'm not sure it matters.
Second,I only use a Bitzenburger so what I see and do,may not be exactly the same for you.I use Fletchtite Platinum for glue.
1.Here is a feather clamped,leaving the quill out of the clamp edge slightly,like others have suggested.You should be able to push the clamp and fletch down on the shaft and as you push down,the quill should conform to the shaft.
2.I shoved the needle tool between the quill and shaft,just to create a gap,as you have described.
3.Since I now have a gap between quill and shaft,I use the side of the needle tool's tip to drag down on the quill,starting from the front,going all the way to the back.It should now make contact-full length.
I'm hoping you can understand this and that it can be applied to your dilemma.If not,hang in there and be patient.Someone here will be able to get you there.
Sorry,I had pictures up but Photobucket seems to have changed how everything is done and is now,not automatically sizing all pictures.I edited them out as they are to big.I'll have to learn how to do it all over again.
If I can't figure out how to resize them,I will PM them to you,Scattergun.
QuoteOriginally posted by macbow:
Somewhat confused is it a six arrow Johan or a,single Johan?
If a single I 'd guess you've looked for any glue build up on the clamp.
I use a 6 Johan clamp. I have on occasion had some gaps when I was careless.
It is necessary to look to see that the fletching has made contact, and if not some of the above solutions will,work but for the most part I just slap them in there and look it over.
So something has changed. An empty clamp in the slot with a,shaft should answer what is,going on it should be even.
Adjust as necessary. Is the nock fitting into the nock receiver correctly?
I also like to leave my quill just shy off seating all the way in the clamp.
An empty clamp in the jig with no feather has a gap no matter how I adjust it.
Others told you not to put the quill fully against the clamp.If the clamp has a gap and you make the quill conform to the clamp,what do you get? A gap under the quill.
I gave you the explanation above and PMed you the pictures that I wanted to go in my post.Good luck.
Photobucket seems to have changed their format and I don't know how to setup for all photos to be automatically be correctly sized.If any one knows how,please PM me.Thanks.
I use an x-acto blade between the clamp and the quill just to push it down. I use and old Bitz jig.
I've always adjusted both ends of the jig until the gap closes. It's a pretty hard helical with 1916's, but I think they look cool.
I had zero luck with Platinum, even after preparing the shafts. I went with tape and will never go back to glue.
QuoteOriginally posted by Red Beastmaster:
I've always adjusted both ends of the jig until the gap closes. It's a pretty hard helical with 1916's, but I think they look cool.
I had zero luck with Platinum, even after preparing the shafts. I went with tape and will never go back to glue.
Platinum did not work well on my aluminum at all!
I've been PMing back & forth with Scattergun on this & this is the first time I've actually gone through this thread.
After reading all the many replies saying that y'all are having the same issue, I have come up with a scientific (and fairly obvious) deduction, to whit; Jojan fletching tools are basically just crap.
Bohning Pro-fletch...... It's the future.
:D
I don't have an answer but I just picked up a used jojan 6 arrow fletcher a few weeks ago. I had never fletched an arrow before but I've fletched 10 dozen 2317's, half dozen each of 2016's and 2113's, and so far 1 1/2 dozen 1916's and everyone has come out perfect without changing anything in between. I'm also using the fletch tite platinum and I'm fletching a combinating of 5" Bearpaw shield cuts and 4" True Flite parabolics.