Fletching: Left wing vs. right wing

J

jurassicnarc44

Joined
Apr 14, 2005
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For you traditional archers among us, any thoughts as to whether arrows with left helical fletching fly any differently than right helical for you? As long as all arrows in your quiver are fletched the same, of course. Left wing feathers seem to be cheaper, with more demand for right wing around here.
 
If you fletch using a jig a helical clamp requires the correct wing . (left for a left clamp) If you fletch using a straight clamp there is not much diffeence . All feathers and all arrows should be the same .

As helical is my preference I must use the correct wing for the clamp .
Make sure when you buy the jig that you get the correct helical clamp . The helical clamp is usually an extra . The jig comes with a straight clamp .

There is a school of thought that proposes you must have the correct helix to make the arrow spin towards the outside of the bow . This supposedly helps the arrow avoid contact with the bow riser .

There is another school that supposes that if the arrow contacts the riser then it is not the correct spine/flexibility for the bow . I lean towards the latter .

Flecthing is there to correct mistakes in the archers form . A skilled archer shooting perfectly supposedly needs no fletching on his arrow . The world is rarely so perfect . There is a test called the bare shaft test which addresses issues with form and spine .

Easton has a tuning guide which is simply the best for testing oneself and ones equipment . It is more for compound shooters . It translates well to traditional . Its a good read and helps an archer diagnose his own problems.
 
It depends on where I am...north of the equator, right hand, south gets a left hand.

That's why I never, ever hunt *on* the equator.
 
I'm not an archer, so take this for what it's worth. When I'd make my own arrows in the past, I always preferred the tail feathers of the wild turkeys we raised. Always had a good supply of 'em. They'd leave wing feathers all over the place too, so I did use 'em occasionally.

It's not really so much which wing it comes from, but from whichever side of the feather you use. Granted, the further out on the wings you go, the more biased they are, with one side bigger than the other, but feathers closer to the body and tail feathers can easily be used for either side.

I never really cared which way they spiraled, but of course it's entirely possible that I just wasn't good enough to notice the difference. The main thing is just practicing with whatever you've got. None of my arrows were alike, and I knew how they all shot. ;)
 
Possum , you sound like an archer to me . Why did you stop ?

I don,t use tail feathers much . They are supposed to be O:K: for two fletch arrows .
 
I made nearly all of my arrows with only two fletchings, so perhaps that's why I had good success with them.

I say I'm not an archer because I don't want to make myself out to be something I'm not. I've long been fascinated with miniature things, and have made miniature knives for nearly 20 years now. My bows were also "miniature"- only about 1 1/2 to 2 feet long, with foot long arrows with steel broadheads. I believe I've mentioned it in the past on the forums... I took a few birds and frogs and such with them when I was a kid, as they could launch arrows almost 100 yards, or put them through tin cans or several layers of cardboard. But I never really did get into full sized ones. Talking about all this sure has made me think about it again, but I have so many projects I never find the time for now, I'd hate to have yet another passion that I never get time for.
 
Ah me son , the choices we make . While I too consider archery a passion it is even more than that . It is a life . It is going to rendesvous and watching people craft things . It is the pot luck supper on Saturday night . It is people who do not normally get along all on their best behaviour .

A trade blanket is a hoot . The blanket shoot is a close second with me .

I no longer look at the things I don,t complete as failures . If I gain experience and learn to prioritise a bit better then I have gained immeasurably

My latest work , a birch bark sheath ended up inside out and for a much smaller knife than I originally intended .Didn,t bother me at all .
 
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