Re: Right VS Left Helical?
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:26 am
I shoot off the shelf on both my long bow and recurve...I am right handed and use left wing feathers with helical clamps on cedar and DF shafts. I have done this for 35 years and probably because someone way back when told me it was the right thing to do??
truth is I have a 6 pack Jo-Jann I have used forever, and it has the left helical clamps. So...why mess with a good thing. Right wings would fly off the shelf in a different way? but I am not a scientist...sometimes I wish I had a right wing rack and clamps so I could use the right wings from wild birds. but have never done it.
the main thing I can say I thinks makes a real difference is the angle of the feather on the shaft and the contact area the feather makes. I did play with this a while back and have my rack set on the angle that has worked best. With the JO Janns its important that the little ring that locates the clamp in the fletching rack is the same didtance from the end of the clamp for perfect consistency.
most important thing obviously is accuracy w/ field points & broadheads...for example the Zwickey delta never flew good for me with a 70 pound set of limbs...but nowadays that is too much weight for me...I switched to 55# and they fly good...with the same exact arrows...fletching set up that is.
I used a young burner for 30 plus years...but it fnally went up...so I tried a chopper...and love it...I dont have to go outside to finish up some arrows now...and the quality seems just as good...well very good...burns are still the most perfect, but not necessary. On this batch I even used some dyed feathers since I did not have enough "real mcoys" to finish up a dozen...and they are nice too with a chopper.
Raptor has an excellent video on arrow selection...a wealth of information there.
bottom line is consistency in your production...once you find a recipe that does well...
here is most recent arrows and a recurve I made many years ago...
truth is I have a 6 pack Jo-Jann I have used forever, and it has the left helical clamps. So...why mess with a good thing. Right wings would fly off the shelf in a different way? but I am not a scientist...sometimes I wish I had a right wing rack and clamps so I could use the right wings from wild birds. but have never done it.
the main thing I can say I thinks makes a real difference is the angle of the feather on the shaft and the contact area the feather makes. I did play with this a while back and have my rack set on the angle that has worked best. With the JO Janns its important that the little ring that locates the clamp in the fletching rack is the same didtance from the end of the clamp for perfect consistency.
most important thing obviously is accuracy w/ field points & broadheads...for example the Zwickey delta never flew good for me with a 70 pound set of limbs...but nowadays that is too much weight for me...I switched to 55# and they fly good...with the same exact arrows...fletching set up that is.
I used a young burner for 30 plus years...but it fnally went up...so I tried a chopper...and love it...I dont have to go outside to finish up some arrows now...and the quality seems just as good...well very good...burns are still the most perfect, but not necessary. On this batch I even used some dyed feathers since I did not have enough "real mcoys" to finish up a dozen...and they are nice too with a chopper.
Raptor has an excellent video on arrow selection...a wealth of information there.
bottom line is consistency in your production...once you find a recipe that does well...
here is most recent arrows and a recurve I made many years ago...
