Advice on feathers

AndyD · Advice on feathers

It's snowing today, little chance of shooting, so got some kit out...

I have 12 wooden arrows that came with a bow(65lb @30"), all about 31" long, horn knocked and 11/32;
six have 5" grey and white feathers, have been used and a some are bit torn, but with nice field points (numbered, as made by the bowyer).
six that came as spares, have no feathers and simple short modern steel points(probably put on by the previous owner). I think I'll put some 'short bodkins' on these six spares.

And was thinking of new feathers for all. As a novice my total knowledge consists of glueing some small plastivanes onto my daughters aluminiums, and knowing that larger feathers cause more drag so slowing the arrow and reducing the distance shot:

Do longer, fatter arrows shafts simply require larger feathers for stability?
Is there any reason I can't use 2.5" parabolic feathers to make the arrows fly faster & further?
What would 1+5/8" Dumpy feathers do?
If you buy 11" full length feathers, what's the longest people use and why?
Assuming a sharp knife, just how easy is it to cut your own feathers - any tips?

The aim being a fast stable flight, what are the smallest feathers I ought to use on these arrows?

With thanks in advance for any advice.

Regards

Andy

Blackheart

Andy,
I am pretty much in the same position as yourself (played with making wooden arrows, but not sure of the "rules" as it were).

One thing I have found from a web site is a method of cutting feathers - I have had a go at splicing feathers, and a website (Can't remember which one....) suggests sticking the feathers onto the shaft, and then putting a piece of masking tape along the feather - this has two advantages :

1) if you have a template, you can draw the arc onto the masking tape
2) it stops the quills of the feather moving when cutting the shape

I used a pair of sharp scissors to cut the feather, and it came out ok....

Hope this helps....

Blackheart

Steve B

One of the things for getting a consistent feather shape is a feather cutter and theay are available form a great supplier that habitates this forum, Jase from "The Longbow Shop" sells these and they a more than reasonable job.

Hope this helps out a little

AndyD

That feather cutter looks great, and the template idea also. I'm thinking of smaller hand cut feathers, maybe swineback? I'll see what advice follows...

Andy

Joe(thebow)M

I get my feathers (Trueflight High Back Shield) from FS Discount Archery Products, here in the states. I like the 5" ones for my longbows that
pull #40+ pounds as they seem to work best. I just glue mine on using
a couple 'Jo-Jan Fletchers' and they seem to hold up a long time for many
shots. I've always wondered if this was because I was shooting off the
knucle?

For lighter then #40 pound bows I use the 4" feathers from the same
company, (Trueflight Roundback), though at times I have tested 5" feathered
arrows on the lighter pull LB's and they work fine also.

Someday I may also try making my own feathers, but for now this is a
bit more convenient. Good luck Andy in which ever way you decide.

jaselpool

Hi guys - shop is offline for a while why we change servers to a new home

We sell many shapes of die-cut feathers and can even offer custom cut feathers. We are also adding 2 1/4" parabolic feathers to our stock in a weeks time.

If you are hand cutting full length feathers you should use sharp scissors and a template to get them all the same shape. I can also have cutting blades custom made to any spec for the vario cutter but they take a while to be made and would cost quite a bit as a special order.

There are other ways to cut feathers such as a Youngs Feather burner (smells a bit so do it outside!) and some people like to attach the feathers in cut length and then shape the feathers by cutting them with scissors. You can fletch any length up to a medieval 8".

The smaller the feather the greater help in distance. The larger the feather the faster the arrow stabilises in flight. I tend to use 5" shields for indoors and 2 or 3" parabolics or shields outdoors for target distance and clout.

Hope that helps - shop should be back online sometime today - fingers crossed!

PM me if you need any help at all.

Jase

Yep

AndyD

Jason, thanks for your input, been trying your shop all morning... I found these 2.25" shield cut (wink).
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-25-inch-s...003QQcategoryZ36097QQcmdZViewItem

Do you think they'd be enough for the chunky arrows I described, or go larger?
Thanks

Andy

jaselpool

Hi Andy

Yep I have stuff on Ebay as well but more stock in the online shop. I know been a nightmare trying to get the whole lot moved somewhere else to better servers. Still a little downtime to go but going to split it across a couple of days as it's better to be online for some of the day I reckon!

Yep they'll be fine for 11/32 shafts

J