Arrow building ?

[DH]

I'm replacing the standard 5" fletching on some of my GT ll's with 2" blazer's. How close to the nock do I want to place them and how much offset do you guy's recommend, I'm using a Glayling fletcher with straight jig. I'm also going to replace the aluminum insert's with 110 grain brass insert's. This is my first attempt at doing this sort of thing so all opinion's would be appreciated.

[Pydpiper]

Have fun! You are about to start in to a very rewarding hobby!

Before I add any input I will say that I shoot 3/4" round stickers at 20/30/40 yards (from a rest) to determine the accuracy of any changes I make with my bow, be it vanes, strings, brace height, weights, lengths, wind rain, snow.. Heck I even test it after a good wipe down. I am not exactly a "boiler room" kind of guy, I lose sleep if an arrow drifts 1/2 of an inch, so my observations tend to be a bit over the top and unnecessary for most practical reasons.
I tried so many different variances on how far the vanes should be located from the nock, and I have to say that it did not make one bit of a difference. I do however like to keep them the same, consistent throughout my batch, but the only difference is purely cosmetic.
5" to 2" vanes will only be noticeable with broadheads, for field points, again, it makes no difference unless you are shooting in a heavy crosswind, even then the difference is negligible.
As far as the offset, again with field points it does not matter, but with fixed broadheads the spin helps in stabilization, offset is a must have with fixed broadheads, not too sure about how that works with mechanicals though, I am still playing with those. I use an AZ-EZ fletching tool, (again my consistency disorder though) I believe it is 8 deg, but I am not positive., it is a right hand twist, that helps keep a broadhead tight on contact.
Brass inserts, perfect with the 2" Blazers, also great with the 5". That is the single, most noticeable difference I have ever made to my hunting set-up when it comes to variances. Closely followed by adding 2" vanes to the mix.
Have fun!

[DH]

Thanks Pydpiper your advice is appriated.
Anybody else have any advice ?

[Horizontal Hunter]

DH,

Here are some things that you can look at for ideas:

Below is a good article on arrow buiding. It is geared toward the Arizona EZ fletch but there is god info there:

Arrow building Part 1:
http://www.bowhunting.net/artman/publis ... ding.shtml

Part 2:
http://www.bowhunting.net/artman/publis ... ing2.shtml

Part 3:
http://www.bowhunting.net/artman/publis ... ing3.shtml


Gary L did a video series on using the Arizona EZ fletch and there is also some good info there:

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... hp?t=16628

And if you want to get fancy on the cheap you can "crest" with laquer paint. Just don't use Bohning Fletch Tite Platinum as it reacts wit the laquer paint:
http://www.texastrackers.com/Videos/Arrows.wmv

These are my arrows that were done using the same method:



Bob

[DH]

Thanks for the great info Bob.

Don