Fletching glue and the rain

nbuuifx

Member
I've never had this issue before but I put new fletchings on my daughter's arrows a few weeks ago. I used a new tube of glue. I cleaned the shafts with isopropyl alcohol first. She shot them at a tournament all fletchings survived. She shot them at a couple of practices with no issues, then at the last shoot it was raining for most of the session. Again none of the fletchings came off. She has come to shoot this morning (a couple of days after shooting in the rain) and all of her fletchings have fallen off in the arrow tube. She just has a set of bare shafts!

I've never known anything like it, has this happened to anyone else?

I've used the same brand of glue previously and never had an issue.

Any advice to stop it happening again?

The shafts are alloys. They are simple Easton tributes. They have been fletched once before.

The glue is bohning fletch-tite platinum.

The fletchings are bohning shield X vanes.

I use a fletching jig, I apply a bead of glue to the fletching then stick it on. I leave each fletching for 5 minutes in the jig. I apply a dot of glue to the leading edge and trailing edge of each fletching once all fletchings are stuck on.
 

Timid Toad

Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
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Ironman
Yes, it can happen. I always leave the tops off my arrow tubes when I'm at home - damp is a killer.
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
Easton put a coating on their aluminium arrows to help target extraction.
It is worth lightly sanding the area to be fletched to remove some of this then wipe with IPA
Glues these days have had the sticky taken out (H&S) and do not last as long as they used to after being opened.
For a bit more longevity put in sealed plastic bag with as much air taken out and store in the fridge.

Bohning glue requires 48 hours to cure so don't put in a tube until after then let the air circulate.
 

nbuuifx

Member
Thanks, I've looked properly now and there wasn't a trace of glue left. Just seemed strange as this was the second time I've fletched these allows so they weren't brand new. She had used them indoors and taken a few off. I decided to stop them all back and put new ones on before the last tournament and she didn't lose a single fletching over the day.

Then following the training shoot in the rain they have all just fallen off. The other strange thing is that her ACC arrows were in the same tube, they have the same fletchings and the same glue but they have been on longer. They were unaffected.

I have taken the advice above and given the shafts a light sand using 400 grit wet and dry (used dry). I've stuck new fletchings on again.

I always leave them for 48 hours. I will also get my daughter to leave the tube open after rain. Weird how every single fletching had fallen off in the tube though!
 

AJBrady

Active member
I had problems with Bohning Fletch-Tite Platinum four or five years ago. There was an item on it in the Archery GB magazine, which said you should ensure that the serial number on the tube was 4000 or higher. You mentioned it was a new tube, so this shouldn't be the problem, but worth checking.
 

Corax67

Well-known member
I’ve a problem with a current new tube of Fletch-Tite, my last tube never shed a fletching but this one isn’t behaving at all. I use it to do the club arrows and I’m refletching set after set on an almost weekly basis.

Possibly there is an issue with the glue ?




Karl
 
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