wearing out fletching

vth0kie12 · April 30, 2011, 02:21:00 PM

i just built my first recurve a few weeks ago. i have been shooting it quiet a bit since finishing it and i am wearing out the bottom fletching. i am shooting 400 spine arrows out of a 55 lbs bow. i have been shooting alum and carbons and both are wearing out quickly. anybody have any idea as to what might be causing this.

red hill · April 30, 2011, 05:41:00 PM

Okie12, are you shooting vanes, or feathers? I believe feathers are more forgiving as they pass over a rest. They seem to last much better for me. Also if you shoot off your knuckle feathers are more user friendly.
Stan

SEMO_HUNTER · April 30, 2011, 06:52:00 PM

A few pics of the riser and the fletchings would help diagnose the problem. You might also try taking a pic of the arrow nocked on the string and get a side view so we can see how level your nock is in relationship to the riser. You may be way too nock low and the arrow is scrubbing hard on the riser? Or you could be way over spined for your bow and the shaft is slapping hard against the riser? Lots of possibilities to consider without seeing some pictures of your set up.

PEARL DRUMS · April 30, 2011, 07:51:00 PM

My bottom feather wears quickly as well. I shoot all the time, every day. Maybe you do to? If you can turn your nocks a few degrees it will help some, rather than a cock feather straight out try turning your cock feather down 15-20 deg's.

mater · April 30, 2011, 09:00:00 PM

I used to shoot alot. Seems to me if you are tuned right, you should get a couple years out of fletching. Some of mine is four or five years old and still useable. I used to shoot about 500 shots a week.

Bill Skinner · April 30, 2011, 09:31:00 PM

If it is your lower fletch and you are showing a rubbed spot on the outside of the shelf, your arrow is slightly stiff. This can usually be tuned out by raising the brace height or going to a heavier point. You might have all those perfect and just be short drawing as you get tired. Bill

vth0kie12 · May 01, 2011, 10:35:00 AM

yeah i wondered aboutthe short drawing b/c i have a hardtime fighting against it. i will try moving and turning my nock.

do you guys think i am shooting the right spine arrow. the arrow a easton epic 400, 29.25 inches and 125 up front. i started shooting these at 31.5 inches and keep trimin them down until i got to 29.25 where i like them the best. i also have one 500 spine arrow and it doesnt shot well at all.

NYArrow · May 02, 2011, 06:35:00 AM

Okie12 I checked out your set up on Stu Millers dynamic spine calculator and there was a large disparity between the bow and arrows you have selected. Your arrows spined out at 83.6lbs and your bow rated at 45lbs. Your bow and arrows should rate to within 2lbs of one another and as you can see here you are almost 40lbs off.

Although this calculator is not always 100% it will always get "fairly close" to what actual spine you need. At a minimum its helps select the right shaft and you have to tune from there. If you don't have it google it and download, it is an excel spreadsheet file.

PEARL DRUMS · May 02, 2011, 07:13:00 AM

Add a 100 grain brass insert and try again with those shafts.

SEMO_HUNTER · May 02, 2011, 07:59:00 AM

Yep, too stiff means riser slap by the shaft = premature wearing of the feather.
Experiment with different weights up front until you get perfect arrow flight. I started out with a 30/50 CX Predator which is .500 spine then added 100gr. brass insert which I had to file down the diameter so they will fit the inside diameter of these shafts, which made them 90gr. brass inserts and I'm currently shooting a 100gr. point and broadhead. So effectively 190gr. up front and a little fine tuning with nocking point and brace height, they now come out of the bow like darts. With the exception of the occasional poor release, but since the shaft is "Tuned" for this set up even when I make a poor release they still recover quickly and hit where I want them to.

That's what your looking for, but there's more variables to it than just point weight, or just nocking point. Try a broadhead on one of your shafts, that will tell you everything you need to know. I imagine it will be all over the place.

vth0kie12 · May 02, 2011, 09:22:00 AM

NYArrow i guess i am aliitle confused. why is my bow rated at 45 lbs and not 55lbs. i used the chart that easton has for recurve bows, should have know i should have asked here before i bought them.

also i cant seem to get the 190 grain tips i have to fly as good as the 125. i also tried shootin some full lenght arrows thinking that would weaking the spine but they dont seem to fly as well either.

my next question is when i lenghten my brace height wont that shorten my power stroke and hurt me has far as arrow spine???

i guess the best thing for me to do is order a test kit of point from 3rivers. what do u guys think im going to need up front to get these things spined correct.

again thanks for all the help, i would be lost without you guys.

