need the jist of the two fletch

[recurve shooter]

well i have some cane about as straight as im gunna get it, and dug up some turkey wing feathers that saw filer sent me forever ago and im ready to try to fletch them. i dont have a jig here or the assistance of a trained octopus so can someone jist kinda give me a quick explination on how its done? thanks!

[riarcher]

Found this pretty helpful;
https://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,13025.msg182245.html#msg182245

Seen other ways, but I'm liking that one the most. 

[aero86]

hehe, its hard fletching an arrow by hand, aint it?  i finally got the hang of it.  i can do it fairly quickly now.  i want to try the two fletch, but, ill just stick with my 3 fletch.  but riarcher has the right link.

[recurve shooter]

awsome thanks just what i needed.

one questtion though, i have seen mostly tail and secondaries used for this style. can i use primarys? 

[Hillbilly]

Primaries don't work well for two-fletch IMO.

[recurve shooter]

crud. well what style would you suggest thats pretty easy to do by hand? 

[Pat B]

Do a 3 fletch but just wrap them securely at the back first then a few wraps at the front, pull tight and complete the wrap

[sailordad]

i think they all should be failry easiy to do
i have dome mostly three fletch,some two fletch.but all have been done by hand
it just takes a little practice,like anything else,and becomes easier to do with a little practice.
it cant be to difficult or the ancients would have found and easier way to do it.
after all their life depended on it.if it was too difficult they,just for need of survival,would have found a better way to do it.

[Cacatch]

Recurve,

Are primaries all you have? The secret to easy fletching by hand is it doesn't matter so much how you put the feathers on, so long as you put all of them on the same way. When I fletch with primaries, be it on cane or wood both, I get me some pinie pitch and dab around the shaft right where I'm going to put the front edge of the feather at. Then I take my feathers before the pitch cools too much and press them to it for a few seconds. The pinie pitch if it is warm, will hold the feathers there in position whilst I coat my sinew in hide glue or knox and wrap them nice and snug. Then I let it dry for a half hour or so whilst I do something else like drink chocolate milk in my recliner and watch America's Funniest Home Videos or My Name is Earl or something. Then I go back and take my pinie pitch and dab on the shaft right where I want the back edge to come down at, in helical, or straight, or however. Then I press the back edges down into the warm pitch for a few seconds each, and usually the pitch will hold them whilst I get my sinew ready again and wrap snuggly. Of course, this method leaves a little arch in the vane, and you will be able to see a sliver of daylight between the quill and the shaft. I used to fret on that and make every effort to tie them down, but I don't anymore. Life is too short and I lose too many arrows too quick anyway to worry about them looking perfect. Plus, mine fly just fine without being tied down anyhow.

That's just how I do it.

CP

[Cacatch]

I think Sailordad is right. The older I get, the more I believe the indian motto had to be "If it's too hard it must not be worth doing".

[markinengland]

I find fletching by hand failry simple if I bind them on rather than glue them on.

I cut the feather so that there is about 1/2 inch of bare quill front and back.

I put a few turns of thread around the nock end, position the cock feather and put a few turn around the quill.position the next fletch and put a few turns and then the final one. The fletchings are now firm enough to hold on the shaft but not too tight that they can't be fine tuned by eye to get the placement right. When happy I whip the entire 1/2 inch of quill leaving the nock end of the fletchings firmly fixed.

Now you go to the front end of the fletch. I have found that bound on fletchings can expand and lengthen and arc away from the shaft when they get damp so I would now steam the fletchings to dampen them. Set the postion of the front end of the cock fletching. You can either set it straight, offset or helical. Wind a few turns around it and pull it tight be hand. Set the next fletching relative the the cock feather making sure there is an even gap, wind a few turns and do the final fletching. I now pull;each fletching ashard as I can using pliersso they sit very tight to the shaft and then whip the front 1/2 inch of quill completely.

I little bit of hand dexterity is needed but as long as each process is done one fletching at a time, rear then front it isn't very hard.

Once the feathers are on it is also quite simple to do the final fletch shaping.

Mark in England

[Pat B]

Someone a few years back(may have been Jamie  Leffler) had a simple jig for holding feathers for hand tying. It was a small piece of cardboard with a hole in the center and 3 cuts raying out from the hole at 120 degrees, like a 3 fletch. The shaft goes in the hole and the feathers each in one of the slits. This way your hands are free to tie the wraps to secure the feathers.

[recurve shooter]

i might have to try that jig, because i hand fletched one of the 4 river canes i had last night and it came out ugly as sin, and it was kinda difficult to do.

[stringstretcher]

recurve shooter, take a look at this and see if it will help you

http://www.primitiveways.com/fletching_jig.html

[half eye]

Recurve Shooter,
        Got a pic from a museum here in Michigan of a two fletch Eastern Woodlands arrow...it might help, may be not. These guys cut wavy lines down the length of the shaft (incised carving) and they set their fletch into groves with a little pitch and then tied them down......May not be the style your after though....so for whatever it's worth.
half eye

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