Me Learning to Fletch Pics

[Dictionary]

Well I've been feeling pretty down lately, and as always been waiting for bow wood and arrow shoots to dry and wanted to work on my fletching skills(complete novice). I got these goose feathers from Bevan like a month ago maybe. He's a great guy, i'm really thankful for these feathers. So i went up to Ace Hardware and got some dowels. They were pretty much straight so i didn't really heat them and straighten them just cut a nock and went straight to fletching. I used some red polyester thread i picked up from hobby lobby and gorilla glue to reinforce the wraps on the ends(i'm going to try and make some without using glue in the future). I wrapped through the feathers as well. Pics are awful and i should probably stop typing now because i'm getting tired of typing and you probably tired of reading this.

[Dictionary]

I could trim them better. On the picture with both of them, the one on the left is the first one i tried and on right the 2nd one. Gorilla glue creates air bubbles, i didn't know this before. I applied too much on the first one at the wraps and it looks like a mess. On the 2nd, not so much though. The feathers aren't very well aligned either.

I need to get working on another bow to actually shoot these with. But as always i'm waiting for wood to dry. I feel depressed again

[Bevan R.]

Not to bad. You want to trim those leading quill edges down so they will not take part of your bow or your bowhand with it down range.

[Dictionary]

I don't quite know what you mean Bevan. I went back and trimmed the feathers down some more. Do you mean the edges of the feathers will catch my hand? Or do you refer to the ends of the feathers which i wrapped need to be trimmed down? That dammed gorilla glue seemed to thicken as it dried
 
Retrimmed some of the feathers a bit

[osage outlaw]

You want a smoth tansition from arrow shaft to feather on the leading edge of the feathers.  Try trimming them down and wrapping them again.  It is very painful to pull a chunck of feather from your hand.  Trust me 

[Bevan R.]

You want where I circled to be as smooth a transition from the shaft to the feather as possable. This is the area the will cut, pierce, HURT your hand.

[Dictionary]

Ohh alright i'll trim them down as best as i can. Thanks

[CherokeeKC]

Great first try!  use super glue to seal ur bindings...i feel like gorilla glue is a bad choice cause its made to expand.  keep at it and it will b easier and easier with each arrow!

[bowtarist]

Wrap past the end of the quill point side to amke a smooth transition.  You got the brand right, but use the super glue instead of the wood.  Duco works great too.  No bow? that's sad. dpg

[Dictionary]

Wrap past the end of the quill point side to amke a smooth transition.  You got the brand right, but use the super glue instead of the wood.  Duco works great too.  No bow? that's sad. dpg

Hey thanks for that advice. Got a couple of bows i made that were somewhat green when made so high string follow and not pleasant cast. Wood takes too long to dry for impatient people like me 

[Slackbunny]

Try a board bow, I've had some very satisfying success with them, and no waiting for them to dry.

But hey, the arrows look pretty good, especially after you trimmed the feathers. Better than I expect my first to be once my feathers get here.