SEMO_HUNTER · May 02, 2011, 10:39:00 AM

The calculator takes into account more than just the advertised weight of the bow. Things like arrow shelf cut to center or past center, arrow shelf plate material thickness, and string material, style, and strand thickness. All those things in combination work to either break down the amount of spine necessary for proper arrow flight or increase the amount needed.
The make and model of bow also makes a big difference. For example an old style Bear Grizzly with a B50 Flemish twist string won't need as much arrow spine as a new style Samick recurve with a fast flight string, even if they are exactly the same poundage.

Stu's calculator does all this calculating for you. Check it out for yourself and input the proper variables, then compare the 2 output numbers for Dynamic arrow spine, and Dynamic spine required on the bow number.

Be sure and download the new version and the instructions PDF, the instructions are very important to be able to understand how to use the calculator correctly.
It was spot on for my set up.
http://www.heilakka.com/stumiller/

Stoutstuff · May 02, 2011, 07:40:00 PM

I was having the same problem with my longbow. Too stiff arrows. Went to Rocky Mountain Supply and had them match some arrows up for me.
Great shop!

JParanee · May 02, 2011, 07:47:00 PM

best thing to do is by a test kit and cut the shafts a quater inch at a time and bare shaft test

best way to get it right

Night Wing · May 02, 2011, 08:01:00 PM

I shoot quite frequently with both of my bows. My lone 2212 test arrow has been fletched for about a year. When the bottom hen feather wears out and it just did, I just replace it and this is the first time I've refletched the bottom hen feather.

TxAg · May 02, 2011, 11:08:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by Bill Skinner:
If it is your lower fletch and you are showing a rubbed spot on the outside of the shelf, your arrow is slightly stiff. This can usually be tuned out by raising the brace height or going to a heavier point. You might have all those perfect and just be short drawing as you get tired. Bill

Sounds like what's happening to me with my newest bow/arrow combo. My arrows fly great, and I'm more accurate than ever. I can't see being overspined as I'm shooting a Beman MFX 600 with 125 broadhead and a 75 insert. Total length is 30". Bow is rated at 40@28, but I put it on a scale and got 45@28....plus I'm drawing 29.

Anyway...just thought I'd throw it out there in case someone had a suggestion. I'm not overly worried about it. I'm shooting this little recurve really well.

vth0kie12 · May 04, 2011, 09:28:00 PM

i think i might have messed up tonight. i was talking to a guy yesterday about my fletching problem. he suggested that i may need to cut my shlef to center, that it would give my flecting more clearence.

so tonight i decided to cut it to center. well its still together , but now my arrows are flying bad. before my arrow flew great i was just wearing out my fletching.

i still dont understand why they arent flyin as well now. i thought any time you can get the arrow closer to center it would be better. i am going to play around with it tomorrow with diferent arrow lenghts and tip weights.

Schafer · May 05, 2011, 08:41:00 AM

Sense you cut your shelf to center. Your arrows may be weak in spine. So you could try lowering the point weight up front.

Schafer

vth0kie12 · May 05, 2011, 08:52:00 AM

i will try that this afternoon. i tried doing alittle bare shaft tuning and i was gettin pretty good flight except for nock high.

i have been shooting it stright off the shelf since i recut it, where as beofre i was shooting off a rug style rest. i dont know if that would be making any diffence, thought fletching might be hitting hard. i guess im just going to keep playing with it.

Night Wing · May 05, 2011, 11:37:00 AM

QuoteOriginally posted by vth0kie12:
i think i might have messed up tonight. i was talking to a guy yesterday about my fletching problem. he suggested that i may need to cut my shlef to center, that it would give my flecting more clearence.

so tonight i decided to cut it to center. well its still together , but now my arrows are flying bad. before my arrow flew great i was just wearing out my fletching.

i still dont understand why they arent flyin as well now. i thought any time you can get the arrow closer to center it would be better. i am going to play around with it tomorrow with diferent arrow lenghts and tip weights.

There's an old adage. "If it isn't broke, don't fix it."

Since you're having problems, you might need to play around with the brace height too.