Fletching
A clean shaft is necessary for a secure bond. Some options for preparing shafts are:
1. The best method is a DURACLEAN soak for 3-5 minutes. Rinse clean and AIR DRY. This is best for large batches. Do not oversoak.
2. An acetone or alcohol wipe works well if a clean, lint-free rag is used.
3. Scuff or lightly sand with a scour pad or very fine paper. Dust will affect the bond, so they will need light cleaning, too.
Duraclean Directions
Mix 1/4-1/3 cup DURACLEAN powder to 1 gallon of water. Soak, then rinse thoroughly with clean tap water. Air dry only; do not wipe dry.
Note: This process works well with most shafts. Some porous shafts (carbon or graphite) may be hard to rinse and dry. If you get a white residue (blooming) after fletching, the shafts are either A) not dry internally and adhesive is drawing out moisture, or B) not rinsed well enough. Soap can soak into the shaft material and again, adhesive will draw it out to create blooming. Should this occur, use one of the alternate cleaning methods.
There is no vane preparation required when using DURAVANES, use them direct from the package.
Rules
1. Very thin continuous bead of adhesive, end to end, along center of base with a glue applicator.
2. Put vane in clamp, then press the clamp to shaft firmly to press the air out from under vane.
3. Dries in seconds when correct amount of glue is applied.
Objective
To cover the base of the vane with enough adhesive to create a good bond, but not so much that it oozes out when pressed onto the shaft. If adhesive oozes out from under the vane, then too much has been applied and it will take 10-20 minutes to dry. Our adhesive, which is anaerobic, dries slower when exposed to air. This is a surface-to-surface bond, not a filler-type adhesive.
Recent testing confirms our belief that less adhesive used on a vane is better; we fletched seven dozen arrows with one 3 gram tube of adhesive.