Ok here is a question for everyone and I know there will be a lot of different opinions, what I really want to hear is what you don't like about the system you use. If you are chopping your feathers what are the downsides you see. Same goes for burning and lastly buying them pre cut has its limitations too. I recently bought a chopper and it works pretty darn good, but... I find that it is noisy and time consuming. I am thinking about getting a burner, I know they are expensive but you can get many shapes left or right once you get the main model, and it seems pretty fast. What are the downsides other then the initial price?? Buying is nice but you are limited to existing shapes and it can get even more spendy because you only get one feather for the cost of a whole uncut that I can get 1 large and 1 small out of. I would like people's thoughts on the subject. Thanks
well, with chopping, sometimes you get an out of shape feather, its noisy, and blade life is limited. burners a expensive, smell bad, and you have to be a consistant fletcher to get a consistant burn. pre cut are more expensive, limited shapes, can be hard to find in left wing, and in most modern archery shops, shield and banana cut are almost non existant.
judging by your post, i think you know the advantages.
Adam,
What do you mean by consistent fletcher? I would burn a feather but I'm at work, does it just smell like burning hair?
I went with the chopper after smelling the feather burner. Made my stomach turn.
Chopping for me. I use the vario clipper withe the 4" hunter blade, and if you hold it in one hand and hit it with the other, it's not loud at all (sounds like a mild hand clap). With the vario I have chopped at least 20 doz 4 fletch and it's still as sharp as the day out of the box. Definately worth the investment. I also like 4" low profile bannana fletch which I can't buy...and with 4" I can get 2 fletch out of a full length feather. I've tried quite a few things trying to find the "perfect" setup and have stopped looking now.
JC
Are you 4 fletching with those 4 inchers? The bannanna can go lefty or righty right? Also does the vario take different blades so you can jump around with patterns? Thanks
Dennis at http://git-r-donearchery.com/
and Herb at www.herbsarchery.com (http://www.herbsarchery.com) both have the vario and photos showing the styles of cut available.
I have a review on the vario also at www.peteward.com (http://www.peteward.com) in the trad reviews.
Pete, edited Herb's link for correct spelling...hope you don't mind.
Andrew, yep to all those questions. Herb's site has a link to the vario homepage where all the styles are listed. I prefer the 4" hunter in a 4x90degree configuration:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/Stuff/Picture062.jpg)
QuoteOriginally posted by 9 Mile Archer:
Adam,
What do you mean by consistent fletcher? I would burn a feather but I'm at work, does it just smell like burning hair?
if one of your feathers is even an eith of and inch above the rest on the arrow, that feather wont look the same. it like burning hair, but not quite that bad.
I chopped feathers for years. When my last blade got dull I bit the bullet and bought a feather burner. It was the best investment I made since I bought a spine scale. Yes, burning does smell, but I build wood arrows and lacquer smells too. That's why I build out in the work shed where smell doesn't matter.
(http://www.3riversarchery.com/images/large/4171.jpg)
We mostly buy feathers...I have chopped some to get the color I want..at that time I shot 4 in for 3d...I learned it is best to only chop from the best part of the feather...that way you have the best part of the spine and it makes attaching the feather much easier. I have also scissor cut wild turkey feathers. I bought some of 3Rivers tiny feathers last month...just a lil over 2 inches...I like them!
Chop and buy.......
Been burnin for many years, lots of versatility and the smell doesn't bother me any. Course I've got the burner in the shop and not the house. ;)
Yeah Doug, but all them years in a steel mill taught you to tolerate a lotta smells......
I chop 'em. I can chop enough feathers for a dozen arrows in maybe fifteen minutes. Not what I would call time consuming.
I bought a burner, and i like it. The smell doens't bother me but then again i smoke and live by my self so nobody around to complain. The one thing with the burner is that you can't have the burning element to close to the arrow or it burns it. don't ask how i figured that one out. FB
I use scissors and either freehand or use a small plastic template to cut the feathers right on the shaft. For no particular reason, I've always prefered cutting the feathers 'in place' as the last step in finishing the arrow.
It's slow and requires a certain 'knack' to get the feathers even. You have to apply consistent, even, pressure on the feather if you use a template and if you don't cut the full length in one pass you often get a little 'nick' in the profile.
But it's cheap and I can cut any profile I can draw.
Here's a bonus question...
Do folks find that they get better feather life from chopping vs burning? I can't think of why you would, but the question crossed my mind.
Jake
(who'd get a burner if he wasn't so darn cheap)
I do the same as jake, 'cept I use templates outta cereal boxes instead of plastic. I also run a piece of fletch tape across the back so ti 'sticks' to the fletch a little.
at some point I'm gonna get a chopper....just haven't yet...
heres my last set of scissor cuts...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/hickstick/mellow2.jpg)
Right now I'm using feathers from a wild turkey and have found a few tricks that help. First I snip the feather to length with a pruner, using the very back end where the quill is thin. Next I split the quill with an exacto knife, then chop the feather with my Lil Chopper (I have them in both left and right models). Next I put the feather in my jo-jan clamp just as though I were going to put glue on it. Using a Dremel tool, I grind the quill flat and smooth. Feather is then ready to fletch. It's working so far, and I can do the entire operation as quickly as using precut feathers so long as I work while the glue is drying in my jig.
I like to do my splices with full length feathers and use a burner. Wife wont let me burn in the house anymore.
Todd
Dang, you guys were all sopposed to come back with one resounding answer!!!! Darn Tradgangers are too diverse a bunch. :knothead: I'm leaning towards getting a vario and seeing how it matches up against my little chopper. I don't have a good outdoor workshop at this time, and when I mentioned to my wife that it kinda smells like burning hair she got one of those "don't push your luck buddy" looks. :biglaugh:
hickstick,
Try glueing your templates to the inside of a binder clip. The binder clip holds your feather in place while you cut around it. If you use thin sharp scissors, you can get perfect cuts. Been doing it that way for a long time and see no need for a chopper or a burner.
Burning also yields three feathers on each arrow that are exactly the same. When they're chopped, cut or purchased, there's sometimes a little variation in feather heighth or length. Not enough to affect performance though, at least not enough so any of us would notice it.
I use a burner outside on the porch, You can make any shape an every one is identical, If you have fancy caps and crests you can burn them if your not careful, I make my own natural turkey feathers an burn them to what ever shape suits me.
burner is the way to go but it stinks like burning hair.. choppers for me are cool cause you can send in a custom shaped feather and they will send you back a chopper to cut it (burner does the same but it still smells-->>oohh Gaawwd)
buying them convienent but you don't get the extra flu flu cuts for free...
I guess it will be the chopper cutting our "EV Howlers" oh how they sound sooo sweet!
If we are talking about cost then pre cut is very expensive, and you can only get the shapes that are very common. A chopper is noisy, time consuming and can be inaccurate. I have used a burner for about 10 years and I love it. I kinda like the smell but then some think I'm a little sick.If I 4 fletch I usually get 2 4" fletches from one full length feather. All the fletches are exactly the same dimension from the shaft and over the long run I think the burner is the cheapest there is.