glue and wrap or just wrap

[GaryR]

I'm about to fletch for the first time and I thought I had seen a video of the feathers being glue down with pitch prior to sinew wrap. Should I keep the feathers straight or give them a helical twist? Please tell me what to do and not do before I make my first mess.
Gary

[JoJoDapyro]

If you are using natural feathers they should have a natural twist to them. That is why you can either use the rights, or lefts but not both.

[GaryR]

I got that part and am splitting feathers now. Do you glue them down before or after the sinew wrap, or not at all?

[Badly Bent]

When doing three fletch and wrapping quill at front and back I always glue down the feathers first then wrap the extending ends of the feathers front and back after all three feathers are on and glue has dried.
For two fletch I use no glue and wrap front and back of quill.

[GaryR]

glue them on straight or helical?

[Stixnstones]

guess it depends on how thin ur quill is, if quill is thin n loose u can do whateve's, or if quill is still a lil stif there will b a kind o natural helical to the fletch , i tie mine down first and then go bak n run a lil glue down the quill n then wrap thread from front to bak just to hold quill down, then remove thread after dry

[Badly Bent]

Helical Gary.

[GaryR]

Will soaking the quills in water soften and help the helical shape?

[Badly Bent]

I don't soak mine but I believe some do. I don't go with a radical helical just a slight amount using the natural shape
in the direction the feather wants to bend. I use a jig and left wing clamp for left wing feathers. Occasionally I will use right wing feathers and then I use a straight clamp and offset the the front of the feather by 1/8" or more since I don't have a right wing clamp.

[Stixnstones]

check out the post at the top o the page from jamie , the primitive fletching jig , awesome. it really helps when fletching by hand

[GaryR]

Yes, I've looked at that jig for quite some time, finally made my own last night.