Ferr-l-ttie

[abbatoys]

I have used this for 20 plus years with no issues, has it changed in the last few years??? I have had 4 fieldpoints come off this week in my target and these were ones I have changed out with broadheads over the last few years. Maybe just a bad stick of it????

[njloco]

I use big jims hot melt, haven't lost a tip yet !

[Arctic Hunter]

I've not lost one yet with ferr-l-tite.

[Jock Whisky]

I left fer l tite behind years ago. Saunders makes a better glue IMHO

[bigbadjon]

In my opinion ferr-l-tite is still the superior hot glue option and it has not changed over time. The alternative hot melts are rubbery and do not make a hard inflexible glue line like the Bohning product does. Lost points from any brand of hot melt is because the point was not degreased and prepped prior to mounting it on the arrow.

[JRY309]

I think ferr-l-tite get too brittle.I have lost a few points about a year after installing them.I would clean my points and tap them with a 1/16-27 pipe tap to give the points some teeth.I much prefer a hot melt like Saunders or a white colored hot melt.I feel is stronger and more pliable,doesn't become brittle.

[damascusdave]

I do have the feeling that my older Ferrltite that is round and grooved is better than the new solid stick version...many products like that, eg. Fletchtite, have had their composition changed because of ingredients that were found to be unhealthy and those changes are seldom for the better...one also wonders how much variation there is by batch

DDave

[Wheels2]

I use the new low temperature blue stick.  Works better than the clear brow ones.  I use it on inserts and BH adapters

[yeager]

I have been using Ferr-l-tite for over 20 years and have never had a problem with loosing tips or inserts.

[Gordon Jabben]

I ask the same question on here a couple of years ago.  After years of no problems, I got a couple of tubes of Ferr-l-tite that just did not work.  I am now using something else that I got from The Nocking Point and it is working fine.

[The Whittler]

Big Jim's here, it's easy to use and holds up great.

[m midd]

Ive used it for years with no problems but i just bought a new stick and the package says new and improved. My first thought was this is gonna probably be crap now. I hadnt used it yet but i hope its as good as the original

[AkDan]

could always just epoxy them on.

[Brandywine]

Hello:
The spectrum of Forum comments appears the same each time this subject has arisen over at least the past five years.  Preparation of surfaces matters;  the cleaner and the more roughened, the better.  Older Bohning products did appear to have issues for some that were related to use in sub-freezing temp's.  Their current blue works better than the old honey colored, but testing in your temperature situation on a decent block target may disclose a failure potential and prevent a head separation and loss of penetration on game.

FWIW, after careful preparation of the surfaces, I use FRESH, EPOXY, STIRRED FOR A FULL MINUTE, that is allowed to cure 24 hours WITH THE PIECES HELD OR PLACED SUCH THAT THEY CANNOT SLOWLY SEPARATE OR SHIFT. The most widely accepted, readily available EPOXY brands are LOCTITE and whichever West Marine sells as their best version. Other brands might be fine, depending....  
Regards, Kevin

[AkDan]

Bw, we do have issues from time to time in the cold, by that I mean REALLY cold...usually this is what's happening.

The friction from the shaft either one, heats up and freezes instantly any metal shafts to the targets...OR for us wood guys, it's freezing the tips.   Either arrows break or the tip pops off trying to get them out, or you don't get your shaft back, I'm too stubborn for that LOL!  No amount of cleaning is going to fix that issue. the glue becomes the weakest link.  Shoot foam targets LOL!  I've had 0 issues with block or block style targets outside in winter.

One word of caution, too much glue will fail!  Proper tapers (angles and lengths) are key to fixing this issue!

[Wheels2]

My friend just got back into shooting after a 15-20 year break.  He had an issue with some of his points coming loose.  We attributed it simply to the age of the glue.  We took off the heads and reapplied them with the blue stick and no more lost points.

[Brandywine]

Thanks, AkDan:
One more tidbit directly from Bohning's female chief chemist about seven months back:
After a couple of us graybeards asked her why Bohning's FLETCHTITE was failing when earlier tubes didn't, she volunteered that one of the key chemical ingredients was no longer available and another was used.  Translated, she shared that the dropped one was on the Gov't's "list".  Then, after lots of criticism over adhesion failures, Bohning again changed the formulation and current stuff (no change to label) works fine.  Our tests confirm this.  

The point is that several of us, including a Phd past Head of The Chemical Engineering Society of The United States, have experienced several unexplained chemical involved product failures that were traced to ingredient elimination or substigution

[Brandywine]

Sorry...continuing:...
Of ingredients.  Most brands never indicated a change on label or instructions.  

One BIG issue, not with heads involves most plastic vanes when the "plasticizer" (sp?)contaminates its glue surface within 30 seconds of the mating surfaces being cleaned with acetone.  Knowledge and preparation matter.

We have to keep "questioning everything" and working backwards from symptoms to the real problem.

That Phd kept reminding us that chemical reactions are controlled by temperature and that for every 10 degrees C change in temp, the speed of the reaction doubles/halves.  Also, he holds patents for EPOXY, dating to 1943.  He believed that most modern epoxies "never stop curing".

BIG DITTO to AkDan on using too THICK a layer of glue.  In almost all use, thinner is stronger and adding glue to the edges detracts.

Respectfully,
Kevin

[Ray Lyon]

Use the hot-melt from BigJims or Kustom King (same stuff).  It's all I've used for years now. I'm on the same block that I got from Kustom King 3 or 4 years ago.  Ferrule tite is too brittle now.