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.