There is a bit of pride when winning a tournament or taking an animal with an arrow you fletch yourself

I have been making my own arrows and crossbow bolts since 1964, and over those many years, I have owned and used several different fletching devices. I am often asked, “Which arrow fletcher is the best?”

Well, that is a rather complex question. It basically depends on personal preference, and just about any fletcher is capable of doing a pretty good job. Some fletchers are very basic, and some are very complex and take skill to use properly. But the more you use them, the better they can and will perform.

Years ago, you could start out with a simple, basic arrow fletcher and maybe find a good used one for around $5-$10. The arrow fletcher had a simple clamp setup the help apply the fletching to the arrow shaft.

Most of the fletchers back in the 1950s-1960s were turkey fletchers and all you needed to do was adjust the fletcher so the clamps lined up evenly on the arrow shaft, apply some glue, push the clamp down until the feather made contact with the shaft, and allow the glue to dry. You indexed the arrow shaft to the next position and repeated the process until you applied the three fletchings to the arrow shaft.

The toughest task today is in the preparation of the arrow shaft and the fletching itself. Cleanliness is one of the most important considerations for good arrow fletching. Arrow shafts once were basically wooden. Then, fiberglass became popular, followed by aluminum. Today, carbon arrow shafts are extremely popular, and cleanliness and proper preparation are so important. If you don’t clean the surfaces of the arrow shaft and the bottom surface of the fletching, proper adhesion will not happen.

Today, there are hundreds of different types of glue, super glues, and bonding agents and it is not a simple choice to decide which works best. New arrow shafts need the same attention to detail as refletching older arrows. I have used steel wool on aluminum arrow shafts to remove any and all dust particles. If there is any old glue residue, you need to scrape it all clean. They make a special knife device for cutting and removing all old fletching.

After cleaning the arrow shaft from the nock end up approximately six inches, I take some acetone and a clean paper towel, and I rub the arrow shaft until it actually squeaks. I will clean about six shafts, and once I am assured they are squeaky clean, I put them in the fletching jig. I will not touch them again with my hands or fingers.

I take a clamp and install a feather or plastic vane and line it up with the pre-marked lines, and then I apply a light film of glue to the bottom of the fletching. I install the clamp and push it down slowly until it makes contact with the arrow shaft. I will then apply slight downward pressure and allow the glue to adhere.

After the arrows are done, I add a small droplet of glue on the very front of the fletching and a small droplet on the very back end of the fletching. That just adds a little more bonding security to the stress points of the fletching.

As far as my favorite fletching jigs are concerned, I have a lot of faith in the old Jojann Multifletcher. I can fletch six arrows at a time, one fletch at a time. The fletcher has nock adaptors that will fletch three fletches at 120 degrees, or you can remove the adaptors and turn them over and do four fletches at 90 degrees. I use the multifletcher for fletching standard arrows with standard nocks.

For fletching crossbow bolts, I have a special Bohning Pro Fletcher that has a special crossbow nock adaptor. I can only do one fletch at a time, but it works great for crossbow bolts. I have straight and helical clamps for the multifletcher and just a straight clamp for the Bohning fletcher.

Arrow fletching is a lot of fun, and it does require some effort to do a good job. There is just a little more pride in winning a tournament or harvesting an animal with an arrow you built yourself.

I started out doing arrow repair and bowstring building just as a hobby, but after many years, it also allowed me to earn a little bit of money on the side. I have had several people drive long distances for me to work on the arrows and make bowstrings for them.

There is a huge number of quality fletching jigs available, and in all honesty, they will perform well for you. I suggest you talk with other people and get their opinion and start trying to decide which fletcher works best for you!