Well I was shooting around in the yard the other day and shot the vanes lose on 4 of my arrows. I shot a 5 arrow group and only one arrow (I'm guessing it was the last one) still has its vanes glued on. The vanes are still attached on all of them, but you can pill them off the arrow in some parts. Which glue do you use when this happens?
aluminum or carbon? There are some special glues for each type on the market. For either one you could use fletch-tite platinum which is a slow drying glue. You could also use some sort of fast-set glue which is basically cyanoacrylate (super glue)in a gel I particularly like one that G5 has on the market now I think it is called blu-Glu. Good luck!
You said it brother, Loctite professional super glue is the only way to go. I have never had any of my vanes come off, even on a complete target pass through.
Clean shafts well then wipe with acetone. Use Zing Primer on vanes. AAE FastSet Gel (or any good "super glue”) type adhesive used sparingly. You won't be able to pull them off with pliers.
I used goat tuff before and it's some pretty strong stuff, but I think I used those on inserts and not vanes. I'm Googling Loctite Industrial Superglue. I think I might use it.
Platinum Fletch Tite on all vanes and feathers. I've used it all and made probably thousands of arrows when I was working in the shop still and Fletch Tite is more durable than all of the faster super glue types. I think it's less brittle once set. I also wouldn't call it slow cure, it's slower than super glue or goat tuff but in less than an hour the arrows are shootable. No white film either once dry.
Ok, no one said it so I will. The majority of fletching adhesive on the market is just over priced super glue. Don't agree, do a smell test.
I use gorilla glue and it works really well. I used to have the same problem with fletching flying off because I did not prep my arrows correctly. Now I wear latex gloves and make sure all residue is off the shaft and wipe down with isopropyl alcohol before I start glueing. Ever since, i have not had one fletching come off.
I have owned an archery shop for a while, in the first few years I experimented alot with glues and preps and the early blazer vanes were the most difficult to keep attached to the arrow. The thing that works the best for me is to clean the arrow, with acetone, then set your fletching to make sure there are no gaps along the shaft, and the distance from the nock is correct, then put a thin bead of fletch-tite platinum along the base of the feather or vane, then put the clamp back on and let set for 5-10 minutes on carbon depending on temperature, longer on aluminum usually 20 minutes. Once done with the whole arrow, put a small dot of fletchtite on the front of each vane or feather where it meets the shaft, to make them more durable, and one on the back if you wish.
This is absolutely the best fletching glue I ever used. It was so good I quit using it LOL. It bonds instantly so you have to be pretty quick about geting the fletch on the shaft. The fletch will NOT come off after being glued on even if you don't prep the shaft. The reason I quit using it was because changing damaged fletching became a pain in the rear. You had to scrape off the old one and that was difficult because it was almost soldered to the shaft. The you had to soak the shaft in acetone for a couple minutes to loosen the left over glue, wipe that and the glue off and then clean with denatured alcohol. The glue worked too good. I switched from it to fletch tite. I have since moved on the fletch tape and feathers (for years now) and will not use anything else. http://www.carbonexpressarrows.com/archery/arrow-accessories/express-bond-archery-glue
