The Essentials of Creating Custom Fletched Arrows

With the Michigan bow season approaching, my annual bowhunting equipment check left me wanting to refletch my arrows once again. Having the equipment to do this task myself, I stopped by the local archery shop to pick up a few dozen Blazer vanes and got started. I stripped the old vanes off my arrows and prepared the shafts for the new Blazers. The first couple arrows I finished seemed to be done well, but after about 15 minutes I noticed the front of the vanes were not sticking to the shafts. This really had me confused. I made sure to strip, clean and dry the shafts to perfection, and still the vanes were not bonding. I came to the conclusion that my Goat Tuff glue had reached its expiration date and wasn't usable. This put my project on hold.

Unfortunately, the mid-Michigan supply of Goat Tuff glue didn't exist due to the closeness of bow season. With limited resources, I decided to try a less expensive brand of glue to see if I could get the same results as when using my normal adhesive. What a mistake. Using a lower quality glue is an eye-opening experience after using a high performance glue, such as Goat Tuff. I was able to pull the vanes off my newly-fletched arrows a full day after using the new glue. It was obvious that I needed to get my hands on a new bottle of Goat Tuff.

I managed to acquire a new bottle after making a number of phone calls to the area archery shops and was again ready to fletch. The new bottle of Goat Tuff worked wonderfully as I fletched through the bulk of my arrows. The bonds were solid and professional - more than strong enough to withstand a good pull. I started thinking about all the vanes I have put on my arrows over the years. More importantly, I reflected on the process I went through trying to figure out the best way to achieve optimal results when fletching my arrows at home. Many of the teaching aids and instructions available to consumers show you what to do, but provide minimal explanation of the reasoning behind each of the steps. Knowing this, I decided to make my own videos explaining the steps I take, from pooling the knowledge I've picked up along the way, to help all the hunters and archers that may be new to the world of fletching their own arrows. Below is what I consider to be the best technique for creating quality custom-fletched arrows. I truly hope these videos will do two things - save you time, and prevent the headaches associated with having vanes fall off during use.